Sulfer smell in AC/Heating ducts

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Soylent

New member
Has anyone had this issue before? I am not sure what is going on. Seems to be worse in the AM after the jeep sits. I had a coolant leak 2-3 weeks ago with the dealer replacing the thermostat housing but that is a closed system. Jeep was at the dealer for 4 days last week while they figured out that I had a dead battery. Jeep sat outside for that time period with hood up during the day while they charged the battery. I'm tired of having my wife look over at me like I did something:rolleyes2:
 
Soylent said:
Has anyone had this issue before? I am not sure what is going on. Seems to be worse in the AM after the jeep sits. I had a coolant leak 2-3 weeks ago with the dealer replacing the thermostat housing but that is a closed system. Jeep was at the dealer for 4 days last week while they figured out that I had a dead battery. Jeep sat outside for that time period with hood up during the day while they charged the battery. I'm tired of having my wife look over at me like I did something:rolleyes2:
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Sounds like you opened a portal to hell when you fixed the coolant leak. Good luck.

LOL, you could have a dead animal in there, like a rodent. You could have a catalytic converter issue causing fumes, any fumes outside the Jeep or CEL on? Last item is check around the battery for any acid leakage that might be causing the smell. Other than that, I can't think of what would cause that. Usually mildew/mold in there produces a different smell.
 
Ya. I wondered if a mouse got in there when they left the door and hood open all day. It definitely is coming out of the vent. No smell outside.
 
Soylent said:
Ya. I wondered if a mouse got in there when they left the door and hood open all day. It definitely is coming out of the vent. No smell outside.
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Check under the glove box area if one got in through there or up in the hood cowl area. Sometimes they build nests in the hood cowl and then die yet you still get the smell in the vehicle.
 
If it is a rodent, make sure and take pics and update the "What did you do to your rig this week" thread.
 
Could be they over charged the battery to the point of it boiling and leaking out. Those usually give off that rotten egg type smell.

Did they end up replacing it or just charge it up?
 
They charged it all day and then overnight when it did not hold the charge. It's a Genesis dual battery system and they didn't realize that there were 2 batteries in the tray:naw: On the 4th day I went down there and showed them that there were 2 batteries. Tested them and the accessory battery was dead. Threw a new one in and started right up.

Tonight, I'm going to start it up and see if there is any difference when I run the air with the recirculation button on or off.
 
Soylent said:
They charged it all day and then overnight when it did not hold the charge. It's a Genesis dual battery system and they didn't realize that there were 2 batteries in the tray:naw: On the 4th day I went down there and showed them that there were 2 batteries. Tested them and the accessory battery was dead. Threw a new one in and started right up.

Tonight, I'm going to start it up and see if there is any difference when I run the air with the recirculation button on or off.
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:thinking: how does anyone with even a single cell brain not look and see 2 batteries?? not like they're hard to get to....

the other battery may be cooked and or cracked if it was over charged and your leak is along the bottom of the battery tray
 
All three of you guys were right on! I smelled it again today after driving around. Got home and jumped out to check under the car and exhaust. Nothing. Came around passenger side of the hood and heard hissing WTF? Opened the hood and the forward battery was hissing and hot as hell. I feel that if it didn't have the Genesis brace over it the top of the battery would have blown clean off. This was one of the 2 batteries ghat the dealer said was dead but Pep Boys said was fine on their load test. Now I need to see if it is the battery or something with the dual battery harness.
 

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Soylent said:
All three of you guys were right on! I smelled it again today after driving around. Got home and jumped out to check under the car and exhaust. Nothing. Came around passenger side of the hood and heard hissing WTF? Opened the hood and the forward battery was hissing and hot as hell. I feel that if it didn't have the Genesis brace over it the top of the battery would have blown clean off. This was one of the 2 batteries ghat the dealer said was dead but Pep Boys said was fine on their load test. Now I need to see if it is the battery or something with the dual battery harness.
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If the battery is swollen (which is causing the leak), the only thing that can do that is over-charging. So get out a meter and check. Industry standard charging voltage while running is 14 volts (give or take). So if you're up near 15 or higher, there's your issue. Not necessarily a defect in the battery itself. Let us know.
 
Soylent said:
Ok. Both batteries are at 12.66 volts with engine off and 13.78 with engine running.
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That's perfect. Make sure and try with your head lights on and AC on too, just to put as much load as possible on the batteries. I doubt you'll have any issues. With those voltage readings and if you're confident that your wiring is good, it sounds like maybe you got a defective battery.
 
Sent some pics to Genesis and they confirm wiring is correct. Battery tests at 13.6 volts with everything turned on. I also hear a faint buzz from in or below the fuse box that goes for about 20-30 seconds after I turn the engine off. Then I hear a click like a switch is tripped and then the buzzing is gone. Maybe this is normal and I never noticed it before.

Also, this dual battery system had been running fine since 10/2013 until this past month.
 
Soylent said:
Sent some pics to Genesis and they confirm wiring is correct. Battery tests at 13.6 volts with everything turned on. I also hear a faint buzz from in or below the fuse box that goes for about 20-30 seconds after I turn the engine off. Then I hear a click like a switch is tripped and then the buzzing is gone. Maybe this is normal and I never noticed it before.

Also, this dual battery system had been running fine since 10/2013 until this past month.
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Then most likely a bad battery. I would try to see if you could isolate the buzzing and what component is causing it though. Not sure if that's normal or not.
 
Sounds like Optima qc strikes again. I'd swap em out to Sears DieHard platinums or Odysseys and call it good. Used to swear by optimas back in the day, now I stay far away from them.
 
Took it to Pep Boys and it tested bad. So now I have 2 new Optimas (for what that's worth). Once these die I'll switch them to Odysseys. All is good now. Thanks WJ.
 
Soylent said:
Took it to Pep Boys and it tested bad. So now I have 2 new Optimas (for what that's worth). Once these die I'll switch them to Odysseys. All is good now. Thanks WJ.
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No problem. Hope it all works out. On the bright side, it's not looking like you have to tear apart the dash and remove a rodent.
 
Ah! Went out to test again. Both running at 13.4 volts with engine running. I decided to push the jump button on the isolator to connect both batteries and they both shot up to over 15 volts. Wonder if I have a bad isolator?
 
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