not starting and smells of eggs first thing in morning

[gnorman1984]

1998(R reg) Ford escort
1.6 16v finesse

I'm having a problem,when i start my car up first thing on a morning it is not starting up first time and it lets off a egg smell. I have drove the car throughout the day and it has started first time and no smell,it only seems to happen when the car has been left for a while.
I have been told by friends that it sounds like the Catalytic converter but surely that would effect it all the time and more so when the car is driving, this problem only happens when the car been left a while and the smell only appears when the car won't start properly.

I have had the bonnet up and i can't smell any rotten egg smell now and the car is driving as normal also there is no rattling and it's not losing power.
Can anybody please help.

[Scrapper]

sounds like your egr valve and they can be cleaned because they carbon up or you can buy a new one that could be your problem. i don't think it's your cat converter but these day's you never know? putting my money on your egr valve.

[mightymoose_22]

The rotten egg smell is likely a fuel related problem that is caused by the catalytic converter, but is likely a result of using a poor quality fuel. If you use a higher grade of gas then your fuel should burn cleaner and eliminate the smell occurring at the cat.

[Scrapper]

Originally Posted by mightymoose_22

The rotten egg smell is likely a fuel related problem that is caused by the catalytic converter, but is likely a result of using a poor quality fuel. If you use a higher grade of gas then your fuel should burn cleaner and eliminate the smell occurring at the cat.

i still say egr because theres been 3 bad on cars i work on this month. i do agree about cat smelling like rotton egg smell but so did these make it smell like rotton eggs. guess we'll find out sooner or later. and the cheap gas makes them carbon up the egr valve.

[AzTumbleweed]

Classic symptom of a bad cat convertor.

[Intuit]

Clogged EGR would definitely be capable of unmasking or contributing to the problem, but not creating it. It's normal for a cold engine to run rich and not burn all of it's fuel. Newer cars are *much* better about it, but even they produce the fuel vapor smell on a cold start. The bottom line is that once you get a complete tune-up (gap plugs and test wires) and sensor clean/test, you'll ultimately and eventually, want to replace that catalytic converter.

As a general rule, do the simple and inexpensive before the complicated and costly. The simple at some point, may need to be performed regardless and it's always better to know that you're not suffering from symptoms of multiple neglect or malmaintenance related problems. The hard starting is probably related to unburned fuel anyway. Fuel can be left unburned due to needing a tune-up, or poor compression ratios.