Help diagnose a nasty problem!

[bryan_tberry]

Alright, so after working on my car and getting everything back to somewhat normal conditions, I've found a few things still problematic and I'm not sure of my diagnosis. The problem is, at idle, and low to no boost driving, I get the WORST smell in my car. Rotten eggs, burnt hair, and gunpowder/fireworks are all normal. I even smell it coming out of the small boost leak in the throttle body shaft seals. I hear a consistant hissing from what sounds like my intake manifold... which leads me to my first diagnosis. It's the EGR valve. My second thought is, it could be my battery. I've noticed it leaking a little bit of acid lately. And third, would be the catalytic converter. Which one of these would be the most apparent, or all three? If its the battery, do I just replace the battery or the alternator as well? And the EGR... is that easy to replace? I already know the cat is, so I'll probably just go the test pipe route. Somebody shed some light on my problem!

 

[weith1111]

You can swap out the battery all by itself. I'd suggest an Optima or other sealed gel battery. They can handle just about anything and require no maintenance.

The egr can just be popped off (2 or 3 bolts if I recall) and cleaned. It's most likely clogged. If it isn't functioning you should get a CE light. Or you can remove it altogether and put on a block off plate to rule it out as a problem forever.

 

[1993eclipseGS]

The smell of egg's is usually the cat. Put a testpipe in it's place, Or replace it. Second, Fix ALL your boost leaks, That should be a given.. Even though it most likly isn't causing the smell, They should not be there. And last, If your battery is ''leaking acid'', You should have replaced it as soon as you noticed this.

 

[bryan_tberry]

Yeah, I figure I'll replace the battery, throw on a test pipe, and clean the EGR valve, as I was told by a local DSM'r its probably dirty. Thanks for the help!

 

[majik2k5]

Rotten Egg smells can also indicate your ECU is going bad.

 

[steve]

Find some way to monitor the electrical system voltage. If yours gets above 14.7v it will start cooking the battery.

Steve