Smell Like EGG!

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:35 pm

After a good drive the smell of rotton egg from the exhaust is too much!
Is my Catalytic converter dead? Also car is reletivly sluggish, compared to my previous '89' 480ES.

m4dn35s · Post by **m4dn35s** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 6:46 pm

I think thats ya catalyst on its way out i have a 92 twotone 480, mine smells the same and my car is quite sluggish, also makes a strange rattling noise as i accelerate then it dissapears. should be gettin it fixed next week so hopefully thatl sort it

hope that helps

volvofox · Post by **volvofox** » Sat Nov 15, 2003 7:25 pm

I am not a big meccanic, but I remember years ago factory testdrivers had to wait for my family's cows to cross the road, and he complained about "rotten egg" amonium smell.
I would not assume this new car has had his cat clogged.... maybe its just the lambda sonde of something, or as symple as a bad contact to it. Call a good garage, not one that sells because of the selling, one thats after your purse...

Maybe they say its just a case of driving it hot enough on a very long trip highway

luck
JPF

pol · Post by **pol** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:20 pm

Or do as I did, remove the cat, and smash the insides out with a breaker bar and hammer! Supposedly gives some power gains by having a less restrictive exhaust...

pol

strangegame · Post by **strangegame** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 7:41 pm

pol wrote:Or do as I did, remove the cat, and smash the insides out with a breaker bar and hammer! Supposedly gives some power gains by having a less restrictive exhaust...

pol

your car will probably fail its next MOT on emmisions thats what happened to me when i took the cat out

doug_480_turbo · Post by **doug_480_turbo** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 9:01 pm

^^^depends what year it is made^^^

it will fail if it is made after august 1992

pol · Post by **pol** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 10:52 pm

Think mine was made april '92, so hoping, by what has been written in previous threads this will be ok! Could be a bit tricky getting all that broken stuff back in the cat!??

pol

volvofox · Post by **volvofox** » Sun Nov 16, 2003 11:34 pm

to be complete: the MOT is different for all 480 users on this, since its different in this in all EU states
I know for instance my car failed the 4 gas MOt test,in germany, as it was allright in CO in NL.

I feel no difference in a car with a smashed out cat and a car with a new cat. Exeption the older clogged cats.

I don't do all the hassle (switching them every mot) for this few hp's. I keep the cat hot, and prevent it from clogging.

I guess Your saying "curiosity killed the cat" has a funny double meaning here....

Luck
JPF

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 3:03 pm

doug_480_turbo wrote:^^^depends what year it is made^^^

it will fail if it is made after august 1992

First registered 01/08/92

Pretty borderline don't you think?

doug_480_turbo · Post by **doug_480_turbo** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 6:07 pm

MatBat wrote:
doug_480_turbo wrote:^^^depends what year it is made^^^

it will fail if it is made after august 1992
First registered 01/08/92

Pretty borderline don't you think?

Catalytic Converters - Frequently Asked Questions

Why should I have a catalytic converter?

If your car was fitted after 1st August 1992 with a catalytic converter from new, you need to have one for the MoT. It needs to be in good working order to comply with the Government's emissions legislation. The engine has been designed to work with a Cat and besides giving out toxic emissions, the performance will be reduced if your Cat is not working properly. You will fail the annual MoT if you either it is not present or it is not in good working order.

Can I remove my Cat?

If your car was registered after 1st August 1992 you must have the Cat present and working for the MoT. Previously registered cars can have the Cat permanently removed

https://www.topgear.co.uk/acatalog/faq.html

It does say AFTER

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Mon Nov 17, 2003 6:30 pm

Tempting fate though.

If I replace it with a straight piece of pipe, than I can put it back on if required.

midnight rambler · Post by **midnight rambler** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:23 pm

Matbat, What brand of petrol do you use? some have additives which react in the catalyst and give "bad egg" odours... Try changing brands???

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:29 pm

I use whichever petrol station is closest when the 'FUEL' shows up on info centre

Would like more power though so I may "clean"

the cat out.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:31 pm

My car is off back to Ascar on Thursday to finish off my exhaust - they basically didn't have time to put flanges on my cat - and I need it doing because I need to pop the cat back on in the next few weeks and get an MOT (fingers x'd time again)... It's only a 5-10 min job to replace the decat pipe with the cat and vice versa... or at least it was with my powerflow (yeuch) exhaust - I don't think this will be any different...

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 12:32 pm

gerrsvolvo · Post by **gerrsvolvo** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:14 pm

Hallo there
one point to remember
replacing the cat can be difficult because the Lambdasonde
is difficult to get off.
And iff you have a lambdasonde fitted on the 480 then it needs to work
on order to keep your engine good running.
So you need a pipe with a mouning point fpr the lambdasonde.

On the other hand if the papers say a cat is mounted you should have a cat mounted when going to the MOT. TUV, APK or what ever it is named in the EU.
But if it is working can only be determinated by the control offr the exhaustgases.
And if your engine is in good health it will comply with the regulations even without the cat.

The cat is only one off the solutions to get the emissionvalues down
and it is a bloody shame that the governements have choosen for a specific technical solution instead off a value.

Good CEM
Gerrsvolvo

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 2:25 pm

Any good exhaust supplier will be able to make you a pipe with the correct diameter screw hole for the lambda probe - both powerflow and Ascar have done it for me with no problems - but I agree with the last post - it IS important to get this if your car has lambda, else you'll never run right

MatBat · Post by **MatBat** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:02 pm

When I get me FSE valve that should help with emisions before the MOT, if I adjust it a bit.

doug_480_turbo · Post by **doug_480_turbo** » Tue Nov 18, 2003 5:53 pm

powerflow charge Â£70 for a decat pipe
alot cheaper than new cat at least