Rotten Egg smell

20

Asked by fromca2nc Nov 25, 2013 at 11:36 AM about the 2000 Toyota Camry XLE V6

Question type: Maintenance & Repair

I have a 2000 Camry XLE v6 that I just replaced the starter in a few weeks ago and
everything seemed fine except that the cruise control was no longer working.  I then
had an issue where my headlights would dim when the brakes were pushed.  I thought
maybe my altenator was going bad so I took it to advanced auto to have it tested.  
they informed me that my battery connections needed to be tightened and the
altenator came back fine.  when we went to tighten the connections one of them broke
so we replaced both sides.  After we replaced them the car started smelling like rotten
eggs.  The car is old and has over 200k miles on it but I'm hoping I can keep it around
for awhile longer so any help you could give would be awesome!

5 Answers

10,815

Rotten egg smell is raw fuel in the Catalytic converter. It could be coincidence and unrelated to the previous work - or - the computer may be misreading an engine sensor after the battery was disconnected. There will be a trouble code in the OBD in that case. Check the OBD before replacing any parts, Cats are pricey. Camry is a reliable car and worth fixing right. Good luck!

3 people found this helpful.
Best Answer Mark helpful

Hydrogen Sulfide---this usually shows up with BAD GAS~ this smell will disappear when you use a premium brand~ good luck...good catch on the GROUND....most people ignore the ground, but this one increasingly becomes clobbered by high-amperage repeated dis-similar metals exchanging 300 or more cold starting amps~

2 people found this helpful.
20

I forgot to say my check engine light has been on for a long time. When it first came on I had it checked and came back with the o2 sensor. I was told I didn't need to worry about it but now I'm wondering... Is it still safe to drive?

2 people found this helpful.
30

It's the battery discharging acid fumes. Basically one or all the cell's have fell too short on water and the alternator is boiling the acid into a gas thus the rooton egg smell

3 people found this helpful.

Hello, I have a 2007 camry le 4cy. Last couple of years the car runs rough when starting. Usually on cool mornings then runs fine. My wife will be on the interstate running 65, the loses power to around 45 mph. I changed the plugs and wires earlier this year. Changed the air filter, cleaned the sensor right out of the air filter. Put the catalytic converter cleaner couple times this year. It still does it ever so often. More than we want. Anyone have a answer. What do I do. Thanks lance.

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