Sluggish w/Stinky exhaust odor--help

J

jgr

New member
I need help with this. Please let me know if there's something obvious I should check or if I should just deal with it. Ok, here it is:

I have a 98 SR5 4x4 with the 3.4L, Auto and 155k miles. I've had to start burning mid grade gas b/c it pings under light load with regular fuel. It also seems a little sluggish (more noise than go). Finally, I get an exhaust stink with the rear window down (and out the moonroof); this happens after I've been cruising at speed (50+ mph) and then come to a stop. It's just a heavy exhaust smell, not rich, not rotten egg, not oil, ... No check engine lights and my MPG seems ok.

I've done full tune up (minus plug wires, NGK wires on order)
Cleaned the Mass air flow sensor
O2 sensors (2) are bosch with about 15k miles on them
Ran some Techron thru it
Changed brands of gas several times
Drained the trans and refilled (not a 'power flush')

Anyone have any insight on this? Bad cat, poor compression,....?

Thanks,
Jon
 
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New Bosch Platinum plugs. The old NGK's were worn but nothing really strange about them. It runs smoother but it still pings with the Bosch plugs unless I use 89+ octane. I checked the ignition coils and plug wires with a multi meter but I'm not too sure how good of a test that is b/c it doesn't show what happens under load.

I did an air and fuel filter too.

There's no smoke either.
 
sometimes exhaust can smell like that if you're running lean like a vacuum leak.
I would personally ditch the bosch plugs too.
 
Smoother but not like new. I guess I'll start checking all the vac lines and hope I find something.
 
jgr said:
New Bosch Platinum plugs. The old NGK's were worn but nothing really strange about them. It runs smoother but it still pings with the Bosch plugs unless I use 89+ octane. I checked the ignition coils and plug wires with a multi meter but I'm not too sure how good of a test that is b/c it doesn't show what happens under load.

I did an air and fuel filter too.

There's no smoke either.
Click to expand...

For what its worth, I've heard that the Bosch plugs don't work well in our engines. I would stick with NGK or Densos from the dealer. That might be your issue.
 
mikgrail3 said:
For what its worth, I've heard that the Bosch plugs don't work well in our engines. I would stick with NGK or Densos from the dealer. That might be your issue.
Click to expand...

x2 on that
 
I had similar trouble as you described. In my case, I determined that the smell worsened when I was running on less fuel. When I had a full tank there were no odors or other issues. I replaced the fuel pump and strainer because I figured it was overheating when it had a half tank of gas or less. No more trouble after the replacement. I hope this is helpfull.
 
Hello all.

I'm still trying to fix this pinging under load issue. I used CRC Guaranteed 2 Pass (don't laugh it actually helped!) and Seafoam via the intake. It's much better (smoother w/more power) but still pings on regular gas. I was going to check the EGR but it looks like the 1998 with the 3.4 doesn't have one!? I can't find any vacuum leaks either.

Any other suggestions? Is this just normal for these engines?

Thanks,
 
(4)runnin'it said:
what is throttle pinging?
Click to expand...

not throttle pinging, a ping at part-throttle. With the modern spark knock sensors and electronically controlled timing you don't get ping on modern cars unless something is wrong.
 
Just wanted to let everyone know that I finally fixed the pinging. It seems the CRC Guaranteed to Pass and Seafoam via the intake did it. I can now run 87 octane with no detonation/pinging.

It seems that the key items in getting this fixed were:

New plug wires (even though the originals were within spec)
Spark plugs
CRC and Seafoam

Just for reference, other steps taken were:

Cleaned MAF sensor with electrical parts cleaner (NOT carb cleaner).
Air filter
Fuel filter
Spark plugs
Plug wires

:D
 
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