How to Diagnose Car Smells

Series Summary

Major car tune-ups, or vehicle overhauls, are vital to the upkeep and maintenance of an automobile. A car is a complex machine made up of simple machines that have many different parts and processes which must be checked for breakage, leaks and wear. A mechanic does all of these tune-up checks when a car comes into the auto shop. However, many car owners learn how to check their cars to fix common problems without costly mechanic visits. A little automobile knowledge goes a long way in saving money, avoiding scams and keeping cars in top shape. In this free series of videos, a mechanic discusses basic car care and how to perform simple maintenance on an automobile. Learn how to install license plates, how to jump-start a car and how to change a tire. Perform fluid checks on the radiator, check oil levels and diagnose brake problems. With these auto repair tips and techniques, trips to the auto shop will decline and major breakdowns will almost disappear.

Video Transcript

"Hi, I'm Richard Goms. We're here in Murray, Utah. We're talking about basic car care. We're going to talk now about how to diagnose car smells. You're going down the highway you come to a stop, there's a smell that you you smell in the car. It could either be normally it could either be an exhaust smell. If you've got an exhaust leak in your, in your exhaust system, muffler, catalytic converter. It could be a catalytic converter smell which smells like rotten eggs. Or it could be an oil smell that comes from an oil leak dripping down on your manifold and you got a burning oil smell. Another type of smell might be a gasoline smell where some; one of the fittings isn't tight or or there's a leak in a, in a, one of the rubber hoses in the, one of the connecting hoses that causes the gas to drip out and then you would get the gasoline smell. Most of you are familiar with the gasoline smell especially if you fill your own car with gasoline. The exhaust leak would smell just like if walked behind a car and it was running, and you could smell the exhaust. The exhaust leak would be, could be dangerous because it it, there's carbon monoxide in that gas, that the exhaust leak and that could actually suffocate you in a car in a closed garage or something like that."