Odor in the engine compartment

Hello,

Coolant usually doesn't give off a foul odor. Instead it usually has a sweet smell to it. It is possible that an animal has gotten into the engine compartment and wedged itself somewhere in there and has died. I've run across this one time as a rat made a nest on a friends exhaust manifold when he didn't drive his truck for a week or so and when he did drive it he had barbequed rat on his hand, that didn't smell very good. Check around the engine compartment and look for dead, smelly, critters and get back to us with what you are able to find out.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

Well it is a little sweet like coolant . Definitely not like rotting flesh . But it doesn't smell like fresh coolant in a bottle .

Hello again,

Sorry for that picture, I apologize. Like I said, though, I have seen it before. Okay, so it is antifreeze that has been mixed with something or has just a plain bad odor, which will probably carry through to your heater and defroster if let unattended, and that is what you definitely do not want now that Fall and Winter are here. I would recommend doing a flush and fill on your vehicle's cooling system. Here is a link below explaining the procedure, if needed:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/coolant-flush-and-refill-all-cars

Please go through this guide and get back to us with how everything turns out. I hope that this helps.

Thanks,
Alex
2CarPros

I would check for a coolant leak. this guide will help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/car-is-leaking-coolant

Please run down this guide and report back.