jalex65

OK, over 50 years of owning and driving cars and this one has me stumped. Parked the GLK350 in the garage this evening following a 30 mile trip, everything OK then. 1 1/2 hours later went in to garage and have an acrid odor that just about knocked me down. I'm thinking, what the.........?? Odor was stronger near the GLK and when I opened the hood it was overpowering. Thought, Crap must have hit a skunk or something. Got out light and examined whole vehicle, no sign of hitting anything, no obvious leaks, nothing. Went in house and pondered for a while. Went back to garage an hour later and odor not quite as bad, but definitely coming from under hood area. Only thing I can find is that both front fenders above headlight area seems awful warm when surrounding areas and rest of vehicle cool. Now I am thinking, burnt wiring??


Help, anyone?

jalex65

After a little research, I believe that the cause of the hot fenders is likely from the headlamp ballasts which are probably under the front fenders just above the headlamps. But, they do remain warm for a long time, the SUV sat out in the rain for over two hours and I just went out and the fenders a still quite warm to the touch. Still cannot account for the odor, but another thing worth mentioning is that when placing the vehicle in gear a clank sound from under the vehicle that has never been noticed before has suddenly become present.

bop11

Have you seen the neighbor's cat lately? They like warm places like the water pump housing!
One important thing to check is the transmission fluid. The pipes to the cooler in the radiator could be lose or defective allowing the fluid to weep or spray out on a hot engine part causing the smell. Especially with the "clunk" I would immediately take it to the dealer to have him check for fluid leaks.
I had a Ford once that was designed so that the tranny pipes rubbed against the frame and wore a hole. Fortunately for me, the hole sprayed on to the hot exhaust and made a cloud so I noticed it right away. I say 'designed', because the dealer had a FOMCO part, in a bag, in stock, with a part number, to fix this! However, he said I was lucky because if I had lost more of the fluid, I would have needed a new tranny.
Don't gamble with it.

jalex65

Checked vehicle this morning when totally cooled down and the odor barely apparent. Called dealer and they suggested we contact "roadside assistance". Did that, they over an hour away. So took vehicle for short drive and parked back in garage. Odor slightly stronger. Checked fluid levels, oil, coolant and they are fine. However, the odor of the coolant smells real similar to odor experienced last night. Have vehicle running in garage to really warm it up and see if it happens again. As the dealer is 30 mi away, don't really want to make the trip down if not necessary and we really need this vehicle as we are traveling next week and there sure ain't no luggage space in my SL.

jalex65

Did check for dead animals first thing when I smelled the odor last night. Nothing under the hood and I even checked under the vehicle and saw no sign of anything abnormal, definitely no blood or guts. Drove the car again, smell returned only slightly and now I am wondering if I am really smelling anything this morning or I am imagining it. However, there is no doubt about the foul smell that came from the eng. compartment last night. Roadside service just showed up to tow the vehicle and after discussing the problem with him I have elected to keep the vehicle under operation (my wife has several appointments today and really needs it) and only take further action if it occurs again. Roadside assistance thinks we probably ran over remains of dead animal in the road last night and "sucked" up the odor and it mostly disappeared over night. Roadside said that all they would do at the dealer is keep the car a few days and see if they can duplicate it so I see nothing gained by going thru that as we really need the vehicle in service, especially next week.

rmfnla

This was my first thought as well...

pamiboy

Does the smell permeate into the cabin when you run the circulating fans?

jalex65

Yes it does. However, while the odor is still present in the engine bay, especially when the vehicle is warm, it has dissipated to barely noticeable. I discuss it with dealer over the telephone the day after this popped up and they knew of nothing that could cause the odor. However, on in section of the overflow tank on the radiator, the smell of the coolant was awful close to what we had been smelling. But since the problem almost died off, we elected not to take the vehicle in to the service department unless and until it became overpowering again.

End the end I hope this gets chalked up to one of life's little mysteries that is never resolved.