mark1980

HI guys,
When I suddenly accelerate my car on the freeway I get a strange foul smelling odour for some time in the car. No it is not from the A/C I have my air in circulation mode.
I used to get the same smell in my old camry when suddenly accelerated like when I want to pass the traffic.

Mine is a 2006 RL.
Any help is appreciated

lstevennl

hmmm does it make a difference if you turn your setting to outside air? in the mean time id check all engine fluids just to be on the safe side, you want to make sure youre not burning oil of any kind. friend of mine complained about the same thing in his 08 accord and its burning oil with only 6k on the car!

lland

Catalytic converter? If it goes bad, it smells bad.

LL

JPSMAN

If its on rare occasion, its normal. Its just burning off junk in the exhaust. Every few weeks I do a full acceleration onto a highway or something to keep it all clean. (sounds good too!)

b0n3

mine does the same .. it's not that bad

Ballinger

That smell is your passenger crapping her pants at the raw, sinister accelleration surging your RL forward with the power of a raging bull. Have the seats cleaned, man.

neuronbob

Mine did as well, occasionally. It also happens in my Pilot.

mark1980

Thanks for the replies guys.

danmm7

iTrader: (1)

If it smells like sulfur or rotten eggs, this is 100% the catalytic converter(s). As it was already stated - if it happens only once in a while and mostly under stress/hard acceleration... it is OK. Many cars do it.

TampaRLX-SH

I would agree it is likely emissions related.

Under rapid acceleration, excess emissions are created. Honda's are mostly all ULEV and ULEV2. In order to maintain these low emission discharges the catalytic converters are design to capture these emission 'belches' created by such performance conditions. That chemical reaction is noticeable.

The side affect of this is the smell, which of course is not intended to be noticeable in normal driving conditions.

lumpulus

My S/O, who is a chemist, says that this is sulfer released due to the reaction mentioned by TampaRL....She also said the worse the quality of the gasoline, the worse and more prevalent the smell will be, as "bad" gas has a higher content.

Since I do full throttle acceleration multiple times every day, I don't have this issue.

mark1980

Thanks for the thoughts guys. Do you think that I should schedule a dealer appointment.

Chas2

Have you checked to see that your car is not affected by the power steering hose recall. Dripping PS fluid on a hot manifold may cause a foul odor. This is a free fix, and it should be fixed. Affected many RL and TL model years.

2007AcuraRL

My car does this as well, and so did my TL. I've found that Mobil brand gasoline tends to have this poor smelling side effect more so than other brands. I fill up mostly with Shell instead and have much less of a problem this way. I dont think there is anything wrong with your car and I wouldnt bother with the dealer.

mark1980

I bought it used three months ago, so I am not sure about the fix. Thanks for bringing this up. Is there any way to find out weather a recall fix is done on the car.

mark1980

I always fill it with the gas from costco. i am not sure of the brand. I will switch the gas and check it once.

Chas2

I think you have to see the dealer. Dealers were instructed to punch the VIN or Engine number plate above a certain digit to indicate the recall was completed, but we know from experience on this board, that this procedure was not always followed.

I imagine the dealer can identify whether the hose has been replaced or not from the PN and other signs.