Sulfur/Rotten Egg smell in winter?

Some brands of gas in UK have a higher sulphur content than others, which leads to stinky exhaust gases when the mixture is a bit rich, ie when engine is cold.

 

May. It I suggest you investigate which brand of gas has less sulphur first. It will help you get rid of the smell first time, if that was the problem, but if it doesn't I'd ask your dealer or friendly mechanic friend.

 

Just for giggles pop the hood and look the 12 volt battery over, say that terminals are corrosion-free. Could sulphur smell be from cell(s) going bad in the 12 volt, not sure? Fumes would migrate to air intake at base of windshield.

Still, I think likely a red herring, gas brand more likely.

 

someone else posted this, iirc. don't recall a resolution.

 

Hope that isn't coming from a failed catalytic converter either? Codes supposed to come on computer though

 

Had a similar situation with my Yaris. After the 2nd winter of that smell I decided to stop in at the Toyota dealer. Seems an update to the cars program was available, but only if the customer complained about the issue. May be worth a check if a different brand doesn't fix the problem. Oh, and it didn't cost me anything even though I was out of warranty.

 

In the winter time engines tend to run rich (more fuel) that fuel tends to burn onto the catalytic converter causing that smell. Driving a car too easy (low rpm) is bad. Drive the car hard every once in a while. I like to floor it once a day @ 5000rpm while getting onto the freeway. It will clear things right up. It is also known as the italian tune up. It also helps keep engine parts free of sludge that sticks to parts from low oil flow.

 

May be so in a high performance engine, but a low compression Prius.......????

 

Prius' 2zr-fxe has a 13.0:1 compression ratio. I know, it baffles me

 

On a Gen 4? If so, should be warranty.

 

On a Gen 4 (2016 at the oldest) that would be highly unusual.

 

I'd go with fuel too.

 

I was thinking of the inlet valve being open for the first part of the compression cycle in an a Atkinson Cycle engine, but yeah!

 

Toyota in 2008 said:
"In the case of the Prius engine , the effective compression ratio is about 8:1, while the expansion ratio is about 13:1. As a result, it is 12% to 14% more efficient, in terms of power output per fuel consumed, than the non-Atkinson engine upon which it is based."

[ Our Point of View: Atkinson Meets Otto: Why the Prius is So Efficient ]

 

You REALLY need to get it checked out. Exhaust leaks can be deadly in some circumstances.
You don't run it with RECIRC on in the winter time, do you ??

And....it is highly unlikely that it is the gas. In most areas, the basic gas stock comes out of the same bulk terminal at the end of a pipeline.

 

I'd be concerned if the car was passing natural gas...