Car giving off a sewer like smell!! HELP!

moonrakerz

poppasmurf_bewdley wrote: »

I've had many cars in 45 years of driving, and some cars do like some brands of fuel better than others. My old Mondeo loved Shell and Esso but hated Texaco and Tesco fuel.

Funny that ! I used to pass a rail fuel depot on my way to work and there were queues of road tankers waiting to fill from the railway wagons. Every brand of petrol/supermarket that you could think of - all being filled from the same railway wagons.

Strider590

moonrakerz wrote: »

Funny that ! I used to pass a rail fuel depot on my way to work and there were queues of road tankers waiting to fill from the railway wagons. Every brand of petrol/supermarket that you could think of - all being filled from the same railway wagons.

They put in their own additives at the individual petrol stations, has been discussed on these forums too many times to count

System

How long has the water been in the washer fluid bottle ?

If it is plain tap water with no screen wash additive, the water can go stagnant and smell if not used up / replaced (but I think it would need to be several months to more than a year old water)

poppasmurf_bewdley

moonrakerz wrote: »

Funny that ! I used to pass a rail fuel depot on my way to work and there were queues of road tankers waiting to fill from the railway wagons. Every brand of petrol/supermarket that you could think of - all being filled from the same railway wagons.

You might have seen them there, but did you follow any of the tankers to their destinations? Some will have gone directly to garages or supermarkets whilst others will have gone to refineries to have additives and lubricants added.

Lum

It's unlikely that a single tank of Total would do this. If it really is the fuel then it's going to happen over an extended period of time.

More likely is that this car is only used for short trips where it never gets to warm up.

Just give it some "Italian tuning", ie. take it for a belt up the motorway. Maybe use up the existing fuel and stick some BP Ultimate or Shell V-Power in before the run, just to take advantage of the detergents and stuff they put in there.

cyclonebri1

Dan_Iggulden wrote: »

The make of fuel... really?

I filled up at a Total garage for the first time the other day..... surely that cant be the problem?

If it is the cat, am I safe to drive it?

Yep, the only thing affected is the emmisions and the cat itself.
Don't spend any money just do as everyone has suggested and give it a thorough warm up aka thrashing.;)

sick2death

When coil packs are failing they give of quite a distinct eggy smell. So much so when they started to go on my Leon, the OH had a go at me for farting!

Dan_Iggulden

Well thank you for all the advice.... has saved me taking it to the garage...

Been for a gentle (Formula 1 style) drive this afternoon and no smell at all. Seems to have done the job whatever it was!

Thanks again for all the advice

moonrakerz

Strider590 wrote: »

They put in their own additives at the individual petrol stations, has been discussed on these forums too many times to count

This gets stranger - my daughter used to take deliveries of fuel (BP then, Esso now) at a very busy motorway service area and she informs me that nothing is added at the point of sale. It is impossible to do this as the only way to get anything into the underground storage tanks is via the hose from the tanker through a non-return valve which only opens when the tanker is connected to the storage tanks and starts to pump the fuel through the hose.

From:http://www.whatcar.com/car-news/what-car-q-and-a/is-supermarket-diesel-inferior/217130

"According to the Petrol Retailers' Association, there is no difference between the standard petrol and diesel that you buy from either a franchised fuel station or a supermarket forecourt. In many cases, the fuel is sourced from the same refineries and sometimes delivered in the same tankers."

There are several threads which do mention this subject - hardly "too many times to count" as you rather dramatically put it!

Several posts in these state that the "additives" are added at the petrol station but offer absolutely no evidence to this effect. Common sense alone says that it is very unlikely that ANY petrol retailer would allow someone just to pour additives into a huge tank of petrol on the premises. (Remember the Camelford water treatment plant ? Where a tanker driver put a large quantity of additives straight into the drinking water, instead of a storage tank)

atrixblue.-MFR-.

theres addative on the market you can use to replenish a failing cat, dont what its called though can5t find it either, BIL has a motorfactors where he sells it and tested on both delivery vans that had the rotten egg smell after a run they both stopped smelling like a rotten egg factory.