Bmw :: 2011 - Burnt Chemical Smell Through Vents When Heat Is On
Apr 24, 2015
I have a 2011 BMW 328i and I get this sort of burnt chemical smell through the vents when the heat is on. It doesn't happen until I have been driving for 10-15 minutes. After that you get the smell on some low level all the time, but it seems to be briefly exacerbated by making a hard turn (i.e. a U-turn). You get a stronger whiff coming out of the turn and then it returns to baseline. I also smell it stronger when setting off in low gear (1st or 2nd) like from a stop sign. It happens whether the car has the air re-circulation on or not. It has been in for service twice and they can't find the problem. The car is a RWD manual transmission and only has 20k miles on it. I checked the fluid levels and as far as I can tell they don't seem low. I looked in the service history and a coolant leak was fixed at one point, near the thermostat - yet the car still exhibits the smell. In addition to the smell, it kind of irritates the back of my throat after a while.
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2005 F350 Lariat crew cab a few weeks back.
My question.... I noticed a strong ammonia/super glue like smell floating around in the cab about the 3rd time i drove the pickup. Since then, it seems to do it intermittently. My first assumption was it was coming through the vents. I have done a couple experiments, and I don't believe this is the case. My wife and I were driving yesterday and she thought she noticed the smell again. while I was driving she started checking all the vents, and nothing. But when she leaned clear down near the speaker hole in the door, she said she could really smell it.
What could be causing this? I'm assuming if it was the AC it would be coming though the vents. And at this time, I don't think it is.
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My fiance has a 2011 Corolla LE. A couple years ago this weird smell started coming through her AC vents. It is intermittent happening when the car is parked or in drive. Once the smell comes through the AC the only way to make it stop it to push the AC button so that normal air blows through, turn outside air on, or switch the AC air speed a couple times, or just wait a minute or two. I changed the engine and cabin filter, sprayed the vents and everything else with cleaner and check the drain tube. I don't know what else to do.
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I got my first Toyota couple months ago, Camry xle i4 38k. Everything is fine except for the not-so-smooth tranny, but I get used to it. The thing annoys me is the moldy smell from the vents. I usually turn on fan (A/C off, inner circulation on), when notice the smell, I changed the cabin air filter (the old one has tons of dirt!!). the smell goes away, but whenever I put on defroster, it comes back.
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I have a 2009 model Toyota Prius. There is a smell of chemical or gas inside my vehicle when I first get in. By "gas" I mean "gas" and not "petrol". So if it is a chemical from the battery for example, it smells like natural gas. I have been delivering phone books from my car in acreage which caused me to start and stop the car every 200 meters for about an hour. I only noticed the smell after I delivered the phone books. I searched the Prius Chat forum last night and read that stopping and starting for a lengthy period is bad for the battery. Should I ignore the smell and wait for the battery warning light to show. And if the battery warning light does flash, which battery would it relate to and is there a different warning light for both batteries? I have booked my car into the Toyota service center tomorrow but think I might cancel. They will probably run a diagnostic and see nothing as they will just interpret a number from a computer. They will predictably sniff and smell nothing ... and then I will pay them the service fee for nothing.
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This is my first car with leatherette, wondering if that is causing the smell? Its not the monster mats. I have had several new cars and this is different than the average new car smell. Looking to getting rid of it?
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I've had my B6 with leatherette for just over two weeks now and I'm having trouble with a strong interior smell. It is a chemical/fishy smell that builds up when the car sits with the windows closed. I don't think it's coming from the vents because the smell goes away partially when the A/C is on. It is not related to outside temperature or direct sun. I didn't smell it during the test drive but I did right after I picked it up. I suspect the smell might be from the scotchguard treatment the dealer did during prep but I'm not sure. I've washed down the interior with Woolite a couple times and had the interior detailed professionally but the smell comes right back. Otherwise I love this car. I have an appointment at the dealer on Friday to see what they say.
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Last week as I was returning home I had a strange event in my Prius. I was coasting at about 30 mph when I heard a very faint pop sound a bit like a balloon breaking. It sounded like it came from the right rear area of the car. Afterwards I thought I detected a very faint chemical smell. Could this have been something involving the HV battery?
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I get more or less constant wine-like odor in the salon, as well as intermittent burning match (sulphur?) one. These seem to be seeping from the outside, through the ventilation system. The car has a new radiator, and the heater core, there are no apparent coolant leaks.
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I have an '08 Grand Cherokee Laredo, 3.7L V6 with 74,000 miles on it. Recently the exhaust/muffler have been getting loud, and during my state inspection the guy said it would probably need a new muffler/pipe in the next few months. That was about a month ago. Since then there has been an on-and-off horrible plastic/chemical smell in the cabin some of the time. My wife drives it about an hour to work each way, and she says sometimes it gets so bad she has to open the windows (in 20 degree temps....) or she gets a headache. She describes it as a "formaldehyde smell" and says it tastes kind of sweet. To me it's more like a burnt plastic/chemical type odor. I checked all underneath but saw no plastic bags or anything else odd. Nothing unusual under the hood. No visible smoke. I have an appointment in two days to have the exhaust fixed. My question is - is there any way this weird smell could be exhaust related? I am hoping so, because otherwise it's a total mystery. It's definitely not an "exhaust" smell as I know it.
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