Have you ever smelt something and it took you back to a very specific memory or person? Like the smell of a specific perfume reminds you of your grandmother, or perhaps the smell of chlorine smells like a summer spent at camp? Good news, you’re not going crazy! There have been a number of studies done on a person’s sense of smell and how it connects to your memory. It’s real. Some students even use smell to help them remember more information for classes by wearing a certain cologne or perfume, or even chapstick when they study and then wearing that smell during the test to help boost their memory.

So why does this matter to you? How is this relevant? Well, there are a few smells related to your vehicle that you should really be aware of that would even be beneficial to associate with certain vehicular problems to keep yourself safe. So if you smell the following things, it would be best to pull over and get out of your vehicle and have it checked by our extremely knowledgeable techs at Destination Kia.

• Syrupy sweet smell:

  • The most likely cause of that sickly sweet smell is a coolant leak. The smell is usually followed pretty quickly by a lot of smoke coming out of the hood of your vehicle and your engine overheating. Should your engine start to smoke while you are driving, pull over immediately and get a safe distance away from your vehicle and call for your vehicle to be towed as it will not be safe for you to drive it.

• Rotten eggs or a sulfur smell:

  • This smell usually means that there is an issue with your catalytic converter, also known as your “cat”. This gas is toxic and is 100% not safe for you to breath. You will likely need to get your cat replaced, which can be pretty expensive. The good news is that in most newer car that replacement is usually covered under warranty so you can contact us at Destination Kia to check.

• Hot oil:

  • As the smell would suggest you’ve likely got an oil leak. More specifically, oil is probably leaking onto your hot exhaust manifold, which collects the exhaust gases from multiple cylinders into one pipe. This could be because of a leaking crankshaft or a leaky valve cover. Either way, this is something you will want to get checked out!

• Burning carpet:

  • This smell is relatively normal if you just came down a long hill, but if this smell occurs under normal driving circumstances then you may have a dragging brake(your brake isn’t completely disengaging when you let off the brake) or an is an issue with the brake pad. This smell could also happen if you left your emergency brake (handbrake) and can cause damage to your brakes, so checking your E-brake before you start driving is important. If you notice the burning carpet smell, stop by Destination Kia and we’ll check out your brakes and replace the brake pads if need be.

• Burnt rubber:

  • If you notice this smell first check under your hood and make sure all hoses and belts are tight and not resting on the hot engine. If there are, that’s a cheap and relatively easy fix. If it’s not, this smell could also indicate that a belt is loose or is about to break. If this is the case you should get it replaced as soon as you can.

Remember, if you find that your vehicle smells like any of these things, you can stop by Destination Kia and we will be happy to check out your vehicle out. It’s better to be safe than sorry and we just want you and your family to enjoy your vehicle safely!