smell in car causing headaches

tres bug

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Location
pikeville, tn
TDI
2002 beetle
Hi I bought a 2002 tdi Beetle to drive to work only. When ever I get in, after about 5 minutes I start to get a headache. There is a wierd like motor smell to the inside also. I changed out the cabin filter and the intact filter. can anyone please help. I really like to the little guy but I will have to sell him if the headaches don't go away. I never have owned a diesel, So I really don't know what to look for. Also the motor looks clean and there isn't any smoke coming from the engine. Have any suggestions? All help appreciated.:)
 

Bob_Fout

Oil Wanker
Joined
Sep 5, 2004
Location
Indiana
TDI
2003 Jetta - Alaska Green (sold) / 2015 GTI 2.0T
Sounds like an exhaust leak. I'd take 'er to MF Auto in Knoxville and have 'em check it out.
I'm going to guess something EGR related.
 

OnePutt

Veteran Member
Joined
May 21, 2007
Location
The burbs of NorCal
TDI
2001 Golf (Silver) | 2005 Jetta Wagon (Spice Red)
Yeah...sounds like an exhaust leak or a fuel leak. does it smell like burnt fuel? Does the smell go away when you get on the highway?

You can look around your engine bay. Exhaust leaks will leave a black soot.

Your cabin shouldn't smell much different than a gasser...you MIGHT smell a little burnt diesel as you would smell burnt gas at start up, but it shouldn't linger.
 

Surferchick2

Veteran Member
Joined
Apr 25, 2009
Location
Anacortes, WA
TDI
2003 Beetle, 2013 Golf
I'm not sure if it's the same thing, but my husband said he smelled what he thought was exhaust especially at higher speeds, and it would give him a headache (wierd thing is, I never could smell it so maybe he has a more acute sense of smell). It was at the point, if we went anywhere together we had to take another car. We even bought a CO indicator to see if we were getting fumes in the cabin but it was negative. Originally, I took it to our local mechanic and he found no exhaust leak and thought it might be a bad cabin air filter, even though I had changed it recently. I then made the trek to our TDI trusted mechanic and he said that the earlier beetles used a layer of wax(?) in the floor and as time went on and as it broke down (kind of melted), it started emitting an odor through the floor that could assimilate mild exhaust fumes, like a chemical waxy smell. They didn't find any exhaust leak either so it wasn't that. It kind of made sense, since my husband didn't seem to notice it until the weather was warmer which aggravated the smell vs cold weather.

I wouldn't disregard the possibility of a leak, but if they don't find one then it's most likely this.
 
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cvairwerks

Veteran Member
Joined
Jul 17, 2008
Location
North Texas
TDI
2001 NB 2004 Audi A8L gasser 1999 A4 Avant gasser
You can do a little detective work and narrow things diown. Try running to work with the windows down some, and recirc off, and air conditioner off. If you don't get a headache, on the homeward commute, run the windows at the same levels and then set the air to recirc, fan on and no air conditioner. If there isn't a problem, next day try it with windows up, air conditioner on and recirc off. For the homeward trip, air conditioner on, recirc on. You should know then what combination of settings will reproduce the problem. If it's only when you are closed up and on recirc, then the wax stuff could be it, or you have something growing on the evap coil, or it could be a very slight coolant leak on the cabin side of the firewall.

Also check that there are no openings in the spare tire well that are letting exhaust in.

Craig C.
 

eb2143

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Dec 26, 2005
Location
Rhode Island
TDI
None
You can do a little detective work and narrow things diown. Try running to work with the windows down some, and recirc off, and air conditioner off. If you don't get a headache, on the homeward commute, run the windows at the same levels and then set the air to recirc, fan on and no air conditioner. If there isn't a problem, next day try it with windows up, air conditioner on and recirc off. For the homeward trip, air conditioner on, recirc on. You should know then what combination of settings will reproduce the problem. If it's only when you are closed up and on recirc, then the wax stuff could be it, or you have something growing on the evap coil, or it could be a very slight coolant leak on the cabin side of the firewall.
Going off this, you could start by just going outside and sitting in it for 5 minutes without turning anything on. Still get a headache?
 

VWWV

Veteran Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2003
Location
Florida and WV
TDI
passat 96, candy white
Headaches can be caused by head/neck posturing. Try adjusting the seat or putting a rolled towel behind your lower back. (is there a lumbar support in your car?) Headaches "behind" the eyes or in the forehead areas are the common sites for posture headaches. How tense are you when driving this car? Clenching of the jaws is another common cause of TemporoMandibular Joint derived headache. If all else fails, see your Chiropractor, Physical Therapist, or Dentist. Your case is aberrant in that most posters claim headaches from just owning a VW. :)
 
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tres bug

Member
Joined
Sep 15, 2010
Location
pikeville, tn
TDI
2002 beetle
Hi everybody. Thanks for all the great ideas and the funny ones too...LOL I am having the carpet replaced this week. Hopefully this will take care of the problem. I loaned the car out a few days ago to some friends that took it to the UT game in Knoxville. That is about 2 hours from my house. One of them had to stop in knoxville and get some headache medicine.
I got down on my knees one day and sniffed ( hahaha) the seats and carpet. In the very front driver and passenger side of the carpet reeked with the smell. It kinda smells so sweet it's sickening. Somebody also suggested it was the moonroof leaking. Which it very well may have, I'll only owned it for 2 weeks.
However I will update you guys after the carpet install.
PS I love this site. You guys rock.
 

Duster408

Veteran Member
Joined
May 4, 2007
Location
Scranton, PA
TDI
1998 Jetta
Hi everybody. Thanks for all the great ideas and the funny ones too...LOL I am having the carpet replaced this week. Hopefully this will take care of the problem. I loaned the car out a few days ago to some friends that took it to the UT game in Knoxville. That is about 2 hours from my house. One of them had to stop in knoxville and get some headache medicine.
I got down on my knees one day and sniffed ( hahaha) the seats and carpet. In the very front driver and passenger side of the carpet reeked with the smell. It kinda smells so sweet it's sickening. Somebody also suggested it was the moonroof leaking. Which it very well may have, I'll only owned it for 2 weeks.
However I will update you guys after the carpet install.
PS I love this site. You guys rock.
It's not the carpet, it's the sound deadening material under the carpet. If it's not removed and you have the new carpet installed, the smell will continue. Removal of the sound deadening material will make outside noise louder, if this isn't acceptable, then have a material called Dynamat ( http://www.dynamat.com/) installed before the new carpet is installed.
 

PDJetta

Top Post Dawg
Joined
Nov 6, 2003
Location
Northern Virginia
TDI
'04 Jetta GLS TDI Pumpe Duce Platinum Grey w/ Leather
Hi I bought a 2002 tdi Beetle to drive to work only. When ever I get in, after about 5 minutes I start to get a headache. There is a wierd like motor smell to the inside also. I changed out the cabin filter and the intact filter. can anyone please help. I really like to the little guy but I will have to sell him if the headaches don't go away. I never have owned a diesel, So I really don't know what to look for. Also the motor looks clean and there isn't any smoke coming from the engine. Have any suggestions? All help appreciated.:)
I have a real funky acrid smell in the Jetta too, appeared to be coming from the air vents. Perplexed me for years. It is the floor mat rubber. I discovered this weekend when I pulled out the mats to vacuum the car and this time I just happened to smell one of the mats and it had that nasty smell. The rubber must be degrading. These are the snap-in carpet mats that come in the car from the factory.

--Nate
 
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