sean05

iTrader: (13)

Hey guys,
well i gotta ? for you all. I just got a 98 max and the previous owner has just repaced the belts for me and said they were makin a squeekin noise so he got the shop to tight or loosen it.( 1 or the other) Well i today i jsut got down washing it and i pulled it onto the street 2 shoot some hoops with my friends and b4 i got out i was hit with this awful smell. 1st i thought it was teh clutch so i took it down the street and tested it out.... no slipage. Clutch was fine. So i kept thinkin and i remembered that he had new belts put on. Do new belts smell bad? Maybe the shop tighted them 2 tight??? What do you guess think. Altenator? Belts? HELP!! ITS DRIVING ME CRAZY!!

PoePoe2797

Belts arent supposed to make a smell....
Possible smells:
Burning oil
Burning coolant
Hole in exhaust
Dragging brake pad

SXN

dead cat could also make a smell.
a belt could make a smell if it was WAY too loose or WAY too tight. the rubber would burn off, and wear hard

sean05

iTrader: (13)

The smell is comming from the left side of the engine. what do u think it is?? it almost smells like an electrical burning.

sean05

iTrader: (13)

Smells like a extreme burnout smell with a lil electric burning. AHH I DONT WANNA HURT MY BABY!!

sean05

iTrader: (13)

HELP!!! LOL thats funny -->

PoePoe2797

Why don't you take the belts off....run your car for maybe a minute and check if it still smells. That way you can eliminate the belts as the culprit. We really can't help you out too much without actually smelling it

SXN

lol....don't run your car without the belts. Think about there those 2 belts go. and if you decide to for some reason...dont do it for long!

sean05

iTrader: (13)

I have elimated the belts. The smell seems to be comming from the iginition coils.. Could this be the problem? Then smell is not the belts. The smell was so strong it seemed like it was the belt but its been sitting outside for 30 min and the smell has left the belts and the source seems to be the ingition coils. Is that a possibility??

PoePoe2797

You can run your car without belts safely for short periods of time. The only thing your belts do is run your power steering (which you arent going to be using while checking), run your a/c (same w/ power steering, and run your alternator (which you do need, but your car can run off the battery for a short period of time).

sean05

iTrader: (13)

Do ingition coils die? i got 80k miles on my max.

SXN

running the car, and walking around sniffing it...i wouldnt recomend it

PoePoe2797

How else are you going to find out? Someone has to do it...

SXN

well...are your belts tight/loose... try THAT first

ivelweyz

Maybe he forgot to WIPE...

Phatmax98

iTrader: (2)

Maybe you hit a skunk?

SXN

describe the smell better........

ABK

Does is smell sweet, funny? Or does it smell nasty.

-=PK=-Maxima

my friend had a fish smell comin from his car for a long time and we had no idea what it was or where it was comin from....one day he drove past me and i smelled it from his exhaust. he got a new exhaust put on and it was coming from that. rev the car and smell your exhaust.

SXN

thats a catalytic converter maybe? thats more like rotten eggs

bfox55

yeah, the cat will smell like rotten eggs when it gets clogged or goes bad. also you might get some blue smoke from the tailpipe.

SXN

yea...but what causes the blue smoke? is it extra gases getting past the bad cat?

DaddyMac

you guys noticed you are getting played right ?

SXN

of course i did

twiggy144

Hey, you did not read the post about the Nissan Max recall (1997-98) for defective alternators? Some caught fire. Free replacement - if you can make it to the dealer before it burns down completely. Actually Nissan picks the tow truck tab as well.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

What is his meaning of "left" side of engine?

SXN

im guessing, looking at it from the front of the car....on the left side. or it could be, if your IN the car....that left.

pocketrocket

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, cos left side of engine (compartment) has no belts.

sean05

iTrader: (13)

The smell is a strong almost fishy but smells like it could be electrical?? The smell is comming from the left half of the engine there is no smell to the right part by my intake. It smells like it comming from under the intake manifold. Maybe it is the alternator. I think it is an ingition coil but the alternator could be it too. There is no smoke. No smoke from the exhaust. It just has a strong smell comming from under the hood.

i hope my baby is alright.

ManualMaxima

iTrader: (10)

i know my clutch smells fishy alot of the time. I use it alittle ot much hopping the bump into my drieway. And it does not slip just because you can smell it, it might not.

SXN

ok since its not from the exhaust, and there is no smoke, you can rule out a dead catalytic converter, coolant leak (wouldnt smell fishy) or oil leak (would smell different and cause smoke). I would say clutch is quite a possible option