Is it normal for the idle at cold to smell really rich? 97 leg 2.2 autoawd

I mean really, I caught whiff of it in the back hall this morning before leaving the house.

Could be the catalytic convertor failing at 140k miles, but no CEL yet.

I get good mileage, 30hiway 25city, so I assume it's running well, no strange noises or shakes.

 

Anybody make any changes to affect that?

Does your CEL work , one that had a dead bulb hid my problem

from me...never noticed it didn't light in test mode.

My 2000 had a real rich cold idle but did fine when warmed up.

Mine was the Oxygen Sensor, but again the bulb was out and was

my reason for no CEL .

 

Richard

My '96 I can smell a little raw gasoline in the exhaust on startup. I'd guess if any of the sensors such as MAF/MAP/ECT is real inacurate maybe it might make it run extra rich? Or if there's a vacuum leak maybe making some cylinders run rich. I love the smell of gasoline in the morning....it smells like...victory.

I love the smell of gasoline in the morning....it smells like...victory.

 

You need to stand behind my Mustang when it's cold...It'll bring

tears to your eyes....smells great.

 

Richard

i'm bumping this because i have this complaint with my obw and my sisters impreza

Our 95, 98 and 2001 ALL stink on cold mornings. I usually catch a wiff while backing out of the driveway.

 

You can try switching brands of gas but oxygenated winter mix and the blended gasoline are just a bit stinky until your cats warm up to temp. and the engine gets to operating teperature

i'm bumping this because i have this complaint with my obw and my sisters impreza

I realize that this thread is a couple of weeks old, but I thought there might be some interest in Subaru's "official" position on cold start exhaust smell:

http://endwrench.com/images/pdfs/ExhaustInfo.pdf