rmcd

Hi folks.

The past week, I've noticed a smell of sulfer inside the car when I first start it. The smell is strong at first but then it clears pretty quickly.

Does anyone have any advice? or ideas?

I will admit that I put in some gas from a "secondary" retailer (Pioneer) recently but I think it started before I bought that gas.

Thanks.

pcy

catalytic converters. Is the engine running rich?

luigi524td

+1 an '04 ... check exhaust for leaks too --- Could be a bad load of gasoline is adding to the possible cat beginning to fail. If it continues you'll likely be faced with a Check Engine warning.

KyleB

goes away when engine is up to temp? by the way, all engines run rich when cold.

AchtungE60

Does your air blow when you start car? Perhaps your cabin filters need to be changed.

rmcd

Thanks a bunch for the thoughts. I'm up here in chilly Toronto and "Precious" is parked outside overnight. So she does start cold and - to the advice given - be running rich.

I'm a little nervous about the possibility of the cat converter starting to fail. I'm at almost 100K miles (160K KM). So maybe I'm due.

Interesting thought about the interior filters. I use "auto" on the climate control so the fan doesn't start for a few minutes. So I don't think that's it.

I'll check into it. Stay tuned.

Thanks again very much. This forum is great.

AchtungE60

? so what if you use auto?
Fan doesn't start for a few minutes?

koenig911

Valve cover gasket leaking oil on back side.

AchtungE60

??? Where do these posters come from? A member for 2 years and this is your first post and you know exactly what this poster's problem is?

Burnt oil does not smell like sulfur. If the valve cover is leaking oil, then that would mean it's passing through the cabin filters as I originally suggested. If using carbon filters that should be filtered out anyway.

545IblupasdU

How can leaking valve cover oil smell like sulfer on a cold start?