Strange smell around battery once this evening....
#1
Strange smell around battery once this evening....
Hi guys. Well, if its not one problem, then its another. After work tonight I had to run some errands - I drove out to the mall, over to a supermarket and started back home. About 1/4 way back, my mom called me and asked if I would stop at a pharmacy and get her some medicine. I had passed one up about .5 of a mile when she called, so I made a turn and went back. I pulled in and got out and went by the front of the car (gen 1 LS400) and I got a whiff of something that smelled like "hot electrical components" (not wires), but it was as strange smell and hard to describe, kinda like "raw burning" kerosene or diesel. I thought it was the car next to mine, but I went back to kill the curiosity and it was coming from under MY hood! I raised it up and tracked the smell down to the battery area. If I smelled between the battery and where the washer fluid goes it, it was the strongest there. It was pretty strong too, but there was no smoke. I went on in to get the medicine and came back out. I called my dad and told him what the car was doing and that I did not trust it coming home. He came (9 miles) and looked at it, but by then, the smell had went away. I drove it on home and never smelled it again (I stopped a couple of times on the way to check it). I got home and smelled it again right when I raised the hood, but it went away. Its windy and it hard to track the smell down. I noticed there was some oil on the driverside valve cover gasket that was smoking, but it had a different smell from the smell around the battery. I took off the underhood fuse box cover, thinking the smell may be from there, but its not and all fuses are fine. I do not think a hot/boiling battery would smell like this. I know there are alot of wires in that area, so do not know what to think now. Everything looks OK though. I do have that leaking power steering fluid leaking possibly into the alternator issue, but the smell was not coming from the alternator area, but may be a problem stemming from that, or? I am clueless and discouraged.
I am hesitant to drive the car now, because I do not know what caused that, or if it will do it again. I am even thinking of maybe disconnecting the battery tonight incase something is shorting out, it will not catch our garage/othe cars on fire. I have been back for about 90 minutes and went out and sniffed and its gone.
I never imagined I would have an electrical problem such as this on a "Toyota" vehicle, because of all of the cars I have owned, Toyotas (and Hondas and believe it or not, Mercedes) have had the best electrical systems.
Thanks for any advice.
I am hesitant to drive the car now, because I do not know what caused that, or if it will do it again. I am even thinking of maybe disconnecting the battery tonight incase something is shorting out, it will not catch our garage/othe cars on fire. I have been back for about 90 minutes and went out and sniffed and its gone.
I never imagined I would have an electrical problem such as this on a "Toyota" vehicle, because of all of the cars I have owned, Toyotas (and Hondas and believe it or not, Mercedes) have had the best electrical systems.
Thanks for any advice.
#4
Yes, tonight was the first night it has ever happened... and its clearly coming from that area between the fender and battery. Its not coming from the fuse box, etc. While I set there for awhile in the parking lot, the smell went away.
I went ahead and drive the car 10 miles home and never smelled it again- only faintly when I got home and sniffed in that area. I went out about an hour later and the smell was completely gone.
I am beginning to think that perhaps my leaking PS pump is getting into my alternator and causing something to overheat. The smell is strange - it smells like overheated metal or something, not wires.
She is parked for awhile I guess - maybe forever - I may have it crushed.
I went ahead and drive the car 10 miles home and never smelled it again- only faintly when I got home and sniffed in that area. I went out about an hour later and the smell was completely gone.
I am beginning to think that perhaps my leaking PS pump is getting into my alternator and causing something to overheat. The smell is strange - it smells like overheated metal or something, not wires.
She is parked for awhile I guess - maybe forever - I may have it crushed.
#5
False alarm... turns out it was a speck of "clumped" oil from the leaky valvecover that fell on the manifold causing the smell.
I drove it twice today for a total of about 110 miles and no smells/issues.
Still getting that PS leak fixed ASAP and valve cover gaskets.
I drove it twice today for a total of about 110 miles and no smells/issues.
Still getting that PS leak fixed ASAP and valve cover gaskets.
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