Smells like leaking gas in the car..

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by babykwiss

I am going to try to smell it carefully but from what all my passengers say it does smell like natural gas. I have a track date coming up.......should i avoid it?

Originally Posted by humfrz

If you're referring to a natural gas stove, that smell is the mercaptan (smells like rotten eggs) which is added to the natural gas as a odorant. Now, the same smell can be generated by the combustion products frfom the engine after passing through a catalytic converter.

So, is what you're smelling, more like rotten eggs OR raw gasoline ... ??

(you folks didn't know I was that smart .... huh .. ?? ...... )


humfrz

Originally Posted by humfrz

Have you "messed with" the exhaust system ..... ??

(it could be a leak or your cat conv is messed up)

If the smell is coming from the exhaust, my experience is that this happens to my car every now and then ...... usually after a cold start, when I'm backing out of the driveway. Nothing to worry about.

If the smell is coming from raw gasoline, I'd suggest you have it looked after ASAP (as suggested above).


humfrz

Hum nailed it! I bounced the cat on my Talon off a speed bump once and had a smell so close to the mercapton in my car for a couple of days that I thought I was a natural gas plant.
I also get it briefly in the FRS usually like Hum said when backing up but also sometimes on the highway when I pass a truck and the vortex around the car gets messed up.
As long as it isn't an actual leak in the exhaust it isn't a problem. If it is a leak get it checked and don't nap with your car running.

[Fastbrew]

Get rid of your cat

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Fastbrew

Get rid of your cat

That was exactly how I fixed the Talon!