Awful Smell

[Gary6595]

When I go full throttle in my wife's '05 Camry, SE, 3.3, Auto, I get the most awful rotten egg smell in the inside. I realize what causes this actual smell, but how does it get inside with the windows up??

I thought maybe the exhaust pipe is too short, and the exhaust might be recirculating up thru the trunk, etc. But this should not happen, right? Is there a recall that I don't know about? Dealership is mum - fear of the front pages again?

Your thoughts?

Gary

[Big Wheezy]

It's possible you have an exhaust leak, if the cat is plugging up as it's failing that can cause undue backpressure which would make things worse, or it could just be the simple fact that even very small amounts of sulfur are very noticible to the human noise, windows up or not and even with the blower off or in recirc you're still getting some outside air, and some of that smell will get pulled along with you even coming out of the tailpipe correctly.

[gator1939]

Originally Posted by Big Wheezy

windows up or not and even with the blower off or in recirc you're still getting some outside air,

+1

Cars are not hermetically sealed. Have you ever driven past the spot that someone hit a skunk? Or driven through an area that has a brush fire? Or driven past a pulp mill? All cars leak outside air like a sieve. You will smell any strong odor coming from outside the car.

gator1939

[Donald E. George]

Or past a feed lot when the wind is blowing the wrong way.