Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Car Fart? (Sulfur Smell)

Well I think I might have done something to it...

Changed fuel filter this morning, and drove 2-3 miles car was fine.

Came back, let engine cool, then changed the oil. Changed the oil, put in a Purolator PureOne filter. Also added Slick 50 Engine Treatment.

Started car it was fine. Checked for leaks, decided to go for a short ride to run the oil through. Drove About 20 miles round trip on level vally ground with minor hills. Averaging about 50-55mph. About last 5 miles, I thought I spelled something. I stopped to make the turn at last intersection by my house. I was almost sure I smelled something, but I had a disel dump truck behind me. When I got home pulled in the garage, and got out to check for leaks, and what not. HOLY JESUS WITH A BASKET OF FISH! It smelled like I ate half a dozen eggs and farted jingle bells! But the car honestly ran better, I had it up to 4500rpm before it shifted(ATX).

What could this be? Could it be the fuel filter maybe nice gas is cleaning out the crap from the OEM Filter that was still on the car at 73k? Or is it the Slick 50?

Checked the oil level, its Fine. Just about the Max Dot. I put just about darn near the 6 quarts in. I left the last 1/2 an inch in the last quart. Any comments would be good.

I'm pretty sure that it's supposed to be a tell tale sign of a bad cat, i think. when it starts geeting clogged or whatnot it will give a rotten egg/sulfer like odor.

~Alex

if its a bad cat I'm gonna be pretty angry. I should probably take it off and see if its just a bunch of crap builtup inside of it. Car did have an EGR probly for about a month. So there was probably alot of crap just going straight to the cat. plus there are 3 of them.... how would you be able to tell which one is the one smelling like sulfur to begin with! lol We'll see. Maybe like I said its just stuff burning out because of the lack of maintance done by whatever air head traded in the Tour to begin with. So I'll wait and see what others have to say.

is it really sulfur smell or something else?

sulfur smell is a tell tale sign of car running rich. the smell is actually normal if you were flogging it for the last couple of miles... it means that the cat got extra fuel dumped into it.

now, having said that, it's nearly impossible to change oil on our car w/o spilling on the exhaust. r u sure that's not what you've smelled?

Yes, the lovely placed drain oil did sprew onto the exhaust, and the oil filter did the same. I wiped alot of it up. I don't know if there could have been that much oil to smell the way it did. My dad came down stairs after 2 minutes and asked WTF did I do! lol Could I need to reset the ECU? Like I said, the fuel filter was OEM!

If FF was clogged with cheapo sheetz gas, like the EGR, could the ECU still be dumping in more gas like it was before I changed the FF?

Just an update:

I reset the computer via the old unplug the battery. Then took it for a short drive. Was only 7 or 8 miles for round trip this time. But no smell! I'm keeping my figures crossed that it was either the oil burning off, or that the ECU was squirting way to much gas. Hoping for the second! hehe I would love to get 20 mpg

How many miles are on your tour? As an FYI the sulfur smell is the catalyst not burning all the leftover gases in the exhaust. It is USUALLY the first signs of cat failure. You will also get a CEL with codes p0420 and p0430 which will be catalyst maximun efficiency reached bank 1 and bank 2. The good news is that if your car is less than 8 years old and under 80k miles the cats are covered under warranty. So worry not there is always a remedy whether it be warranty or a good reason to install headers. LOL

I'm not the original owner, I don't know if the warranty would apply? plus I don't have the stock air box on anymore,and the resonator is removed. That is probaly grounds to void it! But when I drove the car again this afternoon(after I reset the ECU) I didn't smell sulfer anymore. And I work both my jobs tomorrow so I'm pretty screwed for time. I have about a 2 hour gap. Maybe I'll try to squeeze a good ride in there. I would think it would be more noticable after a long time, then a short little trip like I made.

it could also be the third one! haha but there isn't a sensor for that. Stupid 3 cats on one darn car. Ford IMO should have just made one super efficient cat instead of putting 3 in...