Well...its colder out now and I notice that my car has a wierd smell surrounding it when I shut'er down. It smells like a "baked goods" type smell. Not sure how to explain it. Coolant possibly?

 

How many miles do you have on it? Could just be the new hot metal/plastics smell that follows new vehicles for a while.

 

Catalytic converters are infamous for odors, especially in the first 1,000 miles.

 

I've had a few weird smells in my two.

First was a rotten death smell. Found out that at some point a tomato had gotten loose and rolled out of a grocery bag and died. When I found it there was basically just a shell.

Second was more recent. The car smelled SO minty! I chew lots of peppermint gum so I just kept thinking it must be the ABC gum wrapped up in the little trash container. One day I opened the back and realized that I had never returned the peppermint extract to the grocery store (had a cracked lid and so it had spilled in the back). Mystery solved.

The most recent was a weird stinky smell. But since I drive with the top down most of the time it was hard to smell all the time. One day the husband got in the car and when he put the seat back he found a rotten apple. It had rolled under the seat at some point during our twisty road trip in the NC area!

IMHO (and from personal experience with "coolant" smell- blown head gasket, etc. NOT in my Coopers)... my perception of THAT smell is like a maple syrup smell... maybe your "baked goods" smell? That smell is permanently burned into my scent memories and many times I can identify people driving by that have a problem. Of course, I'm always totally paranoid whenever I smell THAT smell. One thing that I seem to notice now is that I think the washer fluid can slightly smell like that. Not positive... I suppose my new '08 could have a problem but I haven't seen any signs of it yet.

I'm sure this probably wasn't helpful since you'd probably know if you were missing a loaf of bread.

Anyone ever had the hot plastic smell? I had G35 about 5 years ago that had the hot plastic smell (after a service). Anyway, brought it right back to the dealership and found out that a plastic shopping bag had gone under the car and melted on the exhaust.

Good luck!

 

Thanks for the replies

I have a bout 10K miles now...so I'm not sure it is not the new-plastic smell. I only noticed it as it got colder though...I never smelled it when the weather was warm.

I don't think its a blown gasket...as my performance has been excellent. No loss in power, white smoke, etc.

I'll continue to monitor...

 

I have had a smell of anti-freeze 3-4 times over the last couple of weeks. It always seems to happen after starting or stoping the motor. I get one good whiff and then it is gone.

I have been keeping a close watch on the garage floor to protect my dog and it is completely dry.

I have a feeling that it is related to the whacky temp changes we have had around here which have ranged from 16f to 65f in a days time.

 

When my car was brand new I could've sworn somebody at the factory left a scone or pastie on top of my engine when they were building the car. It smelled like fresh-baked bread everytime I got out. Now I only get a wierd smell - sort of like sour beer if I rev the engine too much. I think somebody back in Oxford left his lunch pail in a secret compartment I don't know about.

 

Yes its most probably antifreeze, you will get it at startup (I do) and then it goes away. Keep an eye on the level and tell the dealer when you go in the next time.

 

djam: How about when you shut'er down? Did you smell it?

 

I also get the anti-freeze smell when I start up, but when I wet my finger in the coolant reservoir the smell does not smell like conventional antifreeze. I'm thinking it is some start up reaction in the cat and only lasts a short time.

YD

 

No, only on startup . and its very faint, and dissapears after a few seconds or so.