what is that smell coming from? it is winter here and it about knocks you out in the garage. in the car it is not bad.

any ideas?

 

It's that skunk you ran over on the way home last night.

 

it is the cat converter

 

but why all of sudden after 2 years of ownership? i figured the cat, but why now?

 

Most likely it is your gasoline. Are you buying Top Tier fuel?

 

Often when a catalytic converter is taking a crap (as we say in the biz) it will smell of sulfer, but if you are smelling it in the garage, just as you are starting the car, I'm not so sure. Do you smell it once the car is at operating temperatures?

 

Sulfer smell can also be an overcharged battery. Had that smell happen when a regulator went bad and it was overcharging the battery.

 

yes, car is fully up to temp.

 

Has sulfur smell in a car once and it was the overcharged battery, not the cat.

 

Mini Farts.!!!

 

I'd check the battery too, see if it has any water in it - top off with distilled, not tap water, then get the charging system checked for overcharge condition.

 

My bet is on crappy gas. Change brands.

 

Crappy gas, O2 sensor, or dying cat. Since its winter I'd just get a different brand and wait till summer for the problem to go away.

If you are getting any check engine lights orstalling then get it checked out.

 

less than 200 miles after I had my tensioner replaced (at 10,300 miles) I noticed an acidric smell coming not only from the bonnet but from the tail pipe area, and a litle bit of it in the cabin, after the car reached normal operating temperatures. Very noticable in closed spaces like my garage. No codes or CEL thrown, and otherwise the car is operating it's nomal spunky self, and I feed it top-tier gas.

Called my SA and he theorizes it's the catalytic converter going south. I have a appt for my free oil change in mid-April, but he said if it gets worse to have Roadside tow it in before then.

A new CC at 10,500? Jesus Son of Joseph, my 86 Toyota truck at 273K still has its original CC!

 

When my High Pressure Fuel Pump went bad for the first time, I noticed a strong sulfur smell then. I only noticed once, but they changed the HPFP and I've never noticed since; I'm on my third HPFP, so far so good.

 

Easter Bunny storing eggs in your garage...

 

I've had this issue since day 1, or within the first few weeks of ownership.

Tested my theories, and it appears to only happen when I hit the ~2,5-3k RPM range. It's only noticeable with the sunroof opened, I can smell it coming in, but not through the windows. Doesn't happen when the car is first started. I have changed brands of fuel during my experimentation, and noticed most often with Shell's 93.

Asked a few people, and they all suggested what's been said above. It's not constant, doesn't happen every time I drive.

 

I get a similar smell in my 08' R55s when I get on it. It seems to only be present when I'm at higher RPMs (5K). I think I might get it at highway speeds too, but not as prominent. I noticed it the other night when I needed to pass a motorist who look to be under the influence. I was doing about 65 and floored it to get past the guy. As my RPMs climbed I started to smell it. It also got a little warm in the footwell area. I had the A/C on as well. The smell was pretty prominent for a minute then went away after I settled back down to cruising speeds. I don't get on it that hard from highway speeds all that often, but I do notice it in general when I get on it overall.

I brought my car in for servicing yesterday for a couple other issues. I mentioned the smell and they checked it out. What they came back with was a "smelly" cabin filter...... So they replaced the cabin filter as they couldn't reproduce the issue. Well yea go figure.

The service guy told me that it might just be the cat doing what it "does" and that it's normal to smell that when you get on it. I am no car expert, and this is my first turbo car ever, so for all I know it makes sense that it would either be the cat or something in the exhaust/turbo creating it. I would think if it was a fuel pump that was failing, you would experience car hesitation, stalling, etc rather than just a smell. Same with the battery, but then again I don't think I ever smelt a battery that smelt like that.

-z