Sulfur dioxide odor?

[vibedrivermatt]

Hey has anyone else with the new 09's equiped with 2.4l 2Az-fe notice this? I did. After some hard acclerating and parking the car, I got out and noticed a sulfur smell. I had no idea of the cause and thougt maybe it the motor oil I chose or poor quality gas, then I found this...Hey if enough people have this problem we might be able to get it fixed for free..http://www.autosafety.org/site...t.pdf

[ToolGuy]

How many miles are on the car?I would suspect after hard drving, this is normal. Either some oil burn, or the cat getting hot and burning off junk that accumulated. Otherwise, keep a nose out for it and if it happens again, take it to the dealer and tell them exactly when it happens.The 2003's had a rotten egg smell at times, GM issued a recall and all the cats were replaced. Mine one of them, been fine ever since too.

[Kincaid]

I've not noticed that but have not had much stop and go or hard driving.Wouldn't something like this be covered under the vehicle's emissions warranty? Aren't those for the lifetime of the vehicle?

[ToolGuy]

Quote, originally posted by Kincaid »I've not noticed that but have not had much stop and go or hard driving.Wouldn't something like this be covered under the vehicle's emissions warranty? Aren't those for the lifetime of the vehicle?Yes, right it would be if it is related to emissions. If the engine is doing something causing the smell, that too would be covered.The hard part is having the car do it in front of the dealer. If a check engine light is not on and the smell not present, vibedrivermatt is kind of in a wait and see mode. Next time it happens, and if the smell lingers on for a long time, if he is close to the dealer and it is open, drive right over to them.This all depends on if GM issues a recall, then he can just take it right in, smell of not, like what happened on my 2003. The reason why I asked about the mileage, is if the car is say under 1,000 miles, the cat and other components can give smells, such as coatings burning off and things, due to it is still being broken in.I did this once in my Jeep when a light would come on and then not come back on when I restarted the engine. Maybe somone else with an 09 will reply too and say they have had it, then he may be onto something. I just thought I would reply since 03's had a smell too at one point.

[vibedrivermatt]

yeah i notice it while drivng sometimes too. Like when I get on the gas to speed up onto an on-ramp. At first I thought it was comming from passing trucks or something but, now I know its me. This is just a minor nuisance but, still a problem that should be covered under warranty. I will wait and see how long this problem persists and if it's annoying enough to tell them and bring it in. So far I don't know if this warrants a vist to the service dept..

[Kincaid]

Hmmmm...what did you have for lunch?

[zionzr2]

some gas types also have a higher sulfur content which can lead to the odor. Usually found with lower grade gas from discount gas stations.

[vibedrivermatt]

Quote, originally posted by Kincaid »Hmmmm...what did you have for lunch?ohhh nooo what have you done to me five guys!!....but to answer zionzr2's comment...The price of gas where I live varies a lot from town to town. I've never heard of a discount gas station. It either all costs about the same in one location or about the same somewhere else. The car is meant to run on the lowest grade 87. I don't think it should make a difference how cheap or expensive this grade is. What the the heck did GM and toyota do, skimp on precious metals in their catalitic converters or something?

[808 Vibes]

Quote, originally posted by vibedrivermatt »but to answer zionzr2's comment...The price of gas where I live varies a lot from town to town. I've never heard of a discount gas station. What the the heck did GM and toyota do, skimp on precious metals in their catalitic converters or something? You mean your catalytic converter is made with platinum, silver and gold? What zion means by "discount" gas station is the generic lesser-known brand stuff. (non-shell/76/chevron, etc. stuff)

[vibedrivermatt]

yeah, been driving around some more, guess it's not that bad but, it still does start to smell when I nail the gas though, which I think shouldn't be so... I'll try to do what you suggest, guess that means trying to stick to these "better" gas stations even though I don't know what they are...Ive heard HESS is good, as well as Shell but, isn't that silly really? I think its pretty hard to buy bad gas nowadays.. Maybe in the 70's but, today? Sometimes I like to fill up at our local Stewarts shop here in NY, you've probably never heard of these gas stations if your not from NY or have never visited but, we have them.. Whats wrong with buying gas sold from smaller gas station chains or a more local type convenience stores?

[808 Vibes]

^ ^ Quote, originally posted by zionzr2 »some gas types also have a higher sulfur content which can lead to the odor. Usually found with lower grade gas from discount gas stations.I know I'm really tired, but it looks like he already said that. and no, never heard of "Hess" or "Stewart"

[ToolGuy]

When you are in PARK and rev the engine up, do you smell it? If so, take it to the dealer, rev it up and ask them. You could even take it to an independant garage for their opinion. I do not think this is a gas issue...I bought poor gas from the same station for months, finally in 2003 PT Cruiser developed a miss. I pulled the spark plugs and all had a strange orange tint to them, I knew this was not normal and never seen it before.The car never had a smell during this time. I repalced all the plugs, stopped going to that station and the car was fine.

[vibedrivermatt]

hey guys, just wanna update, I've been driving around a lot more and haven't been noticing the bad sulfur smell too much... guess its a non issue.. i think that maybe everyone should keep an eye on this ..lately i don't think its anything that would warrant bringing the car in to the dealership.. I'm going to keep watching it closely though, or more like smelling it to see if the problem reoccurs.. until then Im gonna say no worries on this matter... later!

[ToolGuy]

Good to hear! Yeah, just keep a monitor on the situation.

[tipdrill]

I am having the same issue with a '09 Vibe 2.4L. I have had this car for about a month. Same smell when accelerating hard to enter the highway or when passing people. The smell, while terrible, does seem to be improving. It is still unacceptable though. I'm thinking about taking her into the dealer, but they are so slow there.

[ned23]

The sulfur smell is sometimes caused by too much short-trip driving where the car puts on a lot of miles at less than warmed-up temperature.Low sulfur gas can help, as can some additives, like Lucas fuel treatment, which can help neurtalize sulfur to some extent. You might try putting 1 or 2 gallons of E-85 into a full tank of regular gas and running that through once. That might help as it would lean out the mixture and there's no sulfur in ethanol. The engine should be able to handle up to 20%-30% ethanol with no problem.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by HawaiiPontiacLover »You mean your catalytic converter is made with platinum, silver and gold? What zion means by "discount" gas station is the generic lesser-known brand stuff. (non-shell/76/chevron, etc. stuff)All cats are made with Platinum in them... It's what creates the catitlic process, or the chemical reaction I should say... the cat sits at about 1500 degrees while the exhaust stream isn't nearly as hot, coming out of the motor.. It's that reaction that re-burns the gasses.. I used something similar at work, it's just electric powered with a 5kw heater to keep it at about 1800 degrees.. I also personally know someone that had their cat STOLEN, right off the car out in the parking lot of his apartment building.. UNDER A LIGHT... Yeah, it's also why they are so dammed expensive..