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Hydrogen Sulfide is dangerous in levels above 10 ppm. The nose can detect 1 ppm or less.
Hydrogen Sulfide is heavier than air. In an automobile if you are smelling it, it's getting circulated at head height for a least long enough to be picked up by your nose.
It's posionous and flammable. If you are experiencing this you should get informed about the danger of this gas.
It's affects are most pronounced when concentrations are highest. The smell goes from rotten eggs to a sweet smell. At these levels it can be fatal.
See the work advice at the Paper, Allied-industrial, Chemical and Energy workers webstie for a good brief on the effects of Hydrogen Sulfide.
The union is called PACE (paceunion). The have a .org website. And on that site you can find the information by looking for health_&_safety.htm.
So, what can we do about the rotten egg smell?
If not, someone should take theirs to their dealer and demand that the smell be removed!
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
A) Change gas and it will go away
EVERY new Toyota smells this way
C) SMELL? What smell?
D) Quit Complaining! The Nose Plugs we throw in for free!
*** For entertainment purposes only... LOL
Are these Toyota Dealers ex-politicians?
I have a laundry list of little things like this that I want addressed at the first maintenance.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
vishalthorat: Somewhat stupid response: If you turn the steering wheel all the way, what you're hearing is the power steering pump. I hope this is what you're talking about. It is normal, and you turn don't want to hear this noise because it will damage the pump if the steering wheel stays at its extreme position for extended amount of time (less than a minute can wreck that pump)
"Thank you for your recent correspondence.
The smell that you are referring to is caused by the high sulphur
content in Canadian gasoline. The smell is in fact indicative that
your 2003 Toyota Corolla is operating properly. This is not an
uncommon situation with most manufacturers today.
The sulphur contained in the fuel transforms into sulphur dioxide
which is then transformed into sulphur trioxide by oxidation and
accumulates on the catalyst resulting in hydrogen sulphide by
reduction. This will generally occur when the vehicle begins to run
rich, such as when you are stopped, climbing a steep hill, or braking
hard to slow down. The hydrogen sulphide is expelled from the exhaust
pipe all at once. It is the hydrogen sulphide which is responsible
for the odour.
This odour is particularly strong when your vehicle's catalytic
converter is new and dissipates gradually as the vehicle gets older.
Thank you again for taking the time to contact us."
The query was sent on a Saturday and responded to the next day. The rapidity of the response over a weekend plus the obvious effort put in to the explanation makes me wonder if the answer had been prepared in advance or at the very least previously given to others.
I would suggest that others with this complaint attempt to contact Toyota directly. I believe that only with the weight of sufficient numbers will any solution be provided.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
I would think a lot of really hilly driving like in DC and the City would cause much lower fuel economy, especially if you were doing mostly short drives...don't forget your Accord's gas tank is a lot bigger than the one in the corolla.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Secondly, the type of driving you do has a great effect as well. Short trips turning the engine on and off, not letting the engine warm up exacerbate the occurance. Most likely most of you who are experiencing reduced fuel efficiency currently compared to what you had in the summer will see your high efficiency come back when the temperatures rise again.
Hope this helps.
Ken
Start the engine - put on your seat belt - lock the doors - put it in gear - leave the driveway - drive relatively gently [nothing higher than 2500 rpm would be a good guideline] for the first mile or so. Carry on from there.
I can't tell you how many cars I see idling in driveways all around our little town when I do my morning jogging. It's just an incredible waste of time, fuel, money, and most importantly, emissions that contribute to air pollution. The oil, coolant, fluids, and bearings all get warmer faster if you just take the darned car out and start driving it. All you need is a few seconds for oil pressure to build up, and then be on your way - just avoid heavy throttle use for the first couple of minutes.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
1. Engine control unit makes more rich gas mixture when the engine is cold.
2. (not 100% sure) cold air has more oxygen in it.
What does the mechanic say about long cranking? I would be interested in a few opinions.
But I am talking about cranking that goes on longer than it should in any modern car...longer than 15 year old cars I have owned...longer than CARBURETED cars I have owned.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Does this sound like a bit of misrepresentation from Toyota?
Searching for low-sulphur fuel, I emailed BP to ask if this is available in our area (Atlanta). They said that all the premium fuel in BP stations in our area is low-sulphur, but only the premium.
Ugh! Fuel economy is one of the main advantages of a Corolla.
If I test this out, by filling up with premium, can I later switch back to cheap gas? Or will this lead to knocking?
Corolla 03 - If you decide to fill up with premium fuel, a total waste of money, you can return to 87 octane at any time.
I would think Toyota is aware of this and is working on a solution. Meanwhile any person telling me to run premium fuel in an economy car means I go elsewhere because I am dealing with someone that is woefully misinformed or just plain ignorant.
Many dealership staffpeople, even the mechanics, will say anything just to get you out of there. You should NEVER have to put premium in an economy car.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Now take this the way that it is meant. I don't like that idea of my car smelling like rotten eggs any more than anyone else, and I hope they (all auto manufacturers) come up with a solution soon.
This seems very similar to the problems that almost all car manufacturers had with brake pads when they first came out with the requirement to be organic in composition. For years almost all vehicles on the road had brake pads that wore out after as little as 5,000 miles. With time and work by the people making these catalytic converters, I hope they come up with a fix soon.
Just a litte food for thought and some perspective.
Ken
As far as mileage, I can't complain, because I am getting the fuel economy I was led to expect by the EPA sticker.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Did you say twenty-three THOUSAND miles?!?!
I just saw on thecomplaintstation.com that the smell can persist for the life of the car...
This is to make you feel better ;-)
The good news is that according to my personal experience, the worst smell is when heavy acceleration (up the hill, etc) is immediately followed by deceration (braking).
This supports the theory that SO2 (normally produced from sulfur in fuel) is converted to H2S under reducing conditions during rich mixtures. So, one can try to avoid these conditions.
Also, Toyota should be able to modify ECU to avoid these rich conditions. Alternatively, the converted could be redesigned to avoid accumulation of sulfur.
This is a correctable problem. The issue is, is Toyota willing to spend money to please stinking car owners?
It sounds like they want us to use gas with lower sulfur (like premium) instead.
Rotten Egg smell exhaust
Especially post #8. It confirms my conclusions.
Too bad the discussion is archived. I could never understand why selective discussions are closed on Edmunds.
The above posts document that the issue is very alive.
My additional thoughts on sulphur smell problem.
Usually, the smelly cars have poorer milage than average (mine averages 26-28 in combined city/highway). Perheps the mixture is too rich in these cars. I would consider checking the O2 sensor or other emission components at the minimum.
If the dealership people used their head and diagnostic equipment instead of giving away canned statements written by lawers, there would be a solution to this anoying problem.
This was supposingly a common problem with first cat converters in 60s and 70s.
C'mon, it is a 21st century now.
BTW, I am also pissed with the oil industry refusing to remove sulfur from the fuel. North America has the highest sulphur lewels in the world. Do we always want to be first?
Take the complaints about the mileage in Edmunds with a grain of salt...the many many corolla owners that are happy with their cars and their gas mileage are out there driving them and are not apt to come in here and wax prosaic about their wonderful mileage, so you will only hear the negative stories.
No sulfur odors either, but I am in California where we use the really low-sulfur gas, and I think that makes the difference.
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
...so it can be done, and is being done right this very minute...
...and in California we have some of the highest gas prices of the entire nation...I pay $1.85 for 87 octane at the gas station down the street...
...so be careful what you wish for, but your point is well taken...
2014 Mini Cooper (stick shift of course), 2016 Camry hybrid, 2009 Outback Sport 5-spd (keeping the stick alive)
Acctually, if we had low sulfur fuel (like Japan), we could have lean-burning engines and engines with direct gasoline injection (1zz-fe engine was originally designed to be direct injected, but the design had to be scrapped).
These are more efficient and the gas savings could offset the increased cost of fuel. These new engine designs cannot work with high sulfur fuel.
Sulfur also poisons cat converters and increases emissions, and is responsible for increased engine (rings) wear in cold conditions (warm-up). Not mentioning the acid rain.
Keeping sulfur in fuel is a loose-loose proposition with only oil industry benefiting from it (cheap manufacturing).
BTW, the below link is to an article which assumes deacreasing sulfur levels in US fuel (table 1).
http://www.bst.com.au/resources/sulphur%20special%20report.pdf
Maybe the Toyota engeneers assumed that by the time 2003 corolla hits the US streets, the sulfur would be lower.
I guess a wrong assumption, based on the frequency of the complains.
BTW, premium gas tends to have lower sulfur.
So this is why Toyota recommends it hoping to buy some time and not having to fix the problem of smell.
http://www.aeat-env.com/Sulphur_Review/Downloads/sr-CLEPA1.doc
confirms that the H2S ("rotten egg" smell) is emitted under rich conditions and high converter temperature.
Again, this might be the link between the smell and poor fuel economy. The smelly cars may have too rich mixture. This should be checked for easily. The most obvious suspects would be O2 sensor, exhaust leak, misfiring, engine temp sensor, etc.
This also explains why Corollas have so many problems with H2S. The converter is placed near exhaust manifold for higher temperature for lower emissions (remember, 1zz-fe is ULEV certified). This is apparantly the condition facilitating H2S production.
Now, the question is why consumers have to do this research instead of Toyota doing its own homework?
Corolla & Matrix Owners: Problems & Solutions
Your Corolla maight be running too rich. The soot on the pipe seems to confirm it.
Check the codes and emission results.
http://www.grubinski.com/grubinski/56.pdf
has some good discussion on some of the issues with rich mixtures.
Some other person on Corollaland complained some time ago how come his 2003 corolla's engine was covered with carbon at 44,000. Well, this might be an answer.
Rotten Egg smell