Car wouldn't start. Then it did. Now I notice a smell.

JamesKeenan

The car was working fine. I got in it tonight at school. Drive my friend to his house. He runs in to grab something before we plan on heading to a grocery store. I turn it off. The car isn't off 10 minutes when he comes back outside.

I go to turn the car on... nothing. Not even revving. Just silence. Maybe a little clicking and what actually kind of sounds like a car antenna raising. Except I don't have a car antenna. But that's what it sounded like. The cabin lights are on just fine. Dashboard lights are on just fine. Nothing is dim at all.

I try, I try, I try again. Still no response. In frustration I turn the key and just leave it there, hold it to the "ignition" phase.

And in like 7 seconds, the engine turns over out of nowhere and everything's hunky dory.

Now there's kind of a smell that seems familiar, but I couldn't have the least idea what's causing it. I've smelled it before, but I was never sure it was my car. It smells kind of like burning engine coolant, really.

So it's possible I'm just being severely paranoid about the smell.



However, the ignition problem is real.

RUNN1NGMAN

If you're smelling coolant you could have a cracked heater core.

JamesKeenan

RUNN1NGMAN wrote: »

If you're smelling coolant you could have a cracked heater core.

Shit...

fuelish

That clicking sounds like you are having a starter solenoid or relay problem. It could also be a bad ground or poor battery terminal contact.

Can't say about the smell. You might want to look at your coolant level. Look at the recovery tank, it will have max/min lines on it. Check the radiator as well(Do this with the motor cold so you do not volcano hot coolant on your self)

What kind of car is it? Manual/automatic? How old is the battery?

TexiKen

If it smelled like ozone, it's your starter.

Check your connection to the battery terminal. They might have jiggled up a bit or loosened. Also clean the terminals

Dark_Side

First place to check is the battery. Second would be the starter, as starters get older, the brushes can stick, sometimes banging on the start with a hammer will get it to kick over. Your starter might have been sticking and burned the brushes a bit, which could be where the smell came from. If your heater core is leaking you would notice a distinct smell of antifreeze if you turn your heater on.

Malkor

Has your engine died after idling for a few mins recently?

1ddqd

The car antenna sound is most likely the fuel pump priming. Some cars do it when you open the driver's door, some cars do it when the key is turned to ACC mode.

JamesKeenan

1ddqd wrote: »

The car antenna sound is most likely the fuel pump priming. Some cars do it when you open the driver's door, some cars do it when the key is turned to ACC mode.

Yeah, the sound happens all the time, I noticed. It's irrelevant. I was just freaking out.

Malkor wrote: »

Has your engine died after idling for a few mins recently?

Nope, never. This is the first sign of a problem, period.

TexiKen wrote: »

If it smelled like ozone, it's your starter.

I don't know what it smelled like, or what ozone smells like. Tips?

Orogogus

Burned out electronics smell like ozone. Bumper cars, sewing machines, little electric motors (RC cars, USB vacuums). Copiers or toasters, sometimes.

lizard eats flies

The first thing i thought of when i saw the thread title was heater core was cracked. I had one of these go on a truck i owned and it started leaking coolant out of the feet air vent onto my trucks floor. Also kinda slimed up everything. It had kind of a 'sweet' smell. One way to check this is to turn your heat on and smell by the vents. It was a pain to clean up.

Is the smell all the time? or is it just when you first start the car? The fact that you had troubles starting the car would lead me to believe its one of the starter/battery type things tho.

RUNN1NGMAN

Another sign that it's the heater core is if there's a filmy residue on the inside of your windows.

wmelon

Just to help out. Coolant generally has a sickly sweet smell. Everything else I would add has already been mentioned. If you take it to an auto parts store they can generally test it out for you for free.