Why Does ATF Smell So Bad?

[Nick325is]

My old diff tipped in the back of my truck one time and the bed smelled like fish ass for 2-3 months.

Diff fluid is a truly awful smell. Rotten fish seems like a good enough description.

[z31maniac]

Corrected. I don't have a problem with new stuff. But fuck man, old stuff that's been in use for even a month is the fucking worst.


And I ALWAYS step in the pan, or spill it, or get the used oil on me. It never fails.

Even the new stuff is absolutely fucking terrible.

[Threehz]

It's the smell of failure. 3 pedals FTW.

To a man with a 318is...

It also can be used in a pinch for fox urine to attract slatternly women such as Threehz's mother.

Says man who then talks about the belly buttons of tranny men...

belly buttons of tranny men

tranny men

[gkurey]

Sulfur-based compounds in gear and AT fluids are what give them their characteristic smell.

Here is a direct quote from wiki, "Gear oil is a lubricant made specifically for transmissions, transfer cases, and differentials in automobiles, trucks, and other machinery. It is of a higher viscosity to better protect the gears and usually is associated with a strong sulfur smell."

Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extreme_pressure_additive

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gear_oil

[Stanley Rockafella]

Rear diff fluid is WAY worse than ATF.

qft...it's even worse when burning it!

I had an 86 Nova with a 1.6 carb'd motor that used to burn oil like CRAZY. Some was leaked but most was burnt

To thicken things up in the crankcase I commonly added gear oil to the engine so as to slow it's oil consumption. Boy did I get a lot of dirty looks in traffic. I pissed off so many drivers with that cars' exhaust. Kinda funny when I think about it tho

[Fusion]

Dead flora and dinosaur diahrrea.
Don't expect that to smell like CK One.

[Vivek]

Rear diff fluid is WAY worse than ATF.

Even new diff oil makes me wanna puke. Smells like rotten eggs.

[JasonC]

It's the smell of failure. 3 pedals FTW.

That's odd... Seeing there is manual transmissions that do use ATF...