Why does it smell like this in my car?

Yesterday we started looking at a few common smells that you might notice inside your vehicle, but we weren’t able to cover them all. Today, we thought we’d dive into the rest of them to give you a more comprehensive look at what might be causing your car to smell like that. Be sure to go back to yesterday’s smells if you don’t see yours here, and if we missed something let us know in the comments.

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Musty Gym Locker

If you’ve ever played a team sport, or utilize the changing rooms at your gym, then you probably know how disgusting a musty gym locker smell is. If this is happening in your vehicle, you might have mildew growing in your air conditioning evaporator. Dry it out by turning off your A/C and running the fan on high for a mile or so.

Sweet Syrup

You might normally like the smell of sweet syrup, but if you’re smelling it in or around your vehicle it could lead to problems as it usually indicates a coolant leak. While minor coolant leaks are possible, it could be caused by a bad head gasket, which is something you want to get fixed right away.

Burnt Toast

Burnt toast usually means you forgot you were cooking breakfast, but in your car, it might mean you have an electrical short circuit. The burnt toast smell could be coming from the insulation around your wires melting because of the shorted circuit.

Burning Hair

If you smell burning hair in your car and it doesn’t seem like your head is on fire… then you might have a new pet. Sometimes small critters crawl up into your engine bay and make it their home, which can lead to other problems.

Mold

Finally, if you smell mold in your vehicle, it’s time to get a deep car wash because you probably forgot about some uneaten food or spilled drink.

[ RELATED: Why is my car vibrating? ]

You can find all kinds of helpful blogs like this on our website, including the above where we try to diagnose why your vehicle is shaking when you drive it. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to give us a call.