Question for the Auto Mechanics, Rotten Egg Smell *REVISITED* Pg 5

LOL

Yeah, I would think a specific GP forum is where you would want to be. That's kinda surprising.

Do as Wild Ones suggests with the O2 sensor readings. Check live voltages with the scan tool too.

Have a physical look at the cats also. Do they look like they got hot? (IE - Do they look "cast iron" grey?) Does one look more discolored than another?

Maybe I missed it, but just how old are the O2 sensors?

D16z6 is an amazing little motor.
Thats why i love hondas.
get you a k20 (2.0 ltr) and with the right money and knowledge and you can break 1000hp...

in a 4 cyl.

I will check the o2 voltages as well.

It only has one cat, visual check added to the to do list.

O2 sensors are still the stock ones.

This car has been pretty much trouble free, other than a fuel pump, fuel filter and the parts I mentioned earlier have ever been replaced. The tranny also went out when it was still in warranty.

Three axles on the passenger side, and five axles on the driver side, but I am to blame there and all happened after the mods. The axles have lifetime warranties, easy to change and would rather break the axles than the tranny any day.

It has been garage kept which I feel has also led to it being a relatively trouble free car along with the normal routine maintenance.

Wow. Didn't you say this car was an 01? If so, those O2 sensors are 16 years old and have seen lots of abuse. (Higher Heat / High Performance Mods)

How many miles?

Yes, 01 with 112k miles.

But the mods were not done until the car was out of warranty, so around '06-'07. I know that does not change the age of the O2 sensors though.

I have not had any real issues until this. Up until recently I saw no reason to change something that was still working. As far as I knew anyways and have not really had the thought to arbitrarily check the O2 sensors since the computer never alerted me. Don't fix what isn't broken is my motto.

Just went through the thread. Yup 2001. You need to replace those Oxygen sensors. At the very least the pre-cat sensor.

These sensors are in a very harsh environment and are considered "consumables". They get sluggish and unable to produce the correct voltage as they age. This fools the PCM into thinking that the exhaust gas is LEAN, when in fact, it's actually RICH. Even without seeing the car, I can almost assure you that these old O2 sensors are most likely the cause of your problem. You just have to hope they didn't cook the cat yet.

Get AC Delco or similar quality replacements,

The service life of an O2 sensor is 60 to 80,000 miles. Less if subjected to extreme conditions. I have seen many, many cars that had sluggish and under-performing O2 sensors that never once threw an O2 code.

Time for some new O2 sensors.

Gotta go. Let us know how that went. I'm sure that you're going to notice a difference, though.

Alright. Thanks.

Is this the biggest conspiracy of all time or what??

Seriously tho, why is this thread even on glp?

your battery is over charging - the alternator / voltage regulator took a shit. I guarantee it.

Hey guys!!

Lookit me! I built this badboy myself!

It's got a 12 cam 64 valve knuckleduster motor from a 1934 cropsprayer, and 56inch wheels that I salvaged from my sister's pram. It fucks off...

KRAKOOM!

^^^ (actual photo of bike)

Supposed to wash your face after giving guys rim jobs

Yes cat converter is issue ,, all other replies are retards either they don't know shit about cars or they trying to mess with u ,, cut the car converter out and put in a piece of pipe ,, fuck the environment your car will run better

A cat would not be plugged. Engine would not run. I still say it's your fuel you are buying. The computer should pick up any bad readings.

Like Ox sensor.

rotten egg smell can also be a capacitor leaking

check your electronics

a 15y old car is bound to have failing capacitors
its easy to spot a capacitor leak or a bulged cap top
a simple visual inspection of the board will tell you

the only thing you have to do is to get your ecu out, open it and inspect... simple and that's one more thing you can cross off the list...

Had the same problem and it was CLOGGED UP CAT, so get it checked out. You can use an infrared thermometer to see if the cat is getting too hot. Check you tube for videos on testing the cat.

Correct, the smell is from the engine dumping too much fuel into the exhaust and the converter is reburning it and causing the smell. Fix the over fueling and the smell will go away...when a converter fails it's the symptom of an engine problem, not the cause.

What killed the cat?

That's like a doc giving pills for symptoms and not fixing the cause.

You never know what kills a cat.

The cars I WORKED ON didn't have cat pellets they were a honey comb solid core cats. They either broke up and plugged the muffler and closed off the exhaust.

Sense he won't tell what fuel brand he been running I would by some CHEVRON TECHRON to wash the intake valves from carbon build up. There is a difference in gasoline.

Run SHELL as they use nitrogen and I don't know what good that does.

deepwater horizon part 2 coming up!

catalytic converter...... my vote

The smell is waining off and on because it is in the process of going bad, pretty soon the smell will happen all the time.
Start saving change now, a new one isn't cheap.

My 89 Buick 3.8 would not pass Kalifornia SMOG because of cheap gas misfires. So I started running Standard oil gas.

Ran Standard oil gas the cheap regulator fuel 87. Ran that gas and it SMOG two weeks later.

I am revisiting this post.
Its been about 5 months since the OP. Life got in the way and kept me from giving my attention to this vehicle. So, I parked it and drove another so as to not exacerbate the problem and potentially ruining the catalytic.

About two months ago, I was able to spend some time on it and as it was suggested I replaced the O2 sensors. Two sensors, one pre-cat and one post-cat, Bosch OE equivalent. I have now driven the car long enough to establish a new baseline after replacing the O2 sensors.

Replacing the sensors has made a big big difference along with increasing my gas mileage an additional 30 miles on a tank.

However, I am still getting a slight rotten egg smell, but it is no where as bad as it was, the O2 sensors definitely made a huge improvement(90% better). My question now is, what would be my next step in trying to further eliminate the rotten egg smell?

Due to the mods made to the car, one poster suggested taking it to a tuner shop and have it custom tuned. Should this be where I start? However, before I take it in I would like to eliminate any other possibility, mechanical or otherwise first that could be playing a role in the excess fuel getting to the cat.

TIA

Last Edited by BrokenTech on 05/08/2017 09:42 PM

I met a lot of tech's like you over the years.

Think you know it all and feel special because you took some tests.

Usually people like you are wrong, about just about everything.

Blinker fluid going bad, or past its expiration date. Refill blinker fluid with fresh fluid and note the expiration date.

I'm going to take a not so wild guess here...

Shell Gasoline - Your car stinks rotten, the absolute worst on that shit. Shell is that Saudi crap that is very high in sulfur.

My dad told me never to buy from them 25 years ago. He always noticed his cars ran like shit after he filled up there. He's one of those guys who has a really keen feel for strange vibrations, strange noises nobody else can hear, that kind of thing. When he tells you to use a certain oil or a certain gas or a type of grease, whatever, I always listen.

Using a certain fuel and running like shit is one thing. Excess fuel hitting the cat is another. Simply stated either the injectors are going bad/leaky or something is telling the injectors to spray more fuel than what can be burned and the excess fuel is hitting the cat causing the rotten egg smell. I learned that in chemistry class 30 some years ago. Platinum and sulfur creates a rotten smell.

Last Edited by BrokenTech on 05/08/2017 10:45 PM

sounds like a funny smell coming from the drivers rear