bad sulpher smell and weired engin light

[jas98]

hey in me vs sometimes just after i accelerate hard (sometimes soft) i get this bad sulpheher smell which is really strong, weather i have the aic con on or not (but mainly with air con on with the out side air)

does this sound like the cat converter? how do i test this?

also the check engin light came on the other day, i checked for codes but there were none (just kept repeating 12) then i started ca back up and no light came on, could this indicat that the computer is stuffed?

car is a vs commodore v6 with 138 000 on the clock (genuine)

cheers

[astormsau]

Good chance its an oxygen sensor making the car run lean or rich.

Drew

[hako]

Do the codes again ..... it will flash fault codes after 3 lots of 12's. It should have left a fault code if the engine light came on. I've sometimes had the sulphur smell after acceleration - most cars will at some time so it's nothing to really worry about IMO unless you get a fault code.

[Brett_jjj]

The sulphur smell is the catalytic converter,the smell actually shows that the cat working properly.

[jas98]

oxygen sensors are new, no codes are being displayed, i know it shows 12 for 3 times then teh code, but yeh nothing just 12, probly nothing to worry about then lol

cheers

[immortality]

the smell is from the cat. i thought it was a indication that it was running rich

[Brett_jjj]

the smell is from the cat. i thought it was a indication that it was running rich

It usually will be running rich under acceleration.Thats why you can notice it more then .

[hako]

Brett - shouldn't a code be left every time the engine light comes on???? (unless battery is disconnected)

[VNracer34G]

yeah most likely the cat however we had a phase of cars coming through work a month or so ago where lots of cars had the smell and we put it down to slightly different blend of fuel coming through with the change of season - when we started asking punters where they got there gas all with the smell got theres from the same servo.

Could be time for a high flow cat and freeflowing exhaust system heh heh!

[Brett_jjj]

Brett - shouldn't a code be left every time the engine light comes on???? (unless battery is disconnected)

Yep, it should definitely be setting an error code.The only way the error codes are cleared that I know of, is if the problem that has been causing the code to set, has been fixed and the engine is started 50 times or more.Or if the battery is disconnected,or if the codes are cleared with a scantool.Maybe theres something wrong with the ECU if the engine light comes on,but doesnt set a code..

[jas98]

yeah most likely the cat however we had a phase of cars coming through work a month or so ago where lots of cars had the smell and we put it down to slightly different blend of fuel coming through with the change of season - when we started asking punters where they got there gas all with the smell got theres from the same servo.

Could be time for a high flow cat and freeflowing exhaust system heh heh!

already got a high flow exhaust, got a spar cat here however not sure if its a high flow or not....how do i tell? looks newish lol

[astormsau]

perhaps tired plugs, leads or coils... causing it to run rich as its not sparking.
Do a test of the resistance of your leads, pull your plugs and check for wear or any fractures on the porcelain which might cause it to earth to the motor... also check the leads at the coil pack end for corrosion, check all coils are seated correctly, check resistance of the coil connection posts (with battery disconnected).... There are instructions on this site for checking all these things... some thing such as dead plugs wont show an error code telling you exactly what the problem is and sometimes wont cause the engine light to come on.

Exhaust should be a greyish colour when running well, and usually a sooty black when running rich.

Drew

[jas98]

perhaps tired plugs, leads or coils... causing it to run rich as its not sparking.
Do a test of the resistance of your leads, pull your plugs and check for wear or any fractures on the porcelain which might cause it to earth to the motor... also check the leads at the coil pack end for corrosion, check all coils are seated correctly, check resistance of the coil connection posts (with battery disconnected).... There are instructions on this site for checking all these things... some thing such as dead plugs wont show an error code telling you exactly what the problem is and sometimes wont cause the engine light to come on.

Exhaust should be a greyish colour when running well, and usually a sooty black when running rich.

Drew

thanks,

replaced plugs and leads not long ago but will check, coils were replaced aswell with the module with a new unit however i got it from me mate who got it from his mate who got it from ebay for cheap, then after i washed engin (no water touched coils as it was wraped up and it wasted hosed on) one coil burnt out so i replaced the others with the originals, but thye module is still the same (ebay one) sooo i mitechange it. ive got a diagosticle etc but cant figure out out to read if it has any error codes or delet them,

econamy is good, getting around 8lt per 11 on highway have had it down to 7lt per 100 but was a while ago lol