unexplained smells | Ask Honest John

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Most recently answered unexplained smells questions

I get a burning smell like curry after driving my car hard. Why? It's a 53 plate 996 turbo.

My wife and I test drove a 2 year old Prius today. Lovely car but very bad smell coming from passenger side, where my wife sat. Neither I nor the salesman could smell anything. We bought another Prius,...

Really bad smell coming from exhaust

Really bad smell coming from my exhaust. Have replaced fuel filter, EGR valve and exhaust flex (fumes were coming into the cabin but replacing flex cured this) and emissions are perfect but still bad smell....

Fumes entering the cabin

At the moment I am being subjected to disturbing fumes that enter the cabin whenever the heater is operated. I have had the exhaust checked and that is OK. Mileage is 87000. Could you suggest possible...

What could be causing a sooty odour to emit from the engine of my Jaguar XF diesel?

I have a 2008 Jaguar XF 2.7 diesel Premium Luxury that I bought as a Jaguar approved used car from a main dealer three months ago. It came with a full warranty and has done 58,000 miles. I regularly (once...

Burning smell in a CR-V

Exhaust/ burning smell inside cabin when stopped after driving. Car is a CR-V, done 70,000 miles and is regularly serviced. Has happened over the last 5/6000 miles. I can control the smell by using air...

Diesel smell from Ford Galaxy

I have another problem with my Ford Galaxy 55 plate. I have a slight smell of diesel when the car is running or has run. The smell is most noticeable nearside front around the front wheel. This does not...

Fumes in the cabin

I purchased an 05 Citroen C4 from a local small dealer on Wednesday of this week, and is very clean inside and out. I noticed on my way home a slight fumey smell coming from the a/c but thought it was...

What could be causing a strange 'drain-like' odour in our friend's Ford Focus?

In early July a friend who has a five year old Ford Focus noticed a "dank drain-like" smell in the car. The intervening eight weeks has not seen it diminish. In fact it has got worse, even permeating into...

Burning smell in a Mondeo

I've recently bought a Mondeo Titanuim X Sport 163 and after driving the car today for about 20 minutes and arriving back home I noticed a knocking or flapping noise in sync with the engine that I've never...