Well, I have about 800 miles on my supercab Lariat, it has been excellent so far except for the stink coming from the exhaust....Is anyone else having this problem? It has been doning it on and off since new, I've tried different gas stations with no perceptible change. I suspect there is still something not right with the engine processor calibration. Ideas??

 

It's an emissions problem.
Rotten egg smell from engines is usually caused by extra high sulfer content in the exhaust. This is not normal. This indicates the engine is not burning properly, and, more often than not, the catalytic converter is malfunctioning. In either case, a visit to the service shop is needed.

 

I guess that I should have qualified my observations with: I am in the Detroit MI. area and am running the "winter" grade fuel which seems to wreak havoc with driveabilty....anyone else in one of the states out there running the "winter" fuel having issues?
Thanks!

 

i have noticed the same smell in mine. I also had this in my 97 lariat. I think it may just have to do with quality of gas where we live.

 

this gas should smell like gold for what we are paying...

 

LOL King Ranch, my last fill up= $50.00.....

 

Same problem with mine, I thought it meant the engine was running rich. Can the shop do anything to cure it, and if so what? Does the fuel injection curve need to be changed?

 

what is so special about "winter gas?"

 

Winter gas only 'seems' like it's more noxious, because we're all couped up indoors with our family.

 

Many states mandate the use of oxygenated gasoline, here in MN it is all year but in other states (such as MI) it is only required during the winter months.

Gasoline use to be oxygenated in 2 ways; either with MTBE or Ethanol. MTBE was found to be too hazardous (when it leaks it actually seeks out ground water) so Ethanol has become the standard. Ethanol is made from corn and is basically grain alcohol, the standard blend is 10% so basically "winter" gasoline is 20 proof booze.

There are absolutely no driveability concerns when running ethanol blended fuel. There is only a very slight mileage drop (maybe 1%), not even enough to hardly notice. Its purpose is to help the gasoline burn more efficiently and completely and all modern engines are designed with use of this fuel in mind. All the stories you hear about ethanol being bad for your engine have no basis in reality. There were concerns early on that it may negatively affect older carbeurated (sp?) engines and two stroke engines in snowmobiles, but this proved to never even be a problem.

As for the rotten egg smell, it is either a faulty converter or there are some emissions/engine control problems that are causing the engine to run rich and spit out unburned fuel into the exhaust. Typically the smell is caused by a converter that is running too hot, either due to an internal converter problem or from having to work too hard to clean up the exhaust. Go to the dealer and get it checked out.

Im suprised/perplexed though that it wouldnt trigger a check engine light.

 

Ok...Are you sure it is not something you ate?

 

Anyway.....

If you smell rotten egs and you are sure you didn't leave them inside the cab for a week, your cats are most likely clogged. Make a service appointment.

 

When I bought my wife's Pathfinder a couple months ago, the dealer told me that there would be a noticable smell emitting for about 500-1,000 miles. I forget exactly why, but I think it had to do with the new parts and some coatings that are on them. He told me not to worry about it and it would subside. Maybe this is the same thing?

 

I find that I run better on winter gas.

either way...

sounds like someone "dropped a bomb" in your truck.

 

Thanks for all of the input. I will have to seek out more info at work on this issue. Hopefully it will be just another reflash of the processor. As I recall, there were all kinds of problems with the explorers when they first came out as the had cheaper catalysts on them. We'll see......