Engine Smells like rotten eggs

[johnriley]

I've got a 2004 V6 Camry SE and whenever I floor it out comes the most awful smell of sulfur/ rotten eggs from the engine bay. The car has less then 10,000 miles on it. Anybody have any ideas what this is? The car does fine in normal driving and stinks only when gas pedal is floored. The stink is so bad I almost puke and have to roll up the windows and the sunroof. A friend suggested it may be the catalytic converter not working properly, anybody seen this problem before?

[2k4CamThrilla]

sulfour dioxide, burning. It occurs when theres heavy accleration and stop and go traffic. Happens a lot in new cars. Don't be worried.

[johnriley]

Damn, I would have never bought this car if I knew it was going to smell like ASS everytime I go fast. I should have bought another Honda! Seriously this smell is ridiculously foul, my wife and I can't stand it anymore. Everytime I go a little fast and the window is down we both seriously almost puke. I'm gonna go raise hell with my Dealer and see what they say!

[Mike Gerber]

johnriley,

This is usually caused by a heavy sulfur content in the gas you are buying. Change stations for the next few tanks and see if the smell goes away.

Mike

[camry-4-ever]

I had that smell once and switched to shell high-octane for 3 fill-ups. The smell went away about half way through the 3rd tank.
Also, JC whittney sells a converter cleaner that also takes that smell out. I've used it before but on 73 Camaro. I don't know if it will hurt the Toy'. Good luck with getting rid of it.

[Silver Streak]

It's normal, happens on my 03 camry too. You can complain to your dealership but they know it occurs too. It happens on a lot of the newer cars that are low emission vehicles. There's even a technical service bulletin on this.

All they'll suggest is switching gas stations because that gas your buying probably has a higher sulphur content. Don't worry, this smell should go away...in about 2-3 years...

[johnriley]

I fill up at different gas stations all the time and the smell is allways there. I read somewhere depending on what part of the country you live in you may always get gas with high sulfur. It must be a midwest thing. Would a high flow cat or full exhaust get rid of the smell?

[Silver Streak]

^ I believe an older catalytic converter would work...but then your car wouldn't be ULEV....

[johnriley]

What exactly is ULEV is that emissions crap? I really don't give a poop about emissions and either does the state I live in. I should just hollow the damn thing out.

[Your Uncle Moe]

My 96 Camry does the same thing...... Its VERY annoying......

[Wraith]

That means the catalytic converter has to be replace... You basically fried your cat and its dead..

[97&02camryleI4]

Originally posted by Wraith
That means the catalytic converter has to be replace... You basically fried your cat and its dead..

what wraith said

I have the exact same problem but mine is a 97 LE I4 AT with 50k and it smells like rotten eggs after the car has been warmed up and when WOT on freeway or long stretches of road. I've been told it's the catalytic converter but I never really got around to figuring out exactly what was wrong, but most likely the cat.

I have a simple solution for you and others as well. Do not leave the air in recirculatng mode. Instead, keep it on FRESH mode (air coming inside the cabin from outside) and you will not smell it anymore. Trust me on this because it works for me. Also, do not open any windows while driving at high speeds or else you will still be able to smell it. I know this is very frustrating because I hate closing my windows when I drive but this is the way I have dealt with it since I don't want to spend money to fix it. See if your dealer is willing to replace your cat since you should still be under warranty.

A technician explained to me why you can smell it while driving at high speed. It's because when you're going fast, your car creates some sort of a vacuum on the back of the car, which vacuums any foul smell back into the cabin, especially when your windows are opened. Keep us posted and find out if it's really the cat and if the dealer is willing to fix it. Good luck

[Camryamnesty]

or maybe you should stop frying eggs on your exhaust manifold?

[xpeed]

It also could be your transmission burning. Couple years ago, I was driving my 2001 Maxima GXE and I accidently was driving the car in 3 gear half way home. *That car had one smooth shifting* Car started to smell like rotten eggs and I realized my mistake the shifted it into drive. Couple minutes later, the smell was gone.

[green94camry]

I have 163,000+ on my 94 V6 and I usually fill it with 93. It will not smell driving areound the city even with short bursts to the floor up to 60MPH. It will smell occasionally on the highway but only if I floor it and hold it down for awhile like over 100 MPH for a stretch. part throttle and "cruising" up to high speed get around the smell as well. So it isnt a new car phenomenon. I like to call it my Fart bomb when racing someone and they are still behind me the fart bomb smell overwhelms them and they have to let off to stay back!