Six Car Warning Signs Your Nose Can Sniff Out

When your aging olfactory sensor smells a peculiar odour, don’t ignore it

By Bill McLauchlan

There’s something very appealing about that “new car smell”, even for those of us with more than a few miles on our nasal clock. Sadly, as our cars age along with us, that heady aroma gradually fades away.

But there are other specific odours that drivers should never ignore, though it can be more difficult for an older driver to pinpoint. Identifying these suspect smells early on can help avoid the hassle and expense of an unexpected breakdown.

Before we get to them, though, ask yourself how good is your built-in detection system? A keen sense of smell plays an important part in our life, often serving as a first warning signal to the smoke of a fire, spoiled food or the odour of a natural gas leak or other dangerous fumes. According to the US Dept of Health and Human Services, about two percent of North Americans have a problem with their sense of smell, and it’s more common in men than in women. In one study, nearly 25 percent of men aged 60 to 69 had a smell disorder while only 11 percent of women in that range reported similar trouble.

Surprisingly, our smelling ability plateaus at around age eight, and usually begins to decline after we turn 60. This can be accelerated by physical problems such as polyps in the nasal or sinus cavities or the cumulative effect of years of smoking. Though feeble compared to many animals – we have five to 6 million olfactory receptors compared with a rabbit’s 100 million and 200 million in a dog – we still can recognize thousands of different smells, some of which can be critical in the safe operation of our cars.

Unusual smells can be the sign of serious, and potentially costly, trouble for your car or truck. By acting quickly and making necessary repairs, you’ll be able to breathe easy knowing there is no harmful damage to your car, advises the Car Care Council. It recommends a sniff test to identify any odd odours, including the following six warning signs:

Newspress

1: The smell of burnt rubber could be slipping drive belts or misplaced loose hoses in the engine compartment that may be rubbing against rotating accessory drive pulleys. Use caution checking, though, when poking around near a hot engine.

2: The smell of hot oil could mean that oil is leaking onto the exhaust system. To verify the leak, look for oil on the pavement or smoke coming from the engine area.

3: The smell of gasoline is likely the sign of a gas leak in some area of the vehicle such as a fuel injector, fuel line or the fuel tank. Any smell of fuel indicates a possible fire hazard, so immediate attention is necessary.

4: The sweet smell of syrup may be a sign of leaking coolant somewhere in the engine’s cooling system. Here again, caution is advised: don’t undo the radiator cap when it is hot.

5: A smell like burning carpet could be a sign of brake trouble and a safety hazard. Have your brakes checked right away, especially if the smell occurs during normal driving conditions.

Newspress

6: An odour of rotten eggs is never a good one and, coming from your car, could mean a problem with the catalytic converter. This smell can also be attributed to a poor running engine, causing the catalytic converter to become overloaded and fail due to meltdown.

When you smell any of these nasty aromas you shouldn’t ignore them. Have them checked out and rectified, if necessary, for your own peace of mind. Remember, your nose knows best . . . even if it is getting a bit long in the tooth.

Old Flames Reunited

Amazing birthday surprise makes former owner’s day

By Bill McLauchlan

“I was a fool to ever leave your side
Me minus you is such a lonely ride”

Those words from Reunited by Peaches & Herb back in 1979 could well ring true these days for former Royal Navy Commander Bob Reed as he recently rekindled a young love in somewhat surprising fashion.

You see, the sixtieth E-Type to leave Jaguar’s production line in 1961 went back to surprise its previous owner on his 83rd birthday after undergoing a full ‘nut and bolt’ restoration.

When Reed put his pride and joy, a rare Jaguar E-Type into auction little did he expect that it would sell for £109,000 (223,450 Cdn) or that it would be purchased by someone who would spend substantially more than the purchase price to bring it back to its former glory.

Bob bought the car in February 1965 and owned it for more than 45 years, raced it and only decided to sell it because he couldn’t afford to restore it and didn’t want to see it deteriorate further.

He hadn’t seen the car since it was picked up by Bonhams and taken to their auction at RAF Hendon on April 23, 2013. At the auction, the car caused a huge stir among collectors and sold for more than three times its highest pre-sale estimate.

Photo: Newspress/John Colley
Commander Reed's classic 1961 Jaguar E-Type before its 'nut and bolt' restoration.

Bidders from all over the world fought over the tatty 1961 Roadster, one of the most desirable of all E-Types. The car was a very early 'flat floor' 3.8 litre model dating from the first few weeks of production, also one of the earliest surviving right-hand drive E-Type roadsters and had never been restored. It had covered only 65,000 miles (about 105,000 km) from new.

The E-Type eclipsed its £25,000 to £30,000 ($51,250 to $61,500 Cdn) estimate with eight telephone bidders on the line but it ended up going to the man in the room who opened bidding at £40,000 ($82,000 Cdn).

James Knight, Bonhams International Group Motoring Director said: “Although in a pretty tired looking state, this E-Type was so inherently original we attracted an unprecedented level of interest when offered at the auction. It has evidently been bought by the right buyer, who commissioned Classic Motor Cars, one of the world’s leading Jaguar specialists, to bring it back to life, sympathetically restoring the car to its former glory, expertly retaining as much originality as possible during the process.”

Photo: Newspress/John Colley
Chassis No. 60 after its 3,500-hour refurbishment.

New owner Chris Anderson said: “I sent the car to CMC and asked them to bring it back to the condition that it would have left the factory in 1961.”

Because of his affection for the car Bob contacted its new owner and kept in touch with the restoration process.

When Bob’s daughter Katie contacted the restorers and asked if she could have a picture of the car for his 83rd birthday Managing Director Nick Goldthorp said “of course but I think we can do better than that.”

Conversations with Chris Anderson took place and it was jointly agreed that the car, which recently won Best of Show at the 2015 RAC Midsummer Drive-In, should go back to celebrate Bob’s birthday in mid-September.

“The car took 3,500 hours to restore,” Goldthorp said, “and since then has received many accolades. It was a real pleasure to bring the car back to someone who enjoyed it for so many years. The look on Commander Reed's face when the car turned up was fantastic and I am sure that it was a day that he will never forget.”

Photo: Newspress/Paul Gillis
A delighted Bob Reed reunites with his former love. 

Commander Reed said: “This was an amazing birthday surprise I was absolutely flabbergasted. I wanted to see the car once it had been restored but thought I would have to travel to it at some point. Little did I think it would be brought to me. I can’t thank CMC and Chris Anderson enough. It made my day.”

He added: “The car is fantastic and the level of detail and time that CMC have put into it is just fantastic. I am sure that it is better now than when it first left the Jaguar factory in Browns Lane, Coventry.”

Back Behind the Wheel

Get up and be active –
or risk the consequences
of sitting still in our cars for too long

By Bill McLauchlan

It’s ironic that we all still look forward to collapsing onto the couch or into a comfy armchair at the end of the working day and taking the weight off our feet, yet most of us will have spent nearly all of the day sitting down at work.

According to the Stats Canada, Canadian adults aged 18 to 79 spend an average of nearly 10 working hours per day sitting down (not including sleep). Sedentary time was significantly higher in females compared to males, particularly in the 40 to 59 year age group.

And it’s not doing any of us any good. World Health Organization figures show that physical inactivity has been identified as the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, causing an estimated 3.2 million deaths globally.

The main concerns are: Obesity and Slower Metabolism, leading to cardiovascular issues and diabetes in particular; Cancer and Heart Disease, an increased risk of 60%; and Rheumatic Disorders due to wear and tear to joints caused by a lack of activity and sitting badly.

But the biggest issue we face from our sedentary life is back pain, and apart from the desk job and leisure time in front of the TV, it’s the car that’s at the heart of the problem. In a recent study of business car drivers, at least half had suffered from lower back trouble in the last 12 months, and leisure drivers are similarly afflicted. It is essential as drivers that we note this and take care of our backs, in order to make ourselves safer, better focused and more comfortable behind the wheel.

The daily commute to work is an everyday reality for a large number of us. In a 2011 survey, Statistics Canada determined that about 15.4 million Canadians commute to work daily, and of those people 74 percent drove a car to work. The average commute can vary greatly, though, depending on where you live. A shorter commute by distance with a higher volume of traffic may actually see you spending more time in the car than someone with more distance to commute but lower traffic volume.

PRNewsFoto/IBM

But whether that time is spent sitting in gridlock traffic or not depends greatly on where the driver is located. Take Toronto, Canada’s largest city, for example. Many drivers commute from surrounding communities, such as Mississauga – a 54 km (33.5 mile) round trip – to as far away as Barrie – a 188 km (116.8 mile) round trip, adding up to a lot of hours spent on the road in an average year. How much? Well, the Mississauga commuter racks up 13,500 km (8,389 miles) annually, or enough to have traversed the Great Wall of China twice. Making the daily drive to and from Barrie puts 47,000 km (21,749 miles) onto the odometer every year – that’s 1.1 times around the Equator every 12 months, according to Insurance Hotline.com.

Sitting Time Bomb
Ask an anthropologist and he will say that man is essentially a hunter-gatherer; designed to be up and about all day, trotting around looking for things to eat. Instead, modern man sits at a desk during the day, slouches in front of the TV at night, and in between may drive for several hours a day. When we use our backs in such an inappropriate way, is it any wonder that they fail?

Health experts now say ‘Sitting is the new smoking. The more sedentary you are, the worse it is for your health.’

Desperate Driving

GEM Motoring Assist

Sitting puts 50% more pressure on our lumbar discs compared to standing, and then combine it with the bumps and shocks from the road surface, the use of the pedals to brake, accelerate or operate the clutch, not to mention the twisting when looking around for other traffic, and it’s surprising we can still walk when we get to our destination. Of course the increasing stress of modern driving and living is a growing problem, but then there is the seat we’re sitting on – the car seat is far from ideal.

There have been great strides in the design and manufacture of modern car seats to adjust in accordance with the great variety of body sizes and shapes using them, but they are compromised by cost, space and the other safety and driving paraphernalia surrounding them. As Dr Graham Cox, an author on the subject writes: “Most seats are designed so that our knees are above the level of our hips, which is good for safety but poor ergonomically. When driving we need to extend our legs asymmetrically to move the pedals, turn the steering wheel, change gears and constantly be on the lookout for danger.

“Though we often start out well and with due consideration for back health when driving, it is not long before we are slouching or slipping down into the danger zones.”

As soon as your bum moves forward and a gap between the back of the seat and your own lower back appears, or between your shoulders and the top of the seat, then it is a sure sign that your spine is in the wrong physical shape and certain areas of the spine are taking excessive strain. What’s more, the vibrations and bumps also dehydrate the spongy discs that sit between our vertebrae and allow us movement, and act as shock absorbers – the less fluid, the less they have to work with. The point to remember is that you need to sit well back in your seat so that your back is in contact and supported from top to bottom.

Less Pain, More Gain
The essential thing to keep in mind is just to keep your back moving throughout the day. If you are sitting, whether in a car or at a desk, get up and walk around for at least five minutes or so every hour – ‘movement is medicine’ as the saying goes; keep your back moving to keep it flexible. The more we abuse this incredible part of our body’s architecture, the more we will suffer throughout every part of our physical and mental being. Take care of it and it will take care of you.
Being fit and healthy, and free of pain, can only make us all better, safer and happier drivers. Back pain can ruin your day, but as a dangerous distraction behind the wheel, it can all too easily ruin the lives of others, too.