Most of the people on here know more then half of the tech at the dealership so I could use your help once again. I am getting a rotten egg smell when ever I drive faster then 80 mph. I assume It is a plugged cat. or something wrong with the fuel mixture. I have only ever run premium gas in it nothing less then 92 ever. I took it into the dealership and had them run a check on it they hook it up to a DBR3 machine and told m e it came back all clear. The service tech let me know that it was all clear and the guy who owned it before me probably only drove the speed limit and that the smell was from the exhaust wearing in. Then he let me know that I probably shouldn't be driving over 80 anyway. I laughed thinking he was joking with me about the wearing it only to find out he was serious. I left disappointed only to open it up on the highway and smell it again. Has anyone had this problem before? Does anyone know what it might be?

 

they all smell. its there nature. all cars smell.

 

Under heavy acceleration the fuel mixture will be rich and sulfur in the fuel will oxidize in the catalytic converters causing the smell. If the odor were constant it would definitely suggest a problem. However, it is fairly common in these cars under full throttle acceleration so i'm not convinced it's a problem. I've experienced it many times, fortunately without a passenger in the vehicle. I've found that certain gasoline's have lower sulfur content and thus little or no odor. Next time you fill up try Shell. In my area, Shell doesn't seem to produce noticeable odor while BP and some others do. (I say "in my area" because an individual company's product may vary from place to place. Shell got in a whole bunch of trouble in Florida a few years back from damage caused to vehicles due to very high sulfur content gas coming from refineries in that region).

Other manufacturers (in particular Toyota) have received lots of complaints about the same odors. Toyota has a TSB to actually replace cats in some vehicles. Here's an example:
http://www.alldata.com/tsb/Toyota/11...004-06/41.html

Have you tried running a tank or two of Shell through your Crossfire? If not try it. Trial and error is one way to find out which fuels produce less odor. If you still have the smell you may just have to live with it because as you're already experienced it's hard to convince the dealer that there is a problem when they will not be able to legally duplicate it due to speed limits. You might also want to see if you can detect the odor in heavy acceleration from 0 up to 65 mph or so. With some fuels I can detect the odor even at those speeds under acceleration from a stop or nearly stopped so I would at least have a chance to demonstrate it to the technician.

 

I hear that. i've got a rear end noise between 75 and 85 and the techs won't take it out on the street instead they put it on the rack, lift it in the air and spin the wheels at 80 mph. Then they tell me its an exhaust moan.

 

Thanks so much for your help I go back on thurs. and wont bother them about it as much as I did the first time. Its funny that you say you have problems with BP only because that is usually where i fill up. I have a credit card for them and earn money back. I guess its time to cut that baby up.

 

you're quite welcome. i first noticed the smell when using Crown (a regional brand) and it was worst with their gas. BP isn't as bad but it's still very noticeable. i need to verify whether sunoco and citgo are culprits as well since i like filling up at those two near work. i also need to make sure that the 'no smell' shell is consistent in that regard. come to think of it i've got a fresh tank of shell right now. something to try tomorrow afternoon.

 

Usually the rotten egg smell is an indication of a plugged up catalytic converter, might have been caused by using cheap gas?

I once owned Honda Civic, it would smell like eggs even at idle, then one day I couldn't pass smog. So I took the catalytic converter out and cut the container open, which housed the catalyst. Upon inspection it was plugged up with a grayish glazed material, amazing if could actually run like this. So I installed a new one and all smell went away.

So you might just want to put it on the rollers for a smog test and see if it can pass.