strong rotten egg smell!!!!
08-09-2010, 08:15 PM
#1
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
strong rotten egg smell!!!!
Further update to my shorted batery adventure of last week.
Had the battery on trickle charge and finally started it up tonight for the first time.
It started fine and idles a little rougher than usual but it is really rough if i give it a bit of gas.
The weirdest thing is the very strong odour of rotten eggs and it seems to be coming out from under the middle of the car. The engine area doesn't smell as bad and no smell around the battery.
I let it warm up and parked it in the garage. Maybe a few days in a warmer dry environment will dry things out and hopefully that's the only issue.
Ever happen to anyone else after several days of monsoon like rain?
Pete
Had the battery on trickle charge and finally started it up tonight for the first time.
It started fine and idles a little rougher than usual but it is really rough if i give it a bit of gas.
The weirdest thing is the very strong odour of rotten eggs and it seems to be coming out from under the middle of the car. The engine area doesn't smell as bad and no smell around the battery.
I let it warm up and parked it in the garage. Maybe a few days in a warmer dry environment will dry things out and hopefully that's the only issue.
Ever happen to anyone else after several days of monsoon like rain?
Pete
08-09-2010, 09:21 PM
#5
Race Director
Further update to my shorted batery adventure of last week.
Had the battery on trickle charge and finally started it up tonight for the first time.
It started fine and idles a little rougher than usual but it is really rough if i give it a bit of gas.
The weirdest thing is the very strong odour of rotten eggs and it seems to be coming out from under the middle of the car. The engine area doesn't smell as bad and no smell around the battery.
I let it warm up and parked it in the garage. Maybe a few days in a warmer dry environment will dry things out and hopefully that's the only issue.
Ever happen to anyone else after several days of monsoon like rain?
Pete
Had the battery on trickle charge and finally started it up tonight for the first time.
It started fine and idles a little rougher than usual but it is really rough if i give it a bit of gas.
The weirdest thing is the very strong odour of rotten eggs and it seems to be coming out from under the middle of the car. The engine area doesn't smell as bad and no smell around the battery.
I let it warm up and parked it in the garage. Maybe a few days in a warmer dry environment will dry things out and hopefully that's the only issue.
Ever happen to anyone else after several days of monsoon like rain?
Pete
The smell should go away shortly. If not then there is a fueling/ignition problem that is causing just the right conditions for the converters to go wrong every time. Needless to say this problem or problems need to be found and resolved.
Sincerely,
Macster.
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08-09-2010, 10:25 PM
#8
Race Director
Well, I take that back, partially. I guess if the car stored in a garage and the engine never started at a cold enough temperature this might keep the smell producing chemical reaction from ever starting.
My cars are stored outside (the Boxster out in the open and the Turbo most of the time under a carport cover) and I can't remember the last time either one generated the rotten egg smell. Once in a great while the Boxster will envelop the car in a very rich gasoline smell if there is no wind and I have the cabin air ventilation fan on which brings in this smell from the outside. My recollection of few times various cars have actually generated this rotten egg smell was after a short engine run time -- just seconds sometimes after a cold engine start -- followed by a restart though not right away. Seem to remember the engine and exhaust even though the engine only run for a very short time need to cool completely down again before the next restart.
As long as check engine light not on steady or flashing on and the engine is running/idling reasonably well there's nothing to worry about.
You might try another brand of gas but chances are the perfect storm of conditions that lead to this rotten egg smell being produced seldom occurs and you really need not bother. 'course, you want to run a premium gas grade, name brand, and purchased from a busy station to ensure the gas is of highest quality and as fresh as can be.
Sincerely,
Macster.
08-10-2010, 07:06 AM
#11
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Jake, that is the first thing that i thought of but the smell was most intense from underneath the center area of the car for some reason. I was leaning toward the battery theory because of what had happened with the super heavy rain shorting the battery out and the fact that it wouldn't charge up with the trickle charger over 3 plus days. I ended up boosting it to start it up yesterday so felt that the battery had bitten the dust.
It was the rough idling and roughness revving it a bit that confused me because it ran perfectly prior to the storms.
It was the rough idling and roughness revving it a bit that confused me because it ran perfectly prior to the storms.
08-10-2010, 06:57 PM
#13
Heavy rains, rotten smell, engine running rough etc. How long was the car parked before what ever reason you were shorting the battery?
The battery area and to boths sides has drains. Possibly a drain is plugged? First thing I noticed about catalytic convertors was when I used to run the streets otherwise know today as jogging. Cats stink and in one word STINK. Nothing worse than jogging and getting delayed by a light and having to smell catalytic converter smells. If the car did sit for and extended period of time or small children had a chance to insert objects in your exhaust there is a possibility of the plates in the convertors needing a good burn off of the offending covering. A healthy running of the car might end the smell. There's always bad gas ESPECIALLY if the car has been sitting. Gas has a shelf life which is unknown by many. I also don't trust refinerys to only put 10% max alcohol in fuel.
The battery area and to boths sides has drains. Possibly a drain is plugged? First thing I noticed about catalytic convertors was when I used to run the streets otherwise know today as jogging. Cats stink and in one word STINK. Nothing worse than jogging and getting delayed by a light and having to smell catalytic converter smells. If the car did sit for and extended period of time or small children had a chance to insert objects in your exhaust there is a possibility of the plates in the convertors needing a good burn off of the offending covering. A healthy running of the car might end the smell. There's always bad gas ESPECIALLY if the car has been sitting. Gas has a shelf life which is unknown by many. I also don't trust refinerys to only put 10% max alcohol in fuel.
08-10-2010, 08:19 PM
#14
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Car ran great prior to parking in the driveway. We had several days of extremely heavy rain. The water came down so fast it overwhelmed the eavestroughs and just pour over the edge of the house. It overwhelmed the drain in front of the garage and flooded the garage several times over 2 days.
My suspicion was that the drain hole could not vent the water fast enough and the area to the left of the battery tray (under the tray) filled up from water enough so that the positive cable connection point (not the connection at the battery but opposite end) was under water and so the battery would have shorted to the chassis of the car.
I noticed on the 3rd day that the indicator light for the alarm was not flashing and determined that the battery was dead. 3 days of charging at 6 amps didn`t put any juice at all into it which is not normal and i finallyu had to boost it to get it started to put the car into the garage.
Sadly the battery is only three weeks old so i hope that the store will exchange it even though it isn`t really a defect per se.
I hope that putting the new battery in and letting it dry out a few days brings her back to normal.
My suspicion was that the drain hole could not vent the water fast enough and the area to the left of the battery tray (under the tray) filled up from water enough so that the positive cable connection point (not the connection at the battery but opposite end) was under water and so the battery would have shorted to the chassis of the car.
I noticed on the 3rd day that the indicator light for the alarm was not flashing and determined that the battery was dead. 3 days of charging at 6 amps didn`t put any juice at all into it which is not normal and i finallyu had to boost it to get it started to put the car into the garage.
Sadly the battery is only three weeks old so i hope that the store will exchange it even though it isn`t really a defect per se.
I hope that putting the new battery in and letting it dry out a few days brings her back to normal.
