Sulphur smell

[achk]

Just wondering if anyone has noticed a similar problem:

I have experienced on a few occasion that a sulphur smell enters the cabin when I accelerate hard/ or up a hill, with the aiir coniditoner on and in recirculation mode. The car is a May 08 RAV ZR6. Spoken to the dealer who naturally found no fault with the car, but suggested that it may be a problem related to sulphur in the fuel, or unburnt fuel in the catalytic converter, or whatever (I don't think he really knows).

[CrankN]

Hi achk, no can't say that i have smelling anything like that. Can't say that i accelerate very hard either. Am trying very hard to get good fuel economy out of my V6 but alas......

I know that the cat convertor can give off a 'rotten egg' type of smell when it get very hot but it doesn't sound like the smell you talk about.

Yeah it sounds like the dealer doesn't really know :)

[Bruster]

Just wondering if anyone has noticed a similar problem:

I have experienced on a few occasion that a sulphur smell enters the cabin when I accelerate hard/ or up a hill, with the aiir coniditoner on and in recirculation mode. The car is a May 08 RAV ZR6. Spoken to the dealer who naturally found no fault with the car, but suggested that it may be a problem related to sulphur in the fuel, or unburnt fuel in the catalytic converter, or whatever (I don't think he really knows).

Hi achk,

i have noticed i get the same smell when my right foot has a mind of its own, i drive Rav4 ZR6 08 model as well.

i did get a bit worried about that and i will bring it up in the next service.

there has been a few things i will point out next service, is there anything else you have come across?

cheers

Bru

Edited November 18, 2008 by Bruster

[Keisari]

Just wondering if anyone has noticed a similar problem:

I have experienced on a few occasion that a sulphur smell enters the cabin when I accelerate hard/ or up a hill, with the aiir coniditoner on and in recirculation mode. The car is a May 08 RAV ZR6. Spoken to the dealer who naturally found no fault with the car, but suggested that it may be a problem related to sulphur in the fuel, or unburnt fuel in the catalytic converter, or whatever (I don't think he really knows).

The dealer is likely trying to pull one over you. In all probability, it will be an exhaust leak. It could be something simple like a perished gasket or loose bolts not holding the manifold on to the head quite properly, or something slightly more serious like a hole in the piping or cat (which can be fixed easily by an exhaust shop). I had a similar issue that turned out to be a perished gasket, although my car did have nearly 200,000km on it.

Considering that it's only a relatively small issue, I'd just take it to a reputable shop (ie: not a bogany one) and have them look it over. It shouldn't cost you much, so it may not be worth pressing the issue with the stealership.

[castr10]

Hi All,

have been driving my ZR6 hard around Sydney since Nov 07. Have not smelled any sulphur odour coming from my RAV (occasionally do smell it from a car ahead). Suggest if its a regular occurance then you may wish to have it properly checked.

[achk]

Hi All,

have been driving my ZR6 hard around Sydney since Nov 07. Have not smelled any sulphur odour coming from my RAV (occasionally do smell it from a car ahead). Suggest if its a regular occurance then you may wish to have it properly checked.

THanks for all the response. It is like a rotten egg smell (that's what I meant by sulphur), and I think it's coming from incomplete fuel combustion, and somehow the smell escapes into the cabin. Maybe it happens when the catalytic converter is too cold/hot.

It's not a regular occurance. It only happened 3-4 times and it's done over 10,000km now, and it's certainly not re-producible on demand. I'll have it looked at again when I get a mechanics friend to do a in-between service oil change at 15,000km.

Thanks again.

ACHK

[CrankN]

Just come back from weekend road trip down to Townvile and back and while going up the Cardwell range my wife and i did smell the 'sulpher' smell you refer too.

Thinking about it at the time i did realise that i had smelled it before although not as strong. Usually you shouldn't smell that smell from inside the car so i'm a bit reluctant to right it off so i might get it looked at in my next service and see what Toyota has to say :P

Apart from that the car went perfectly with plenty on tap for overtaking etc. as well as around 10L/100km for highway use which did include about 70km of around town driving so am happy with that.

Heath.

[cyt rav4 04]

heard of this problem on a few toyota...

anyone got it fixed?

the dealer always says they can't find the problem...

i am sure they know with this many people experiencing the problem/smell i should say!

[achk]

Smell seems to have gotten better as the car gets older now. It's done >12,000km now and I've only noticed a faint smell trying to replicate previous experience by accelerating up a hill on a hot day with air-con on. I'll see what happens in the future and will update on this forum.

[oopy]

It would seem the leak would be coming from the front somewhere - i'm guessing the precats are too restrictive causing a leak through the gaskets...

Experienced it on my 08 SX6 since new and still have the same issue every now and then (6500km now) dealer said they couldn't smell any sulfur

Only been using BP ultimate (98 ron low sulfur fuel)

[anthony_ling]

I have the exact issue, took the car in for 10,000km service and informed the dealer, they were unable to reproduce it, however I can, so i'm taking the tech for a drive in the next couple days...

Do you know what caused the problem in your case?

I have the Rav4 09 CV 4cyl, have tried a couple different fuels and get the same result.

Really frustrating when you are on the open roads and overtake

Ant.

Just wondering if anyone has noticed a similar problem:

I have experienced on a few occasion that a sulphur smell enters the cabin when I accelerate hard/ or up a hill, with the aiir coniditoner on and in recirculation mode. The car is a May 08 RAV ZR6. Spoken to the dealer who naturally found no fault with the car, but suggested that it may be a problem related to sulphur in the fuel, or unburnt fuel in the catalytic converter, or whatever (I don't think he really knows).

[69.NIX]

I would recommend a air conditioner clean out.

an easy DIY job. All you need is some Glen 20 and 60mins of time.

Close all the doors and windows, leave the air con on re-cycle for 10mins with the Glen 20 can jammed on.

Open the doors and windows and let it air out till the strong smell of glen 20 goes. Just run the fan (no AC) on fresh air intake for a further 10mins after you open the doors and windows.

Easy fix and doesn't take tooo long :)

[anthony_ling]

Update: Have taken the dealer tech for a drive and demonstrated the exhaust in cabin on two occasions.

Problem has been identified - the rear vents allow exhaust to enter the cabin under certain conditions.

They have taped up the rear vents (which has prevented the exhaust coming into the cabin) But makes shutting the doors difficult, not to mention the pressure difference between in and out of the cabin.

The dealer is currently talking with Toyota about the problem. They were planning to replace the rear vents; but are waiting on advise from toyota HQ.

Ant.

I would recommend a air conditioner clean out.

an easy DIY job. All you need is some Glen 20 and 60mins of time.

Close all the doors and windows, leave the air con on re-cycle for 10mins with the Glen 20 can jammed on.

Open the doors and windows and let it air out till the strong smell of glen 20 goes. Just run the fan (no AC) on fresh air intake for a further 10mins after you open the doors and windows.

Easy fix and doesn't take tooo long :)

[Burnera]

Hi Guys,

Bit of background, Motor Mechanic, 35 Years experience- Workshop manager – Fleet Manager (service manager’s nightmare)

I purchased a brand new 2010 RAV4 SX6 and after delivery, had to take the vehicle on a 450 Km trip back home.

Being generous, I let my excited partner drive the first half of the journey.

The outside temperature was 24DegC, the Moon roof was tilted open which created a vacuum in the cabin and the A/C boost fan was off, fresh air vents open.

After travelling 180 Km, I was dosing and noticed that my partners driving was becoming erratic and noticed that she was dosing as well. We were travelling at 130Km/h which is legal in NT. I woke her up, got her to stop and took over the driving.

It was then I noticed the exhaust gas smell, which was so bad that it made my eyes water. My partner was so affected by the fumes that she was very nauseous. We opened all the windows and still the smell persisted. I had to close all the windows and put the fresh air boost fan on High

When I arrived at my destination, I immediately notified the Toyota Dealer by email as it was weekend. I then called on the Monday Morning and stated my case, first to the salesman who took it further and got their PR person involved.

I eventually got the vehicle back to the dealer. The service manager could not replicate the condition. On a test drive with me in the vehicle, he did acknowledge the fact that he knew of other vehicle owners in other parts of the country who were experiencing the same phenomenon. The rear bumper bar was removed from the vehicle to enable the Workshop technicians to inspect the exit vents, which proved to be working as designed.

The problem was then dismissed, because it could not be consistently proved.

I recently had the vehicle serviced (10,000 Km) by the agents and on the way home had for at least 5Km a strong exhaust smell in the vehicle which then went away. Upon inspection, the engine sump was found to be overfilled by ½ Litre oil.

In closing; to this day, I cannot use the Moon Roof and I cannot put the AC system on to recirculate, which is a bummer as these cost heaps.

[Hikaru Sorano]

Yes, related to the rotten eggs smell, there was a post in Club Toyota Argentina about a corolla (1zze engine) with that smell without a reason and some occasional engine knock in 2nd gear and check engine light on

Dealerships could not find the problem, tried even replacing the distribution chain. No luck.

Do you know what the problem was? Dirt in the injection circuit. A 10 $ bottle of Liqui Molly Injector cleaner fixed it all.

The smell is because the catalytic converter working harder to due to the poor combustion.

The Check Engine light is because the temperature of the catalytic converter and the poor combustion.

The Knocking was for the same reason.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

AB

Edited June 4, 2011 by Hikaru Sorano