User Guide

3
SENSING A PROBLEM IS SIMPLE
YOUR NOSE ALWAYS KNOWS.
POSSIBLE PROBLEM DESCRIPTION
Antifreeze or coolant leak Sweet odor, usually accompanied by steam from under
the hood.
Burning oil Thick, heavy odor, sometimes accompanied by
smoke from under the hood or exhaust.
Electrical short Pungent odor, like burned toast.
Emission failure Continuous, heavy sulfur odor, like rotten eggs.
Overheated brakes or clutch Burning rubber odor.
Overheating Hot, metallic odor, usually accompanied by antifreeze/
coolant odor.
THINGS TAKE A WRONG TURN?
CAR TROUBLE SYMPTOM DESCRIPTION
Cuts out Temporary, complete loss of power. Engine quits at
irregular intervals. May occur repeatedly or intermittently,
usually under heavy acceleration.
Detonation Mild to severe pings, usually worse under acceleration.
Sounds like popcorn popping.
Dieseling Engine runs after ignition switch is turned off.
Runs unevenly and may make knocking noises.
Hesitation Momentary lack of response as accelerator is pressed.
Can occur at any speed, usually most severe when starting
from complete stop. May cause engine to stall.
Miss Pulsation or jerking that changes with engine speed.
Exhaust has a steady spitting sound at idle or low speed.
Not normally felt above 30 mph.
Rough idle Engine runs unevenly at idle. Car may also shake.
Sluggish Engine delivers limited power under load or at high
speed. Doesn’t accelerate as fast as normal. Loses speed
going uphill. Vehicle has less speed than normal.
Spongy Little or no increase in speed when accelerator is pressed.
Continuing to push pedal down will eventually increase
speed.
Stall Engine stops running or dies. May occur at idle or
while driving.
Surge Vehicle speeds up and slows down with no change to
accelerator pedal. Can occur at any speed.