Ammonia smell?

L

leo

Member
I have a 2008 4R V6 Ltd, bought it in October.

Every so often, I smell Ammonia. It never lasts more than a few moments I guess... a couple hundred yards lets say. At first, I figured it was something in the area I just moved to, lots of new and different nature settings here. But then, I would smell it in other places. Most often, it seems like I'm ascending a steep mountain hill (normal road or highway), but not always.

I've asked a few mechanics at the dealer if there's anything in the system that could give off this smell, and they all say something like "no, maybe it's a cleaning agent I used" (duh, I don't think so).

Any ideas what this is? Thx!
 
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leo said:
I have a 2008 4R V6 Ltd, bought it in October.

Every so often, I smell Ammonia. It never lasts more than a few moments I guess... a couple hundred yards lets say. At first, I figured it was something in the area I just moved to, lots of new and different nature settings here. But then, I would smell it in other places. Most often, it seems like I'm ascending a steep mountain hill (normal road or highway), but not always.

I've asked a few mechanics at the dealer if there's anything in the system that could give off this smell, and they all say something like "no, maybe it's a cleaning agent I used" (duh, I don't think so).

Any ideas what this is? Thx!
Click to expand...

The banter about on these boards regarding this boils down to the catalytic converter and exhaust system in the 4Runner.

I believe there is a TSB on it, and most folks who have raised the issue with the stealership get the blam placed on them or a runaround about nothing being wrong.

Folks on these boards all over the country have had the same issue. Not much you can do about it unfortunately.
 
Thanks for the replies.
I read the referenced link.

Thanks for pointing me to to the sulfur smell info, but in my case it's not a sulfur nor rotten smell, it's clearly not that - it's an ammonia smell. It's not so unpleasant like sulfur, it's just a noticeable smell (and only for a few seconds at that - yes, while under load one can say).

I suspected it was something to do with how the engine breaks down the gasoline - but there's no ammonia nor other nitrogen-hydrogen compound in gasoline I don't think?

But, the core of my question, sorry for not being more clear, was do I need to have anything fixed, is there any damage? The smell is very temporary and not so unpleasant that I must fix it for that reason - I just want to fix it if it's damaged (use the warranty) or if it can cause damage.

Thx!
 
Leo, I bought a V8 '08 earlier in the year and was experiencing the exact same issue. I noticed it most when driving around with my rear window down; I also noticed it most with a single brand of fuel. In fact, I'm not sure I've smelled it again after NOT using that fuel once I figured it out.

Try different brands, you might be surprised by what you find.
 
pickerdd,

There is a Grocery store out here, Safeway, that has pumps at some of their locations. I don't know how far east the chain goes but its definitely all up and down the west coast.

I imagine there are grocery stores all over the country with pumps on site but the problem is, there's no telling who is supplying the fuel. Smelled TERRIBLE when it was run through my 4Runner, especially with the window down, but haven't had issues since staying away from it. Strange though, we run the same Safeway fuel through our '08 V6 Camry XLE and have never had any bad smell at all...
 
Thanks for the info. We had Safeway stores where I grew up in Houston, Texas, but not around the Atlanta area. Thanks again for the info.
 
Sure, that's a fair question regarding fuel brand.

Well, I've noticed the smell (sporadically) since purchase. But, I don't think I can pin it to any type/brand of gas, since I never stick to the same brand.

I try to stick to big name brand refined gas, which means buying from Chevron, Tesoro, Sinclair, Shell, or BP stations (did I forget any). Or, buying from real small mom-and-pop's as they typically get their gas from the largest distributors. It's the medium/regional chains that I try to avoid. I don't know if in the end it matter much, but that what I do. (And of course, never fill up when you see the tanker truck there delivering).

I live in the mountains (UT), so I'm using 85-grade since that's the standard (instead of 87).

Maybe there's something about gas in UT? Maybe one must be a "member" to get good gas? (gratuitous UT liquor/bar joke) :cool:

Thanks
 
Yup, I had it too for a couple of months, not all the time also. Its been some time now since Ive smelt it so I guess what ever it is/was is gone. At first I swore it was the neighbors cat piss, but it didnt make scence since I garage my runner. But I forgot all about it until you just mentioned it.
 
There's a clear coating on some of the metal engine parts to prevent them from rusting on the boat trip from Japan. It burns off over the first few thousand miles. I don't recall what the smell was, but I do recall smelling something odd for a while when the truck was new. It eventually went away completely.
 
Safeway is cheap gas...only the best for my rig...I do get the sulfur smell once in awhile, usually after going up a hill or higher RPM's...
 
I'm bumping this back up, in case anyone has any new info.

I still get an ammonia smell (NOT sulfur) sporadically (say once in 4-5 uses of the car), typically within 1-5 miles of starting the trip (but not always), and sometimes while accelerating up mountain.

As the T4R has over 30k miles, it's not plastic coating placed on new engine parts. It's not specific to a brand of gas (I've tried all the major brands).

The T4R works fine otherwise.

Anyone have this issue and find a fix/change?
 
Yeah, I'll guess its the cat... that link does note that ammonia can be a by product mostly during the first five minutes of operation (while cat is warming up) - and that seems to be the pattern I'm witnessing. Thx
 
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