Fishy smell after driving - sign of trouble?

Have a '99 Dodge Grand Caravan (sigh)with 135,000 miles on it. After driving a short distance home tonight, I noticed a STRONG “fish smell” once I parked. At first thought rubbery smell…but then FISH!!! Stinky! Any thoughts on what that could be?

It could be a leak in the heater core. Other signs would be loss of coolant, fogged up windows, and/or dampness on the passenger side floor.

I would also suggest checking out the brakes for sticking/dragging. I’ve always thought overheated brake material had a sort of burning rubber/chemical smell but I’ve also seen it described as fishy. So something between burning rubber and fishy can come from the brakes.

a fishy or amine like odor is what you get when the clutch is overheated and slips or when certain types of brake linings are overheated and burned. You need someone to check your brake system as something isn’t right with release of the pad from the rotor, failure of the caliper to float as designed, etc. Did you leave the emergency brake on when driving home that night?

It could also be a sulfur-type smell from the catalytic converter. This is generally caused by a too-rich condition fouling the cat. Is the ‘Check Engine’ light (CEL) on? Does your fuel mileage seem lower than normal?