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'86 Colt With Sulphur Smell
by Bob DeP.
AskBob@stretcher.com
Bob,
I just bought a 1986 Colt Vista, for $1600, well under the blue book price. But now I'm not sure it was a great deal. After it warms up, the exhaust smells like sulfur. I don't know a lot about cars, and this is the only time I've ever heard of this happening, and I really don't know a mechanic I could trust. However, I can recommend several to avoid! Any idea what makes it smell like that?
Deb
Well Deb,
I bet it smells like month old eggs, right? Well that actually is sulfur. A lot of the "off" brands have a lot of it in there. But, as long as your car is still running okay, your not in too much trouble and you might be able to fix it yourself! Now, I want you to make sure that you have a good lean air filter in there (we want all the air possible for this). To see if the filter is good, remove it and hold it up to the light. You should be able to see light through it. If you are unsure, then just replace it, they are not expensive. Now, I want you to go to a Name brand gas station and fill up on the "super" (93 octane or higher). Oh yeah, pack a lunch for this one, cause you are going on a road trip. Now, get out on the interstate and go!!! I want you to not speed (cause that's illegal and I cant tell you to do anything illegal), but at least keep up with the traffic. And just cruise for a while. I want you to get it hot. I bet you do a lot of short trip driving. This is one of the things that happens on short trippers.... that and really messing up the oil. As long as we hit about 600-700 degrees 'C' in the catalyst and keep this up for a while, it should clear out all that fouling sulfur and carbon build up. Now if you want, since you are taking this road trip anyway, why not try some fuel injector cleaner. This way you can kill two birds with one tank of gas. Little inside humor there. And I bet by the time you get home, you have a cleaner running, nicer smelling car for all to enjoy!
Good Luck!
Drive Safely!
Bob, The Auto Answer Man
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