Sulpher Smell

[Tripler]

1995 ZR-1 with 20,000+ miles on it . I noticed a few times now that when starting the car, it sometimes gives off a sulpher odour but not with every start .
I think it did it once with a cold start and twice with a warm start or visa versa. Is this a sign of the catalytic converters going or something else ? Or bad fuel ? ...

Mike

[BigJohn]

How old is your gasoline?

[Tripler]

Well it gets driven once a week and I usually use 1/2 to 5/8 at each fuel up ... When I started it today , no smell , but yesturday it did smell on startup for a short while then cleared up . Put $40 in today and went for a 2 hr drive (always hightest) .
Seems fine today .

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Tripler]

Shell Hightest . No ethonol ...


Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[JFFerner]

A sulphur smell immediately brings my mind to an overcharged battery condition.

[jss06c6]

Hard WOT with Cats will give you an Ozone smell, not sulphur.. don't believe it's you're catalytic converters.. might try going on a long drive at highway speed to clean out the older gas and put in fresh.. not really sure that would be it though. Haven't heard of sulphur smell from bad or failing battery.. certainly watching to learn though.

Sent from my XT1585 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Tripler]

I am thinkin also that it was just a bit of bad fuel . Had it out today for a highway run and fresh fuel and no smell with startups .

Thanks for the replies

Mike

[jss06c6]

Good to know..

Sent from my XT1585 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Paul Workman]

The smell of SULPHUR? Hmmmm..... According to the Bible, it might be the company you keep, Mike! (JK:))

It smells like sulphur to me too; like you said: "...not all the time": just once in a while. But, I wouldn't swear that it actually WAS sulphur (or sulfur [Americanized spelling]). And, not necessarily exclusive to the Vettes either, BTW.

[Tripler]

Good point Paul ... Maybe I shud stop misbehaving ...
But thats a very difficult thing to do when you have ZR-1 with 415 hp and B E A utiful LT5 sitting on motormounts not to far ahead of your foots ...

;)

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Tripler]

The more I think of fire and brimstone, I swear its just crappy fuel we get now and then from the greedy oil companys. Ethonol plays havoc with my vintage bikes and even tho I do my very best to get non ethonol fuel , sometimes it ends up in our tanks . Ethonol melted all my replacement rubber fuel seals on my vintage bikes carburetors and petcock . I had to reinstall all the original rubber seals which being 40+ years old is able to handle ethonol fuels .
I know the 1995 ZR-1 can handle ethonol tho I wonder if ethonol is the cuprit in creating a bad odour , but perhaps the ethonol is cleaning out a few dirty parts also , hence the exhaust odour on startups ...
:)

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[lfalzarano]

https://m.carsdirect.com/car-maintenance/engine-smell-what-it-means-and-how-to-fix-them

It is most likely your catalytic converters or the emissions system is hosed up.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[GOLDCYLON]

I was thinking maybe the charcoal purge canister is plugged. Normally that gives you a heavy gas smell at the rear of the car although and not a sulphuric smell


Sent from my iPad using ZR-1 Net Registry (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[jss06c6]

Mike,

Struggling a bit with "Sulphur" smell.. it shouldn't be in our gasoline. Diesel yes (older distillations), but gasoline not so much. Is the smell like rotten eggs, which is H2S and toxic as hell? I'm leaning toward your cats as well. Is your AIR system still intact or did you remove it? This was old school emissions stuff to push a dose if air into the exhaust stream until the cats came up to temp. If you're still running OEM manifolds with the cats, maybe the fuel is playing with them a bit? I'm really grasping here.

Steve

Sent from my XT1585 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[spork2367]

Shell Hightest . No ethonol ...


Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

That's not a given. Just depends on area and station. Ours here in central PA has ethanol.

[Tripler]

Our Shell hightest gas in Canada most definitely do not have ethonol but while travelling in the states we were not always able to find a gas station with no ethonol ...

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[32valvesftw]

The Egg smell is Sulphur Dioxide and comes from a catalytic converter that is not functioning properly, in most cases. Could be high fuel pressure overwhelming the cat but I think you would have other symptoms if that was the case. Tough to confirm though as you need to replace the cat(s) to confirm. Is the smell constant?

[Tripler]

The smell is not constant and it only did it 2 or 3 times on startup over the last month or so .After the car starts and isrunning the smell was only for a few seconds .

[spork2367]

Our Shell hightest gas in Canada most definitely do not have ethonol but while travelling in the states we were not always able to find a gas station with no ethonol ...

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

Yeah, Canada doesn't force you to subsidize the corn industry when you buy gas. Finding ethanol free gas at the pump in the US gets harder every year.

[jss06c6]

The Egg smell is Sulphur Dioxide and comes from a catalytic converter that is not functioning properly, in most cases. Could be high fuel pressure overwhelming the cat but I think you would have other symptoms if that was the case. Tough to confirm though as you need to replace the cat(s) to confirm. Is the smell constant?
Too many years in the oil patch.. Hydrogen Sulfide or H2S smells like rotten eggs and is fatal. Wasn't aware of Sulphur Dioxide coming out of the cat.. good to know.

Sent from my XT1585 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[BigJohn]

Was the cat nearby?

[Tripler]

Is the cat declawed ?
;)

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[jss06c6]

Mine isn't!

Sent from my XT1585 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Tripler]

Did the cat come back ?

;)

[jss06c6]

Lighter and meaner..

Sent from my XT1585 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Tripler]

No more smell . Took the Z on the highway last week and took it to 6500 rpm a few times in 3rd gear and I think that cleaned it out . Shifting below 3500 rpm with these cars is not good for the injectors I figure or perhaps it was just some bad fuel like I mentioned before ...
;)

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[Mr Blue]

Back in the 70's when cats were a new thing and carburetion was less than ideal this was a lot more common. Might signal an a/f ratio problem.

[Hog]

Our Shell hightest gas in Canada most definitely do not have ethonol but while travelling in the states we were not always able to find a gas station with no ethonol ...

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

Yes Shell's V-Power Nitro+ premium has no ethanol(E0), but maxes out at 91 octane (R+M)/2


Remember the Sunoco 94 octane we used to get up here? It was a true E0 gasoline with a true 94octane(Research + Motor Octane)/2.
In 2010 Sunoco was bought by PetroCan, but they still offer and E10-94 octane fuel.


I used to fill up with Sunoco 94, then drive to the dragstrip. Get there at about 6pm, swap on the slicks and start making passes. As I burned off fuel and as the air got better ETs would drop and speeds would swell.
That fuel in conjunction with an LT4 knock module and my PCM recalibrations. I once bought some 104 octane unleaded at the track, man did that fuel smell nice. It was 4 bucks a liter though, and that was when gas was $0.50/liter for 87.


There were many GM cars/trucks that had the sulphur smell issues. Sometimes an Italian-Tuneup would help them(ie taking the vehicle out and doing some WOT acceleration runs to get the exhaust hot while at the same time getting as much exhaust volume moving through the cats while at temp.


Getting a sulphur smell during a dead cold startup shouldn't be cat related as nothing is going on in the cat until it lights off at several hundred degrees. Unless there is a sulphur compound that has settled in the cats and the initial hit of exhaust is merely moving it out of the exhaust into the air where you can detect it.


Sorry Tripler, I just read that you did take her out for an Italian tuneup. Glad it worked for you.

[Tripler]

Haha LOL ... Italian Tuneup ... Love it !!!

;) ;) ;)

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)

[WARP TEN]

Haha LOL ... Italian Tuneup ... Love it !!!

;) ;) ;)

Sent from my LG-H831 using ZR-1 Net Registry mobile app (http://r.tapatalk.com/byo?rid=90383)



Yep, had to do that with my old '68 Hemi Road Runner. First couple of passes and it looked like a B-52 taking off, but once the carbon was blown out it ran very well. --Bob

[Tripler]

Yep, had to do that with my old '68 Hemi Road Runner. First couple of passes and it looked like a B-52 taking off, but once the carbon was blown out it ran very well. --Bob


LOL ... B-52 ! I saw the Lancaster take off once and lots of smoke on startup from them also ... ;)
Put 600+ miles on it last week and it performed flawlessly so the IT( Italian Tuneup) worked well .

Thanks again Bob for the Battery disconnects . Another month or 2 and I will be installing it once the Z goes into hibernation for the winter .

;)

[WARP TEN]

LOL ... B-52 ! I saw the Lancaster take off once and lots of smoke on startup from them also ... ;)
Put 600+ miles on it last week and it performed flawlessly so the IT( Italian Tuneup) worked well .

Thanks again Bob for the Battery disconnects . Another month or 2 and I will be installing it once the Z goes into hibernation for the winter .

;)

Yeah, all the old (and then fairly new) jet engines were pretty smokey. You're welcome on the disconnects. Hope they work for you. --Bob