Car Repair - The Stench of Rotten Eggs

The horrid stench of rotten eggs has a distinct sulfur odor to it and if you smell it coming from your car you either have been the victim of a prank and have a dozens rotten eggs in your trunk- or more likely you have a bad catalytic converter and its time for a serious car repair job.

The bad egg smell is caused by your catalytic converter not working like it should. Excessive unburned fuel is going through your exhaust system and the heat generated by the oxidized fuel is generating the smell of rotting eggs.

The catalytic converters began to be installed in cars in 1975 to meet the changing and stricter EPA guidelines on car emissions as more and more cars began to use the roadways and consequently more pollution began to make an impact on our planet.
The catalytic convertor is considered one of the most important parts of your car’s emission control system. The purpose of the converter is to reduce the toxicity of your cars exhaust emissions. There are two different types of converters including a two way and a three way convertor. But for the most part you probably don’t think twice about your converter until you begin to smell that stench of sulfur that tells you your converter isn’t working anymore.

The simplest solution to try before you have to get into an extensive car repair job is to try using a high quality fuel additive/cleaner. If this doesn’t make any difference the next step is your mechanic to have the converter repaired or replaced.
Once your catalytic converter is putting out the smell of rotting eggs it probably isn’t running at top efficiency either. Other signs and symptoms that can point to a catalytic converter gone bad can include other problems such as a loss of power, heat coming from the floor of your car and not the heating system or you see your converter glowing red. Your converter is visible under your car and fairly accessible so you should be able to notice this without too much effort once your car is warmed up.

Removing the convertor without replacing it, is illegal since it violates the EPA standards and although money might be tight, and the temptation to take it off and run your car without it may be great, bear in mind the ensuing fines if you are caught running your car without a converter are not cheap.

No reputable mechanic will help you do this anyways so if you can’t afford to replace the converter you might have to park your car until you can afford the car repair. Talk to your mechanic and find out if you can continue to drive your car with a faulty converter or if you will be doing damage to your car and the environment if you do so.