How about a combination of nasty smells? My old KTM dirt bike used 80/90 gear oil for the gear box, I tried castoral synth gear lube for a while, I thought it was the worst smell ever, untill it got contaminated with water and I smoked the clutch. that was the worst smell ever
A close second is burnt ATF from an overheated forklift transmission
Another vote for gear oil. I worked up a tolerance for most smells back when I worked turns in SCCA, but dead gear oil gives me flashbacks at night.
I own two VR6 Corrados, so coolant doesn't even phase me anymore...
walterj wrote: So, upon mentioning this thread to a friend - he has the showstopper. His wife's water broke in the car, and since one does not stop to clean up such a mess at a time like that... 3 days later one trades in the car because it smells like rotting human goo.
Oh my...oh crap that's nasty... Miracle of birth my ass.
Joey
AV gas smells awesome, but jet fuel smell like diesel. Who knew?
joey48442 wrote:walterj wrote: So, upon mentioning this thread to a friend - he has the showstopper. His wife's water broke in the car, and since one does not stop to clean up such a mess at a time like that... 3 days later one trades in the car because it smells like rotting human goo.Oh my...oh crap that's nasty... Miracle of birth my ass. Joey
I was going to say 'burning coolant', but I think your friend wins the prize.
Appleseed wrote: AV gas smells awesome, but jet fuel smell like diesel. Who knew?
JP8 is the fuel of choice for the entire military, of course there's rare exceptions like nukes and regular gas out there.
Burnt tranny fluid, exploded turbo both stink pretty good.
Huge big crockpot of split pea soup that tips over in the hatch an soaks into every crevice... in the summer... Dogs liked it though.
Back in 1971, on a family trip to Mexico, I bought a stack of fresh tortillias, and put them in the rear storage. Then we got rear-ended by a dump truck and 2 school buses (yeah, it's a long story), which resulted in the storage compartment door being jammed shut. It took about a week for dad to figure out whose palm to grease to get the car out of impound, by which time, the tortillas had turned into a science experiment trapped where we couldn't remove them. Had to drive all the way back to Georgia with that smell, windows down all the way.
It was probably 10 years before I was able to walk by a Mexican resturant or even smell a Fritos corn chip without gagging.
I still find it hard to believe none of you have smelled GM Grape scented gear oil. I'm bringing a whole case to the challenge, so all of you can experience it's awesome aroma.
Gawd, many years ago my older brother's GF caught a ride to Raleigh, NC with me and she had a ferret. She let this damn thing run free in the car (Pinto hatchback) till we got there. 
The weather was kinda cool until I got back home and when the temps started to rise the car got a nasty funk in it; ferret crap under the rear seat and in the spare tire well. 
Burned trans fluid. Makes me gag.
Gear oil is bad but..
Having worked on bushplanes on the west coast of Canadia for eight years, I've got to say, Aeroshell 5 grease mixed with salt water and left inside a propeller for five years gives me the heaves.
Glad I got some sense and left that profession.
Best smell in the world = Burnt Jet A
Shawn
Twin_Cam wrote: Burned trans fluid. Makes me gag.
Yep, that's pretty nasty. Back in high school I was hauling two old auto transmissions in the back of my mom's Toyota minivan. I turned a corner a bit too fast and they both toppled over, draining what was left of the old trans fluid into the rear carpet. It took forever to get that smell out of the van.
http://www.joink.com/homes/users/cooke/indyram/gearaddative.jpg
Gawdawful.
For me, ATF is second. Burned, new, whatever, I can't stand it. Gear oil is bad, but I can deal. ATF is the worst...especially if it gets in your hair. Gack.
Best smell = Nitro and burnt Goodyears after a funny car burnout.
Burns your eyes and nose, but runs off all the mosquitoes.
walterj wrote: So, upon mentioning this thread to a friend - he has the showstopper. His wife's water broke in the car, and since one does not stop to clean up such a mess at a time like that... 3 days later one trades in the car because it smells like rotting human goo.
/thread.
gamby wrote: Clutch/seized brakes Every time a car in front of me is emitting one of these odors, I immediately think "ZOMG--is that my car???!?!?!?!"
I HATE that feeling....
I get that feeling whenever i'm driving in an area where someone is having a bonfire.
"WTF? Is... is my car on fire?!?! There's not even any wood in the damn thing!"
That's how you can tell when you drive an old funky car, when any unusual smell or sound makes you think your car is giving up the ghost. I've done that many time. Yesterday I saw a cherry cherry red mustang on the freeway burning oil by the side, but I still thought, is that me?
Gear lube never really bothered me. The smell when you pull the valve cover off a car that hasn't had an oil change in 30,000+ miles is pretty bad. Saw a lot of those at Toyota. The sad part is, Toyota usually covered the engine replacement for free. One Solara when the cover was pulled, the coked oil on top of the valve train retained the shape of the inside of the cover.
A similar smell always appears when I pull the headbolts out of 100k+ Honda engines, but it is much less strong.
Any odd car smells when I'm either in the Miata with the top down or on the bike. I automatically freak out ,just for a second. The worst was the first time I took the motorcycle to work in NOVA (I commuted 103 miles each way), and the car in front of me was blowing some smoke, which came up through my fairing around the handlebars. Thought that it was the bike for a second (nasty smelling, whatever it was), until the car pulled away, trailing a thick cloud of smoke.
I tore down transmissions at a shop for two years. Burnt and I mean BURNT ATF is the worst . After a few of those u will add the other smells together and spray em in the room to get the ATF smell out yuck
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