Shinka81

Last night i was sitting in my car listening to music for about an hour with the engine on (should have been off for sure) when i started to notice a very bad sulfur smell or maybe a burning smell coming from the vents. This morning when i went to start it again, it had the same smell but still no warning lights and it sounds ok.

Any ideas what it could be? I was thinking the battery but the car is nearly brand new, only 8 months old. This is the 2 litre tfsi sedan model.

Appreciate the responses.

DennisMitchell

Could be battery, since the car engine was running it is charging and there is a chemical gas that is produced. The battery case is near the windshield so could the gas found its way to the cabin air intake which I assume is at the base of windshield, by the wipers.

Since you have the A3 for 8 months, it shouldn't be factory coatings burning off engine / exhaust surfaces. If it is exhaust gases, why would it be coming into the cabin and from vents? Were you parked near a building while it was running and the exhaust gas recirculated into the outside cabin air intake?

Seems strange. Probably wasn't wise to let engine running like that just for radio. If you needed the air conditioning, I guess I understand why it was running.

Shinka81

I was actually close to a building, since I was parked in my driveway with the garage door open. The car has been outside all night, just in case there were bad fumes I didn't want them trapped in the garage.

I realize now I shouldn't have had the engine on, won't be doing that in the future. I would think that there would be warnings about the battery or alternator if either were damaged but nothing is showing up in my dash. I had read that sometimes when a car idles for a period of time carbon deposits can build up, not sure if that's even a remote possibility with an idle for this short of time though.

The smell is tolerable if I roll down all the windows and keep the A/C off but with the fan running it fills up the cabin. Keep in mind I haven't taken it for a ride today yet until I can figure out what is going on. Fluid levels also seem to be normal.