The Central Hub for DSM Community and Information

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. This is where the DSM platform history is documented and archived. Log in to help us in our mission, and to remove most ads from the browsing experience.

Smelly DSM turns to Dead DSM

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

97GSTSC

Probationary Member
26
0
Jun 17, 2003
Columbia, South Carolina
Ok. First things first. I have a 97 GST automatic with 136k miles and no mods. 3 days ago the car started smelling like sulfur or rotten eggs after i had driven it for more than about 30 minutes. The smell was coming from the passenger side of the engine right around the battery. If I only made short trips at speeds around 50mph or below i wouldn't smell it. Knowing that I was going to change my oil yesterday, I decided that I would try to determine where the smell was coming from then. The car wasn't running any differently than normal, it just smelled like s*it :). I left my apartment yesterday and was about to get on the interstate when the car jerked suddenly and quite violently I might add and cut off completely. I managed to get it pushed to a gas station and while I was waiting on the tow truck I noticed that the horrible smell was no longer there. I check all my fluids, hoses, and belts and nothing looks out of the ordinary. Once i got it towed to my grandfathers shop I pulled the plugs and checked for spark (good. all plugs are sparking) and when i had the plugs out checking for spark i could smell gas getting into the cylinder that I had taken the plug out of so they seem to be getting fuel. It got late so I had to leave it but i'm going back over for round two this afternoon. I'm at a loss now for what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions on what i could check or look for? Any help would be greately appreciated because if I dont get it fixed I'll have to walk to work this week OMG and in 95+ degree weather in SC that's not fun. Thanks.
 
Rotten egg smell is usually indicative of a catalytic converter going south, but that shouldn't be why your car died. Have you done a compression check on the engine, or checked to see if the timing belt is still intact or hasn't skipped a tooth or two?
 
Ok I found out (once I removed the valve cover) that all 8 rocker arms that are underneath the intake cam had jumped out. The cam looked fine and so did the rocker arms so I loosed up the cam just enough to get the rocker arms back under and put everything back together. I tried to start it and the same thing happened again. I was thinking that maybe it had something to with the oil pressure getting to low and lifters wern't staying up like they were suppose to? If that makes sense, how would I go about finding the reason for the low oil pressure? I apologize if the wording isn't correct or if I am thinking in the complete wrong direction. I'm new when it comes to getting into the internals of the enigne. Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. :thumb:
 
Idk bout the rotten egg smell but the same thing happened to my 90 and the rear balance shaft gear broke apart...idk how but it did....and when i took my valve cover off there were no rockers on the intake side, they were all under my cam. Id check your timing belt...take off the lower timing cover cause with no rockers being there you more than likely bent all yoru intake valves.
 
Great OMG Not really what i had hoped to have to deal with, but thanks :) I'll check it out this afternoon when i get home from work. Thanks.
 
97GSTSC said:
Ok I found out (once I removed the valve cover) that all 8 rocker arms that are underneath the intake cam had jumped out. The cam looked fine and so did the rocker arms so I loosed up the cam just enough to get the rocker arms back under and put everything back together. I tried to start it and the same thing happened again.
Your timing has jumped, you've beaten the living crap out of your pistons with your valves, and bent your valves. Replace the head and all timing components.
 
Add Value - Be Respectful - No Trolling - No Misinformation - Participate Often!
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community

Build Thread Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top