Exhaust smells bad and engine light came on

[kevin0023]

I have a 2002 LS V6. I had the trans rebuilt about 6 months ago and the vehicle has 60k miles on it. I started my car and went to ork this evening to turn on the boilers so I left the vehicle run while I went in for about 10 minutes. When I came outside there was a really bad smell in the air and I didn't realize it was coming from my exhaust until I started driving and noticed the car was doggy when trying to accelerate.

Any ideas what may cause this?

I appreciate any insight!


The vehicle is still under warranty so I am sure it will be making its way to the shop yet again.

[shorod]

Welcome to the forum!

Did your check engine light come on? Even if not, you might want to have the codes read to see if there is a pending code. Any chance you have a misfire? If the car has been driven too long with a misfire, it can damage the catalytic converters, which is what it sounds like the issue likely is this time.

While the converters might fall under the 8-year, 80k mile emissions warranty, if there's any evidence that the car's emissions system has been neglected they can void that warranty. At least that's the way the fine print of the US emissions warranty reads.

-Rod

[kevin0023]

Well this morning the car seems like there was nothing wrong with it. The check engine light is still on (I am sure will remain on until it is reset) but the car did not smell or drive like it did last night. I will stop by a auto store and have them run a diagnostic to see what the failure was and update later!

Thanks for the speedy response