# My Car Smells of Rotten Eggs, Is it going to Explode?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-car-smells-of-rotten-eggs-is-it-going-to-explode/261984>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 28, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-car-smells-of-rotten-eggs-is-it-going-to-explode/261984 "2004-08-28T19:48:31Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CloudClever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@CloudClever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CloudClever)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-car-smells-of-rotten-eggs-is-it-going-to-explode/261984/1 "2004-08-28T19:48:31Z")

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You know how the gas companies put that rotten egg smell in your propane and natural gas so that if it leaks into your house, you will know that your house is full of the gas? Is there anything in my car like that?

So there I was, driving along the highway, jus’ given her eh? (not really I was only going about 90, which for my car is Jus’ given her) When I noticed a rotten egg smell inside the cab, it wasn’t that strong, but I am wondering why it smelt like that.

I don’t have a tail pipe, and it wasn’t wet out, so there couldn’t have been anything cooking on it. It’s an oldish car, so there may be something rotting in the vents, but I’m more worried about some mechanical problem.

Is a rotten egg smell a symptom of some sort of mechanical problem?

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**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-car-smells-of-rotten-eggs-is-it-going-to-explode/261984/2 "2004-08-28T20:00:49Z")

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It could be a symptom of a problem with your catalytic converter.

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**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-car-smells-of-rotten-eggs-is-it-going-to-explode/261984/3 "2004-08-28T20:04:17Z")

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Sorry - I omitted a [link](http://www.aaasouth.com/acs_news/7738.asp).