Sulfur/rotten egg smell

[dmitrik4]

Has anyone else experienced a strong sulfur (rotten egg) smell from their CX-9? we've had ours for about a year and ~10,000 miles. recently it's developed a very strong sulfur smell, which is especially noticeable by the driver's side front wheel and in the exhaust. the dealer tells us that it is a common problem on new mazdas for a while (i've never had that problem on any of the 7 mazdas i've owned) and that it will "eventually" go away. they say it is not a catalytic converter problem, but that the cat needs to "age" before the smell will go away.

it's weird b/c it only started last week. it's frustrating b/c it's so strong that i can't ride in the car...i can barely stand to drive behind it. we didn't spend almost $30k on a car so it could smell like Mount Saint Helens all the time. i think it's unacceptable that they can't fix this, and i will be the first to admit i'm a rabid mazda booster.

has anyone had this issue, and if so, how long did it take to go away?

 

[semrz1]

hello dmitrik4,
That's quite interesting. Never had that experienced on my CX-9 but did smell sulphur on my other car. The smell was from a leaking plastic tank for excess coolant water storage (radiator). I replaced the tank and the sulphur smell gone. Not sure if your probelm is similar to mine. Hope you can solved this one soon. Good luck

 

[bazooka joe]

what i found
On some vehicles, a sulfur smell or 'rotten egg' odor may be noticed coming from the exhaust system. The odor
is usually noticed after a cold start, fast idle, extended periods of idling and acceleration. Sulfur smell
is not an indication of an engine concern and will not cause reduced driveability or durability of the
or
any of its emission components.
The sulfur smell or 'rotten egg' odor is caused by high amounts of sulfur in the gasoline being used in the vehicle.
Sulfur is normally eliminated during the refining process, but the EPA regulation of sulfur in gasoline differs
from state to state. Vehicles using fuel containing high amounts of sulfur will most likely emit sulfur smell from
the.
When high sulfur fuel is burned, there is a chemical reaction in the catalytic converter causing the sulfur to oxidize.
As the vehicle is driven, the oxidizing reaction odor in the converter will decrease with and age.

Replacing the catalytic converter will not eliminate sulfur smell and replacement will just extend the
period of time needed for the converter to 'age' allowing it to reduce sulfur smell to an acceptable

level.

1. Switch to a different brand of fuel and drive the vehicle for at least 100 miles. Monitor the decrease or
   increase in sulfur smell.
2. Do not add any type of 'fuel additive' as this could add sulfur to the fuel and cause/increase the odor.
3. Try to avoid extended periods of short trip driving or aggressive acceleration.
4. Request information from your local fuel on the amounts of sulfur in their gasoline. Try to use fuel
   containing the lowest amounts of sulfur.
5. Visit the EPA and gasoline company websites to stay informed on any changes in fuel or environmental regulations.
   A website to check is: EPA

 

[dmitrik4]

bazooka-

i found that same TSB. the CX9 is not listed, but in any event the smell is incredibly bad. my wife just got home tonight and her clothes reek of sulfur. and she's pregnant, so i'm pretty pumped about this whole thing.

 

[dmitrik4]

OK, so the gas company guy just showed up. the town watch was walking by and called the gas company b/c they thought there was a gas leak.

yeah, it was our car, which was just sitting at the curb.

 

[bazooka joe]

what? he smelled it and called the gas company...omg!!

 

[ceric]

You heard about what happened in San Mateo, CA right?

 

[dmitrik4]

mystery solved. bad AWD transfer case.

after the closest Mazda dealer (John Kennedy in Conshohocken, PA) blew us off, we tried a different dealership (NuCar in New Castle, DE) -- actually, the dealer we bought the car from. heading out that morning, we noticed a metallic scraping/grinding noise coming from the same area (left front) in which the smell had been strongest. it went away as the car warmed up, but apparently returned the next morning when the dealer moved it. Yesterday they traced the problem to the transfer case; the smell was the gear oil burning up, and the noise...i assume that was the clutches eating themselves inside b/c the oil was pretty much toasted.

nice work by the NuCar service dept. first off, they actually believed us.

second, they kept at it until they figured it out, and have been communicative and friendly the entire time.

 

[Ty07allstar]

Nucar is one of the best dealers. I bring my car there for any issues that I have. I drive further to go to them just because they have great service. Glad to hear that you got the problem fixed.

 

[dmitrik4]

Ty, agreed. we've bought our last two Mazdas from NuCar...too bad it's over an hour from our house. hope to see you in the spring at Philly SCCA events!

 

[Ty07allstar]

I'm definitely going to try and make it to as many as possible.