slight sulfer/rotten egg smell-rough runner

[bludmon]

Hi everyone! I have run into a problem with my 1994 Navajo 4x4. One day I was driving it and it just died. I could start it up but it ran really crappy. Sometimes it would run normal and then go back to running crappy again. It is just weird how it happens. When it happens I drive it home and all you can hear is a loud "putt-putt" coming from the exhaust and it feels like there is no power. Then suddenly it will run normal for a little bit and then it will almost die if I don't keep my foot on the gasl Everything fuel and spark related has been replaced(fuel pump,fuel pressure regulator,fuel filter,spark plugs,wires and coil pack)and I'm getting a slight smell of almost a mix of rotten egg smell and sulfer. I am thinking it could be a catalyc converter but I was hoping someone else could tell me what they thought. I would really appreciate the help!

 

[fireball 440]

Take a sawzall and cut your catalytic converter off. I'm 90% sure its plugged. After driving it take a look undernieth and see if its glowing cherry hot.

 

[FIND]

I wouldn't say to cut the cat off, unless you are capable of replacing it, most exhaust shops will test your cat for you for free, cause they want to sell you a new cat. They just drill a small hole in front of the cat, put a probe in and test backpressure. Though, often enough, it is obvious even without testing. You can get underneath your truck and give your cat a couple good hard hits with your fist. If you hear a lot of rattling, it is bad. Also, you can stick your face underneath the truck when it is running, if you hear a sound like pressure venting off from the cat, it is clogged.

9 times out of 10, that smell is caused by a plugged cat, and plugged cats cause your symptoms exactly.

 

[fireball 440]

He lives in WI theres a pretty good chance he doesn't even need that thing on there, depending on what county he lives in. I've cut the cats off a few of my older vehicles and stuck a piece of pipe in there, no need to spend $400 on a new converter when a $5 piece of pipe will do the trick... if it's legal in your area.

If you live in an area where state inspections are required, please disregard my post.

 

[bludmon]

Thanks alot for your replies! You are right firefly440-in Wisconsin if your car is a 1995 or older model year you don't need emissions so if that is the case i will just have my mechanic replace it with a regular pipe. So it would be normal for the truck to run good when it is cold but when it warms up it wil run like sh**?
Thanks again!

 

[fireball 440]

Well the only experience I've had with a totally plugged cat was on a Contour, no power all the time and both cats were plugged. The Cat on my Chev started smelling like sulfur so I cut it off and problem solved - no power loss on that one.

You could have power while cold until pressure builds up enough to cause you lack of power? just a thought.

 

[bludmon]

Just thought I would let everyone know that I took my car over to my mechanic and he found out that it was my mass air sensor. But thankyou for everyones input. It was appreciated!

 

[bludmon]

Just wondering if anyone thinks that I should take my IAC off and clean it because of all the gas that was shooting into the cylinders and all the carbon that was shooting out of the exhaust when my MAF wasn't working

 

[kkjb4x4.0]

If it runs fine and no codes just leave it alone.

 

[bludmon]

I never received any codes saying my MAF was bad(according to my mechanic) in the first place which I thought was pretty weird! It does have a slightly rough idle. You can notice that it seems to miss a little at an idle.