4 garages cannot find the cause

Status
This is not open for further replies. We close very old threads, and if this is the case, please start a new one on the same topic.

natogreen16v

RMS Regular
Messages
8,726
Location
Space
Drives
Stuff
Does the engine turn off when stopping at the likes of traffic lights then come back on when you go to drive off?
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
When you pull up at traffic lights and take your foot off the clutch, does the engine cut out and restart when you depress the clutch?
Ok understood. The car doesn't have stop/start but perhaps I should mention it is an automatic
 

Apis

RMS Regular
Messages
4,074
Location
NW
Drives
various
Have you ever smelt mouldy aircon? I wouldn't say it smells like propane or butane gas, but it does have a weird smell.
Might be worth trying an aircon spray or bomb to clean it and eliminate any smell.
Less than a tenner from a motor factors.
 

Petem86

RMS Regular
Messages
3,413
Drives
'15 Golf R
i was going to suggest injectors too.
my dads old 308 did this and i smelt peutred, fumes were literally coming into the cabin and slow speeds.
although obv worth checking the above aswell
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
Have you ever smelt mouldy aircon? I wouldn't say it smells like propane or butane gas, but it does have a weird smell.
Might be worth trying an aircon spray or bomb to clean it and eliminate any smell.
Less than a tenner from a motor factors.
I don't think its that because you can smell in from the engine when you stand outside and the doesn't smell in the cab when on internal circulation. I also git the aircond cleaned 2 days ago where the spray a chemical up the water outlet
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
i was going to suggest injectors too.
my dads old 308 did this and i smelt peutred, fumes were literally coming into the cabin and slow speeds.
although obv worth checking the above aswell
Yes maybe the injectors.

I just put a voltmeter on the battery terminals with the engine running to check for overcharging, and it read ~14 volts which i think is correct.

Maybe I will rig it up so that I can check the voltage when driving because it might be an intermittent problem, but it currently looks like overcharging isn't the problem.
 

natogreen16v

RMS Regular
Messages
8,726
Location
Space
Drives
Stuff
why would that cause overcharging if I replaced the battery and had stop/start?

Thanks
As the battery gets older/more wear on it the changing system charges the battery harder and without the system being reset it can boil the new battery as it's overcharging.

That's a very basic description btw
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
As the battery gets older/more wear on it the changing system charges the battery harder and without the system being reset it can boil the new battery as it's overcharging.

That's a very basic description btw

Thanks.
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
We get that smell on the forklifts in work and it’s 99 out of 100 times the battery needing replaced.

I think the problem is solved :grinning: and it was the battery. I think you are right Chris (and everyone else who suggested battery). I replaced the battery yesterday evening and took the car for a drive and I could still smell the gas smell. So last night I thought the battery replacement hadn't fixed the problem. However this morning the smell had gone and this evening I went for a long drive and still no smell. I recon last night there might still have been a residue in the air intake and that's why I could still smell it even though the battery was replaced.

I'll keep am eve on it for the next few days and report back. Thanks everyone for your input. I've certainly learned a lot!
 

stevieturbo

RMS Regular
Messages
21,096
Location
Antrim
Drives
Old Ford
It would be worth keeping an eye on charging voltage when driving for a while.

Batteries do die, but as has been said, getting the smell is typical of overcharging which is a little different than the battery dying through age.. So if there is an underlying problem you dont want to kill another battery.

Although obvious signs a battery is overcharging would be dash lights getting brighter, headlights brighter than normal etc Even interior light brighter than normal.

Even a couple of volts should be pretty obvious, much the same as brightness is very noticeable with the engine off vs engine started.
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
I wanted to follow up on the problem I described above because there were so many helpful people trying to help me out. I was getting a smell of domestic gas / bottled gas in the car cabin and 4 garages could not identify the cause. I finally thought I had fixed the problem as being due to a faulty battery giving off a smell. The smell subsided around the time I replaced the battery but subsequently came back.

I am delighted to report that I now have it fixed the problem and the source of the smell was so obscure, that I think it is worth telling the community here.

It turned out that my Hyundai Santa Fe all wheel drive was jammed in 4 wheel drive because the electro coupling that engages the rear wheels, when needed, had failed. This failure caused the oil in the transfer box to burn badly and overheat. The vent tube from the transfer box vents into the engine compartment and was getting sucked into the fresh air intake. It turns out that I was smelling burnt gear oil. The reason I know that the electro coupling was jammed on is because when you jack the car up and manually turn the front wheels, the back wheels turn too.

The cause of the failure is even more interesting. It was due to the fact that I put new tyres on the front 6mm tread without replacing the rear tyres which had 3mm tread. This caused the engine management system to think that the back tyres were skidding because for one tyre revolution at the front, the rear has to revolve slightly more than one revolution as it has a smaller circumference. Apparently this is a known issue with “all wheel drive” cars, but it seems that the Hyundai Santa Fe is particularly sensitive and they recommend that you always change 4 tyres together.

This was an expensive fix but at least it’s all fine now!
 

stevieturbo

RMS Regular
Messages
21,096
Location
Antrim
Drives
Old Ford
Burnt gear oil has a pretty distinct smell, it's a pity the garage werent able to recognise this earlier. Much as the dodgy battery has a distinct smell too.

Definitely an unusual problem but not unheard of. I think a lot of 4wd cars do like all 4 tyres changed at the same time, and of same make etc...but most cars arent that fussy about it
 

pobmk4

RMS Regular
Messages
1,577
Location
Ballymoney
Drives
Caddy 2K
The X-drive BMW's are a bit bonkers like that with tyres, had a friend's "misfiring" as he described it, but it was actually the esp kicking in as it thought the wheels were turning at different speeds due to the wear on the tyres (had previously replaced the 2 fronts)
 

Coog

Admin
Messages
47,514
Drives
GTI
Blew a transfer case and subsequently 2 diffs and axles on a Jeep with this same sort of problem. Can do some damage alright!
 

Marek11

RMS Regular
OP
M
Messages
19
Drives
Hyundai Santa Fe
Burnt gear oil has a pretty distinct smell, it's a pity the garage werent able to recognise this earlier. Much as the dodgy battery has a distinct smell too.

Definitely an unusual problem but not unheard of. I think a lot of 4wd cars do like all 4 tyres changed at the same time, and of same make etc...but most cars arent that fussy about it

I was lucky because my new garage recognised the smell immediately. The others had no clue. It also made things difficult that the smell wasn't there all the time. Also I think the garages were running the engine with the car stationary and looking for the smell which, of course, wasn't happening because the transmission box oil wasn't heating up because the wheels weren't turning.
 

Gambit

RMS Regular
Messages
13,603
Location
where the sun always rises
Definitely an unusual problem but not unheard of. I think a lot of 4wd cars do like all 4 tyres changed at the same time, and of same make etc...but most cars arent that fussy about it

yeah youd have thought for a bit more than a 3mm tolerance between back n front. like at least new tyre - to tyre on markers which would be 5mm?

for the above theyd need to be rotating tyres every year/8k mile or so. which albeit good practice that car minded people would do, majority wouldnt
 
Status
This is not open for further replies. We close very old threads, and if this is the case, please start a new one on the same topic.
Top