# Can anything in a car engine give off a rotten meat smell?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anything-in-a-car-engine-give-off-a-rotten-meat-smell/221837>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 30, 2003, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anything-in-a-car-engine-give-off-a-rotten-meat-smell/221837 "2003-12-30T21:25:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anything-in-a-car-engine-give-off-a-rotten-meat-smell/221837/21 "2003-12-31T20:24:53Z")

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Have you checked your windshield? Is there a [pedestrian](http://www.charleston.net/stories/062403/wor_24windshield.shtml)sticking through it?

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**Author:** ![dakravel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85e7bf/32.png) [@dakravel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dakravel)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anything-in-a-car-engine-give-off-a-rotten-meat-smell/221837/22 "2003-12-31T22:59:01Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> My first thought was a cat in the fanbelt.

Exactly what I was thinking as well. I still remember when my Basic Auto teacher told us that story, it was so disturbing, and yet…, amusing.

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**Author:** ![Una\_Persson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/una_persson/32/346_2.png) [@Una\_Persson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Una_Persson)\
**Post date:** [December 31, 2003, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-anything-in-a-car-engine-give-off-a-rotten-meat-smell/221837/23 "2003-12-31T23:43:46Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Lazy \*  
> \*\*I just got word from the garage. The heater was leaking coolant and it got under the carpet on the passenger side. I don’t know if that was the smell: I thought ethylene glycol was supposed to be odorless.
> 
> But now I am a bit concerned that I have been breathing these fumes for a week and a half. I checked out some sites that said that ethylene glycol is not likely to exist in large amounts in air, and that it is really only very dangerous if large amounts are swallowed. But it was in an enclosed space, and I am the paranoid type when it comes to such things. I guess I am not exhibiting signs of shaking… \*\*

Heh…a few of us guessed right then.

No, ethylene glycol is not odourless. You can open a new batch of antifreeze and check it out. In fact, it has a fairly distinctive odour which tugs at the heartstrings of mechanics, in a similar manner to burning brake pads, brake fluid, ATF, Castrol, and of course, Marvel Mystery Oil.

I doubt you had any toxic level from the fumes. You can drink a bit of it before it kills you - certainly a lot more than you would have got from any exposure in the car. It’s likely that people who work in radiator shops get more exposure in a day than you did the whole time. And look, some of them live to be at least 40! 😉

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