Anyone know of this problem..

I started the car, drove it almost immediatly, for about 5 minutes.. all of a sudden, i got this rotten egg smell, then it went away, this is the 2nd time that it has happened to me.

Automatic
1999 Max SE
93 Octane Gas
Plenty of fluids, just checked them

The heat was on at the time of the odor...

Car was not fully warmed up either.. could that be the issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

Some people have gotten that smeel from gutting the cat... is yours stock?

SuDZ

 

99% stock. I have a k&n air filter in the car. that all. Not even and intake.. just the filter.. lol
i would not even know where to being "gutting the cat". Sounds like Animal Protection Activists would have a field day with that one.

 

Maybe it is worth getting it checked at a muffler shop. They can basicly check it a few ways and see if it looks clogged or out of it's life.

SuDZ

 

sounds good to me.. i will do that next week.. thanks for the tip

 

That rotten egg smell is what you get when you catalytic converter is cold. The smell will stop when you cat gets warm.

Nothing to worry about

 

Yeah Cat converters make that rotten egg smell when water (H20) gets into the cat and reacts with the sulfur dioxide (S02) that is present in the cars exhaust, making Hydrogen Sulfide (H2S, the rotten egg smell). My car has done this on occasion on certain mornings where I dont let the car warm up a few minutes before I drive it. When the exhaust is cold water condenses on the inside of your exhaust, if you look sometimes some cars have water dripping out of the back of there exhaust's during a cold start. Let your car warm up too a normal temp and it should go away, because the heat from your exhaust evaporates all the water out of the exhaust.

 

also the small could be from your cat going bad...if it happens after your car is warmed, you might check into having it replaced....hi-flow cat

 

I agree if the smell is still there after the car has been running for more than 20 minutes its the sign of a more serious problem.

If your lucky it might be a sign of poor quality gasoline with some water in it (try switching brands of gasoline) or its just a failed cat converter and it needs to be replaced. Keep in mind if the cat failed something had to cause the cat to fail ( IE physical damage or damage from the engine ) and produce the "rotten egg" smell.
Some causes of damage could be from a rock hitting the cat and damaging it, a small amount of water getting into the exhaust from the engine, failure of the emissons control system, or the engine ran to richly and burned up the cat.

It has been several years since I have seen a car with a constant "rotten egg" exhaust smell so its unusual nowadays to say the least. Advances in engine emissons controls help reduce cat failure and most of the failed cats seen today are caused by rocks hitting the cat and physically damaging it.

Also gutting a cat converter WILL NOT produce the famed rotten egg smell, it will make alot of other nasty exhaust smells but not a rotten egg smell. Its the cat itself that makes the smell when water gets into it and reacts with sulfur that is present in the exhaust fumes.

 

i have this problem also, except it doesen't go away once the car has warmed up. I've switched gas, which has helped a lot. Also, it doesen't always mean your cat is going bad. If the cat was clogged, it would show up on the O2 sensor, and that would give you a CEL.

 

Yeah I forgot to mention clogging can be a problem too, you can have a dealership or muffler shop test the cat for flow rate to check for cat clogs.

See I gave a list of problems that can cause the rotten egg smell, but I forgot to mention clogs. Did you have your cat convertor tested for any clogs? Also are you getting any CELs ?

Also if your cat convertor has failed it usually will be replaced for free at the dealership. Federal law mandates that all cars in the US are covered under an 8 year emissons warranty from the date of manufactor for these things, regardless of the manufactuers warranty.

 

perhaps somethin died in ure vents?

 

Maybe it was that Taco Bell burrito special that I had for lunch thats making the smell.

 

my friends dad parked his 2003 passat under his carport and went to italy for 2 weeks. When he came back two squirrels had eaten their way into the engine. it turns out one of them crawld into a valve or something and suffocated. The bill to have the little bastard pulled out was like 3 grand.

 

I have a 99 SE Auto as well and have had similar problems on and off. First started 6 months after I purchased it new. I usually get the smell at shut off after extended periods of driving. Dealer has checked it twice and found no problems. My guess would be the brand of gas.