No Yolk! Rotten Egg Smell (Sulfur Smell Causes)
January 19, 2020
The pungent smell of rotten eggs can send people running for the hills. So when that odor is inside your vehicle, yikes! Yolks! The good news is that a trained service technician can search the source of that smell and stanch the stench… that comes from another words that begins with S. Sulfur.
Fuel contains small amounts of hydrogen sulfide, but they're enough to stink up a vehicle when it's not properly burned. You may know that the smell of rotten eggs can often be a sign of a catalytic converter that isn't working the way it should. That could be due to age, damage or an abundance of oil that's clogging it up.
If a sensor in charge of managing the fuel has failed, the engine can run with too rich of a fuel mixture. That can overload the catalytic converter and allow some of the byproducts to escape without interruption from the chemical reaction that is supposed to prevent them from going out the tailpipe.
There's another possibility, but it's usually only in stick shift vehicles. That's leaking, old transmission fluid.
Catalytic converter repairs are best left to a professional. Technicians at your vehicle service facility have equipment and training that can help them pinpoint the cause of this funky fragrance. Once the cause is found, repairs made and/or parts replaced, the smell should go away fairly rapidly.
Blair's Ferry Automotive
1565 Blairs Ferry Rd.
Marion, Iowa 52302
319-447-6310
http://www.blairsferryautomotive.com
Need Service?
More articles from Blairs Ferry Automotive

Them's the Brakes (Brake Rotor Resurfacing)
November 23, 2025
Your vehicle's brakes wear out. It's inevitable. You'll notice it when you step on the brake pedal and feel it harder to stop, or there's vibration when you are braking. Most modern vehicles have disc brakes that each use a brake pad that press on a disc (disc brakes!) called a rotor. The fric... More

Go with the Flow (MAF Sensor Replacement)
November 16, 2025
If your vehicle has an internal combustion engine, it depends on two things to make propulsion power for you to be able to motor on down the road: fuel and air. The engine mixes the two in just the right proportion so that they can be ignited, creating a series of tiny explosions that are coordi... More

(Ball Joint Replacement)
November 9, 2025
Every day that goes by, our bodies get a little more wear and tear on them. Our vehicles have the same issue. The older we get and the farther we travel, certain parts start showing some wear. Think of your hips. There are parts of our vehicles that are similar to them; just like hips allow y... More
