Wierd smell...? Perm or ammonia...

[J0HN_R1]

I'm getting a wierd smell the last couple days, and it comes & goes randomly...

It smells almost identical to perm solution, or ammonia. Almost like cat-piss (but it's not).

I know the smell of faulty catalytic converters (sulphur / rotten eggs), and I really don't think this is it.

The smell does go away once the car is shut-off though, but is noticable at-speed or at a stop...

* I also deleted my mufflers 3-4 months ago. The pipes end right where the mufflers joined, and point rearward on a slight angle to the corners of the bumper.

[Turbwhistle]

Do you have manual trans, i know when you clutch slips it stinks, i just cant remember what it smells like exactly.

[SoCalS4Avant]

Air conditioning - mildew/mold?

[jfunkey]

I'm getting a wierd smell the last couple days, and it comes & goes randomly...

It smells almost identical to perm solution, or ammonia. Almost like cat-piss (but it's not).

I know the smell of faulty catalytic converters (sulphur / rotten eggs), and I really don't think this is it.

The smell does go away once the car is shut-off though, but is noticable at-speed or at a stop...

Im not sure its a good thing tht you know what perm solution or cat piss smells like. hahahahahaaaahah just fooling with ya. Good use of examples it helped narrow it down

Maybe a few things. AC any relation to that or possibly to that. The build up of stuff over the winter can really have a bad smell when the ac comes on.

[B6JoeS4]

Kind of sounds like Freon to me. After I got my A/C charged, there was a lingering freon smell for a day or two. It has kind of that same "burn your nistrils" smell that ammonia does.

[split71]

Id say check your cabin filter to see if it's wet / mildew like.

[audivoodoo]

Kind of sounds like Freon to me. After I got my A/C charged, there was a lingering freon smell for a day or two. It has kind of that same "burn your nistrils" smell that ammonia does.

While I was in the navy we would deal with freon leaks as part as our fire fighting training. Typically freon in a colorless odorless gas, but when it heats up it becomes extremely poisons. Heated it will turn into mustard gas and have a acidic odor, momentarily, because the poison will actually burn the receptors in your nose so you wont be able to smell it for very long then you (in a closed area like a garage) pass out and die if you don't get out of that area. Im guessing its not freon your smelling.

[J0HN_R1]

AC works fine, and no reason why the cabin-filter would be causing it because the HVAC has been off totally when it occurs.

I'm starting to think it maybe the cats, as it seems to be more prevalant during WOT in the lower gears. But I'm sure it's an "ammonia-y" smell.

And having owned 4 cats over the last 20yrs (plus my parents cats), I know the smell of cat-pee. Liter-box changes are now apparently a "blue-job"...

Oh, and my mother used to get her hair permed when I was in school. I'll never forget that smell... Ever...

Do you have manual trans, i know when you clutch slips it stinks, i just cant remember what it smells like exactly.

I know the smell of burning clutch also (dude I was working with rode the p!ss out of the work-trucks clutch), but don't think it's that either...

[JohnnyAlQaeda]

is your "HVAC" set to recirculate or fresh air from outside? regardless of on or off, at speed enough air floods the engine bay to push through the filter into the car. its worth looking at.either that or someone pissed in your car. NH3 is quite a bit different from NO or NO2 so im not so sure its your cats.

[ringsroc]

Something else to Check is the engine compartment and hood lining for rodents. It should stink all the time, but perhaps the heat is making it worse?

[S4_Artillery]

Did you ever think about if someone is fucking with you? Maybe there is a dead cat under your seat.

[J0HN_R1]

Will pull the cabin filter(s) today. HVAC isn't recirc'ing. No dead animals or pee-stains I can see (inside, or the engine-bay)...

[J0HN_R1]

So I'm really starting to think it's exhaust-related. Just noticed my brand-new tips are very black & sooty after only 2-3 months.

When pulling away from a stop (50-75% throttle) & the windows are down, the back window gets condensation very briefly when the smell hits.

Oh and 1 little tid-bit I forgot... I deleted my mufflers like 3-4 months ago. But I can't see that causing the smell.

The pipes are cut exactly where the mufflers joined, so they end about 12" under the car. But they point nearly strait back.

The smell is sickening, I think other drivers can smell it too... And like I said, it's most noticable under WOT...

[J0HN_R1]

Sorta fixed the problem, but it's not loud enough now... Reinstalled my mufflers, smell is gone...

Next weekend I'll tear the downpipes out & beat the cat's out. Maybe they're melting/clogging/disintegrating..?

[ringsroc]

Well now that you added the detail that the exhaust stops 12" under the car.... Ill bet it was sickening.... perhaps even lethal at a long light.

[J0HN_R1]

Thing was, I couldn't smell it at stops (even with all windows down). It was only when I pulled away @ more than, say, 75% throttle...

And like I said, the exhaust was like this for 3-4 months prior with no smell... Actually, during February & March, the pipes ended in front of the rear axles (no smell)...


* JUST CAME BACK FROM A 30-MIN DRIVE, AND THE SMELL IS STILL LINGERING AFTER WOT (barely noticable, but noticable)...???

Hopefully turning my downpipes into Piggies will remedy the smell. And a look-see with VAG-com...

[dtrizzo]

It's the dead hookers in your trunk.

[J0HN_R1]

It's the dead hookers in your trunk.

Got rid of them months ago... Although, one of 'em had a weave...