sulfer smell 97 V6

[rustyrun]

I noticed today running south from Daytona when I passed cars and rpm got up to 4000-4500 I smelled sulfer. This happened twice and seems to be doing it only when the engine gears down and accellerates. Any ideas?

[Brian R.]

You may have put in a tank of high-sulfur gas. Wait and see if it happens when you use only Amoco, Shell, etc. gas for a while

[rustyrun]

Originally Posted by Brian R.

You may have put in a tank of high-sulfur gas. Wait and see if it happens when you use only Amoco, Shell, etc. gas for a while

I only run Amoco regular in it. I got a bad tank of gas from Mobil during the hurricanes here and switched to Amoco. I will wait and see over a couple of tanks. Thanks

[94 Jimmy]

Oh, those wonderful compounds of sulfur,like a spring day-in a swamp. That hydrogen sulfide (rotten egg) smell or burning hair or other is usually scents are caused by a rich mixture in the catalytic converter and are usually cured by changing the O2 sensor.
The O2 sensor is essentially a battery that generates a voltage (when operating above 600 F) equivelent to the amount of oxygen in the exhaust. This voltage is a reference for the computer to set the mixture. Unfortunetly the sensor will often drift and give false information to the computer which gives you a rich or lean mixture.
When lean the engine will stumble or possibly die, mine died at part throttle in long right turns, like freeway on ramps. No brakes, no steering and no go with a pack of cars accelerating behind me,thats fun. When rich the Cat burns the excess fuel and gives some kind of interesting smells from the sulfur thats left in all gas.
If you haven't changed it in a while, change the O2 sensor, in general do it before every smog check or every 50K Mi, it's $50 worth spending.
Hope this helps
94

[Brian R.]

Normally, you will get a "Check Engine" light if your HO2 sensor or A/F ratio sensor are out of spec. Sounds like your truck is running fine anyway.

A/F ratio sensors are much more expensive than $50. Find out what sensor you have (and a part number for reference) with your VIN at a Toyota parts department before you go off madly buying sensors. Some have HO2 sensors and some have A/F ratio sensors.

http://www.autoshop101.com/forms/h37.pdf

[Goatwater]

I am interested in this problem 'cause my wife keeps dropping those remarks when that sulphur smell wafts in. BTW I still have a stuck Tailgate window. Comes down but wont go up!!!!!

[craigrpeters]

Originally Posted by Goatwater

I am interested in this problem 'cause my wife keeps dropping those remarks when that sulphur smell wafts in. BTW I still have a stuck Tailgate window. Comes down but wont go up!!!!!

I have a new 2005 V8, and I got the same smell when romping on the gas. I was using the middle grade gas instead of the recommended high octane grade. I've since switched to the high octane, and the smell seems to have gone away.

-cp

[tonkagirl]

Originally Posted by Goatwater

I am interested in this problem 'cause my wife keeps dropping those remarks when that sulphur smell wafts in. BTW I still have a stuck Tailgate window. Comes down but wont go up!!!!!

Goatwater, did you ever receive a response about your back tailgate window? I also have the same problem, it will however go up if you manually use the key in the tailgate.