Exhaust smells like sulfur

[huntnfish]

I have a 2001 Olds Intrigue and sometimes the exhaust smells like sulfur. It has around 100,000 on it and I really haven't noticed the smell until lately. The fluid levels seem to be holding. Anyone have any ideas?

[upnorth]

Sounds like your catalytic converter is plugged and needs replacing.

[sparcebag]

I was gonna guess converter,but it has been.I once had a plugged converter it made a whistleing noise, I could'nt figure it out and one day the truck died on the highway took it to a mechanic it was the converter!I let it go too long so it also burned my valves! costly!

[Macgyver55]

Its not necessarily a bad converter. An over rich mixture will also cause the smell. This can be caused by (among other things) a dirty air filter, a vacuum leak, dirty injectors, or a bad fuel pressure regulator or even a bad O2 sensor. With 100000 miles if you haven't done a tune up yet it is due. Before you go out and have a converter replaced make sure you have a clean air and fuel filter, new spark plugs and (if it were mine) I'd be putting plug wires on too. Converters can and do go bad, but I'd recommend going after things that could also cause the smell and that need to be done anyway first (if not already done) to eliminate those possibilities.

In addition, just getting on the throttle hard on a vehicle that hasn't seen any hard accelleration for a while will often produce that same rotten smell for a while.

[Scott K]

One thing to check is pull the vacuum hose of the fuel pressure regulator and see if there is fuel in it, if there is replace the regulator, check tune up stuff, is the check engine light on? A converter is expensive, I wouldnt guess at one of those! Check the basics first yourself, if you dont find anything, bring it in and have it tested, it will be cheaper then throwing parts at it!

[ChuckN]

Are you getting a check engine light on the dash?

I was on a long trip last week in driving rain and horrible wind and for some reason one of my O2 sensors failed, and it stunk bad. I got a Check Engine light, and had a diagnosis to the O2 sensor failure, so the engine ran rich.

2 days later the check engine light went off, no more stink and the O2 sensor came back to life.

Other good advice here...

[huntnfish]

There is no check engine light. I have replaced the fuel pressure regulator, air and fuel filters and plugs in the last 9 months. It normally smells after I drive it and I do have a tendency to get on it a little hard. The mileage has also seemed to be less after I noticed the smell. I may have to try wires and see if that helps at all. Thanks for the responses so far.

[sparkyaber]

My wife's 2001 toyota sequoia with 78000 miles also has an "odor" when I drive with the the rear window (lift gate window) rolled down and under hard accelleration. Runs like a champ otherwise. (Duh, it's a toyota) Very sulfur like, same thing? Same remedies?

[huntnfish]

Yesterday the check engine light came on. I don't know if there is any relation between the smell and the light. I got the code checked and it was a P0410-secondary air injection system fault. Does anyone have any other ideas on where to look. When it came on I was hoping it would just be the fuel cap but no such luck. Thanks in advance.

[Scott K]

I do think they are related the 410 code, is for the secondary air system ,in which pumps air into the cat converter. There is a tsb for this condition, it has you replace the pump and hose, do to water getting into it. The tsb # is 04-06-04.

[raymondk]

i have a s10 blazer i had the same thing happen I found a loose battery terninal It would start and run real good then every once in a while i would get the bad smell . This might not be your problem but it is a small thing to check.All the electronic stuff needs full 12 volts .or all the sensors do not read right.

[Jeremy airjer W]

(airjer says sarcasticly)I haven't replaced any of those yet! Along with the switching valve thingy on those envoys, pretty common also. The process is a lot easier with a scan tool of course.

The gas cap code - P0440 evap emissions leak (most common)