Help? Very bad Odor after Track

[scruffydog]

My car just came back from track at Thunderhill. It was 110 degrees but nothing bad happened there aside from hitting Fuel Starvation twice.

It's been a week and my car still smells really really bad - if I park my car in the garage it would instantly stink up the whole room in less than 15 mins.

Initially I thought it smelled like brake fluid mixed with differential fluid. I took it to the dealership and they thought it wasn't any kind of fluid they recognized and thought it smelled more like a dead otter.

I can smell it in the interior, and more obvious if i use the vents from circulating from outside. So it's been several of days, I've washed my car, engine bay and outside. I initially thought it was the GT Mat I installed in the trunk melting but it doesn't seem like it's the car. I still cannot pin point exactly where it is - it seems like it's coming from the rear but that's all I know. So frustrating. No fluid leak, now it smells more like fuel mixed with something.

I started taking stuff apart...it seems like it's coming from the rear passenger side exterior near this area.



Can't be sure though, anyone with this experience? What's this part? could it be from this unit?


My guess so far is:
-it's not from the GT Mat (I'm gonna rip it out just to be sure, but I'm very sure it's not it since I got the Onyx which supposedly said no odor).
-It doesn't seem like it's from the engine bay, I've swapped out the Test Pipe with my Berk HFC (doesn't seem to be related to that).
-Not from Brake pads nor Rotors since I've swapped those back out to stock, smell still very very strong.
-There's no fluid leak from brakes nor clutch. Car still drivable.
-There's no coolant leak, no engine oil leak.

Could it be related to fuel starvation? Like my fuel pump broke? Please help guys, I'm taking this car apart and cannot identify the problem. I will most likely bring the car into a Z car mechanic but I would at least want to help identifying where the smell is coming from so I don't get charge up the @$$. Thanks!

[thekinn]

.. that's a first. check the air intake? or .. i think the vent/filter for interior is in the area where your windshield wipers hinge? i'd just start looking in crevasses for dead animals..

[blackcherry20]

Originally Posted by thekinn

.. that's a first. check the air intake? or .. i think the vent/filter for interior is in the area where your windshield wipers hinge? i'd just start looking in crevasses for dead animals..

Thats what i was thinking...even a mouse will smell really bad.

[cossie1600]

Did you have an off road excursion and $hit your pants? JK

I would look into melted plastics

[Jasonle]

check for dirty socks jk. might be a dead animal like someone said

[dP3NGU1N]

Check your IC filters as well maybe? If the smell is strong in the cabin when you turn on the air then perhaps something was sucked in.

[Mitco39]

Maybe a mouse built a home in your exhaust, haha.

[scruffydog]

This happened half way through track day. The smell got worst when I got home. You guys think a mouse could have somehow crawled into my car on a 110 degree day and build a home? haha. I doubt it. I still think it smells more like a chemical type of smell. Like fuel related, then again I could be completely wrong and it could be as simple as a dead animal. The bumper is out and it's still very hard to identify the smell.

i'm in the process of taking out my GT Mat just to be sure it's not that....I do have brake ducts which have no way of knowing of what went in it - I can always check later but I still think it's coming from more in the mid/rear. I went under the car and it smells like it could be coming from the gas tank.

Keep you guys informed.

[Trips]

Originally Posted by Mitco39

Maybe a mouse built a home in your exhaust, haha.

Thats what I was thinking on a serious note

[scruffydog]

Originally Posted by Trips

Thats what I was thinking on a serious note

I don't think it is, because I took the TP shortie out and swapped it with a HFC now I took the Exhaust Canister out and smelled the pipes.

No dead rat smell there. I left the car with these pipe no attached and the smell is staying within the car though.

Also, I aired out the car, and garage. The smell definitely follows the car, the garage doesn't have the smell.

[Trips]

Look in the rear wheel well cavity or check the gas itself maybe it was topped of with bad or racing fuel?? :shrug:

Outside of that? Pretty much almost everything has been covered as what it might be.

[binary0x01]

"you forgot to flush!"... no? too late?

Joking aside, someone may have put a stink bomb somewhere?

[Vichtz]

My cousin had a squirrel in his wheel well and this happened. But you said its more chemical? Are you sure its not from the lack of cats? How long have you driven it around after the smell started to air it out? It seems like you say its changed odors from the beginning, from dead otter to fluid? If you have really cleaned it top to bottom, I don't really know what else it could be. A clogged A/C evaporator drain could cause mold and even bacteria to build up that can smell pretty rank

[Megan370z]

I place my bet on the overheated Diff oil that drained thru its breathing hose that connect into the rear surbframe. might not have much out but enough to have been cocked and it can smell so freaking bad...

I got that problem on my 350z after my first track days in one of hottest summer day.

[Trips]

Originally Posted by Megan370z

I place my bet on the overheated Diff oil that drained thru its breathing hose that connect into the rear surbframe. might not have much out but enough to have been cocked and it can smell so freaking bad...

I got that problem on my 350z after my first track days in one of hottest summer day.

Good possibility!