Technical Horrible Smell from Vents

[ewi080]

Hi,
last night i had gone out with my Stilo for a drive , i had the fan on 1 and the temp knob was set between cold and hot so as to keep the car inside a little bit warm as it was freezing outside, i was about to park at my friends drive in, which has a steep ramp, i had to apply extra pressure on the gas pedal so as to manage to reverse up this ramp, i managed to get the rear part of the car up, but for the front i had to apply even more pressure and i managed to climb up, all of a sudden a horrible smell came in from the vents [xx(], (a smell of dead cats i presume ) ,i had to open the windows and put my head out!! after a few mins the smell went , i switched off the car and opened the bonnet, a whiff of that same smell came out but it went away immediately, i couldnt see any signs of burns or damaged wires, i then switched on the car again, no smell , no signs of anything wrong with the car, could it be that the tyres have skidded whilst going up the ramp and the smell was sucked inside the car ??

 

[polecat]

Hi,
If you are sure that you don't have a dead cat under the bonnet then it sounds like, (smells like?), you just burnt the clutch. Acrid smell, caught the back of your throat?
It could have been the tyres, but I would have thought you would have heard them spin.



Dave.

Got more additives than fuel in my tank.

 

[ewi080]

If it is the clutch that i burnt is it possible that i managed to drive back home without any problems at all?

 

[polecat]

Yes, no problem, it's just like braking hard and getting a smell off the brakes.
If you work the clutch very hard all you are doing is increasing the wear rate. You might get the clutch hot enough to affect performance on a race track or by riding the clutch on a very steep bank in a traffic jam, but I would not be concerned about what you have described.

Dave.

Got more additives than fuel in my tank.

 

[custard]

could just be the smell from the catylitic converter.during cold weather the moisture in the air holds the fumes down nearer the ground and as you were reversing you would be driving right through the fumes.that would be a rotton egg/sulpher smell[xx(]

The Fiat Cinquecento
Fun While It Runs

 

[ewi080]

Thanks for your replies i understand what you told me polecat, custard boy that was the exact smell rotten egg/ sulpher smell, damn really horrible, and it was at night, at about nine thirty i presume, but as long as it is nothing serious, i want to thank u all , and wish u a Happy New Year!!!!

 

[polecat]

I'm glad the forum could help.
Keep in touch.
Happy new year.

Dave.

Got more additives than fuel in my tank.