My '00 Outback stinks.

[Madison MacLard]

I've been driving around for a few days now thinking that the cars in front
of me are spewing smelly gases into the cabin. But the smell is following me
everywhere, and when I get out of the car, I can't smell it anymore. It not
coming out of the muffler or the engine. It's not a gas smell and I just
changed the oil at 106,000km.

I guess I can't expect much of a response, but if anyone has any idea about
where the smell is coming from I would appreciate it. Or what causes a smell
like that. I'm pretty sure that my armpits are innocent.

 

[Alan]

Some oil may have gotten on the engine, and is burning off when the engine
gets hot.

 

[Rick Courtright]

I've been driving around for a few days now thinking that the cars in front
of me are spewing smelly gases into the cabin. But the smell is following me

My old Loyale has developed a couple of bad smells over the years. One
was from coolant seeping out of the heads and dripping on the exhaust.
Smelled kinda like burnt coffee. The other from an intermittent leak in
the power steering pump--if it leaks enough to run down the front of the
engine onto the exhaust, it creates a "hot" smell but it's hard to
describe, not quite like regular motor oil on hot exhaust pipes.

An acquaintance developed a horrid smell in one of his vehicles that
wasn't leak related. Seems his wife was driving the truck and had a
plastic bag fly in front of her on the freeway and, naturally, thought
nothing of it as she drove over. But it blew up under the truck, got
stuck on the catalytic convertor and cooked. Took a while to find that
one!

Naturally, these smells get into the vent system, and seem to last a
long time even after the cause was eliminated.

If you can give the whole bottom of the engine and the exhaust system a
good bath, it may help save you time trying to see what's causing the
problem. Good luck!

Rick

 

[Bill Putney]

I've been driving around for a few days now thinking that the cars in front
of me are spewing smelly gases into the cabin.

Is it a musty/moldy/mildewy kind of smell? Then it's the a.c. - these
kinds of smells tend to happen at seasonal changes, and there are ways
to get rid of it.

If that's not it, then you need to determine what kind of smell it is:
burning oil, hot coolant (antifreeze), burning plastic, etc. Knowing
that can help narrow it down considerably. If you aren't familiar with
the distinct types of smells various automotive fluids give off, then
take it to a mechanic you trust who at least can tell you if it's
antifreeze or something else - like I said - these types of smells are
usually very distinct.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

[Frank Logullo]

I've been driving around for a few days now thinking that the cars in front
of me are spewing smelly gases into the cabin. But the smell is following me
everywhere, and when I get out of the car, I can't smell it anymore. It not
coming out of the muffler or the engine. It's not a gas smell and I just
changed the oil at 106,000km.

I guess I can't expect much of a response, but if anyone has any idea about
where the smell is coming from I would appreciate it. Or what causes a smell
like that. I'm pretty sure that my armpits are innocent.

I had problem - could be same thing. A front wheel seal was leaking grease
onto the exhaust system. I determined by putting my Forester on ramps and
crawling under. It was fixed under drive train warranty.
Frank

 

[Edward Hayes]

Sounds like a case for BEAN-O or a STICK-UP.

following
I had problem - could be same thing. A front wheel seal was leaking grease
onto the exhaust system. I determined by putting my Forester on ramps and
crawling under. It was fixed under drive train warranty.
Frank

 

[Greg]

If it has a swamp type of smell or a very musty odor, it could be mold in
your A/C system. Run the blower on vent and recirc off, make sure the A/C
compressor is off, then spray Lysol or similar bacteria killer in the air
intake for the car, usually the grill at the base of the windshield. To
keep the smell from coming back just turn off the compressor about 5 minutes
before shutting the car off, this allows the system to dry out.
If it's not a musty odor then you just wasted your time reading this.

 

[Todd H.]

If it has a swamp type of smell or a very musty odor, it could be mold in
your A/C system. Run the blower on vent and recirc off, make sure the A/C
compressor is off, then spray Lysol or similar bacteria killer in the air
intake for the car, usually the grill at the base of the
windshield.

No shit... Greg, thanks for the cool tip there. I have had the dealer
do this for me before and they "disinefect intake system" or whatever
they write it up as, but I always wondered what was involved.