moody

What's up!

Question for the forum as I want to get your thoughts. I think my catalytic converter is starting to go out because under high loads (translated = petal to the metal on the highway), I can smell the "sulfur" smell from my exhaust. (I have to roll my windows down to smell it). This did not start (the best I can tell) until AFTER I got hit from behind about a week ago. I was stopped at a stop light and the driver behind me was preoccupied or something and hit me at about maybe 15 MPH. It trashed my rear bumper cover and the force caused my rear view mirror to pop off. I don't remember the car cutting off but it may have. Either way, I was able to drive off (exchanged insurance). I am making an appointment to take it into the body shop for them to further assess the damage.

Would an impact like that cause an issue that would lead to a sulfur smell like that? I am wondering if the jolt was enough to jack up my timing or bust a seal somewhere? I had my car inspected recently and everything checked out. I also tend to drive "under a heavy load" a lot (I have a cold air intake and Stillen exhaust) and I have not noticed the smell until after I got hit.

Just a coincidence maybe? thoughts? I have a 2009 Maxima with 78K miles.

Richard66

There is a chance your exhaust system was damaged by getting rear ended. Make sure your body shop does a good front to back inspection of the exhaust system. FWIW driving under a "heavy load" "petal to the metal" not a good idea with a wounded vehicle.

moody

Thanks Richard; I'll have them check.

Yeah, I'm not doing it now. Once I realized when it was happening, I stopped. Driving "normal" now LOL

george1800

It would be normal to have a sulfur smell during full throttle. The car runs very rich during this time to make the most power. Your exhaust very likely took some kind of a hit during the accident which may be causing a leak someplace. I would think the exhaust would sound a little different under load if that occurred. Anyway I would bet your converters are fine if you are only getting the smell at full throttle.

moody

Thanks George. Should be getting my car back on Monday. (The $400 estimate ended up being almost $3K. Glad I wasn't at fault!) They didn't see anything wrong with the exhaust so it may have just been coincidence . Also, it is coming up on 9 years (since it was manufactured) so I just may be coming up to the point of needing to have it replaced anyway. Since I only have 78K miles on it (and its paid off), I'll be keeping it so I'll look to replace it... perhaps with a hi-flow converter?

240tomax

My 6th gen. Maxima had the exact same smell at about 58K. Turned out the cats were toast and the engine sucked fine particles from the cats and scored a couple of cylinder walls. The engine started using oil like crazy..... a quart every 600 miles. I literally arrived with 100 miles left on the factory power train warranty to the dealership. Nissan changed the entire long block engine under warranty.

moody

Yikes! Well, I got my car back and I swear I don't smell it anymore. I know they reset everything (disconnected the battery) so now I'm wondering if my fuel/air ration was jacked up or something? I'm keeping an eye/nose on it. fortunately I don't have to do any highway, high-load driving so I have a little bit of time. (My commutes went from averaging 80mph to 30 mph)