I have a 6 speed 2000 camaro ss and sometimes when I am in 1st going to 2nd all my gauges go to zero the car cuts out for a split second and then everything goes back to normal but it smells like barf for a good 15-30 seconds after??? Does anyone have any idea what’s wrong? I think this started after I cleaned the corrosion off of the battery connectors… it seems like it does it when I get wheel hop.

 

Any chance the catalytic converter is bad?

 

i would hope not seeing how it has no cats

 

anyone ever hurl under your hood when you weren't looking? Maybe you discovered direct puke injection.

 

Could you be a little more specific on the smell, is it an overly rich smell, an electrical smell?

 

Rotten Eggs By Chance?

Bad Battery Or Overcharging?

 

And approximately where do you smell it.... exhaust? .... interior vents? ..... under the hood? .....all of the above?

 

Yeah I know it sounds funny bud I am really not sure what else to say... The first time it happened I was like man someone must have barfed nearby. But I think it might be something with the wiring, but it just smells like barf, and its only at random times. What could be going wrong that all my gauges go to zero and every light on the dash comes on, is that a fuses or bad connection?

 

sounds like bad connection somewhere. Check the battery cables(follow to each end), ignition switch, junction boxes, etc. If its a bad connection and is melting any wires, you should be able to smell it faintly for a little while wherever its getting too hot, and track it down that way. Is the battery bolted down or is it just sitting in the tray? could be arcing across something if its not bolted in. Could also be a bad battery, they can smell pretty putrid when they leak and/or overheat or are jarred around when getting ready to crap out. All of these are possible causes of your problem, and are places to start anyway. If you cant really track anything down, take your car to the parts store, (or even take your battery out and take it to the parts store) and have it load tested. If its bad or getting ready to go bad, that should be a dead giveaway. Even if its still holding its charge, if its got a weak cell or is gettin ready to explode, a load test would let you find out if thats your problem. Have them test it at least 2 or 3 times to get a good load and a little heat on it. If it shows good, doesnt reproduce your smell, then keep tracing wires. Kinda sounds like that may be the problem, as wires melting just smells like plastic with a kick to it. Battery odor is just plain putrid/noxious.

 

Thanks for the info I will have to check that out... I like that answer a lot better then some one barfed under my hood

 

So I went under the hood and a found a couple of things. The battery was not mounted properly and was free to move around. Also the battery connectors were really crowded with blue powdery stuff coming out of them. I am going to replace the connectors and mount the battery... but do you think that will fix my problem?

 

You're not *really* going to mount the battery, are you?

(let's hope not!!)

Based on what you've said, you need to do exactly as you say - fix the
battery connectors and secure the battery.

 

if it doesnt, then I would recommend replacing the battery completely... Have you taken it to have it load tested yet? If you do it on a hot day or after you've driven it for a little while, the load test will be more accurate.
If it is having problems they will show up more quickly if the battery is already pretty warm and has been in use. Good luck and let us know what ya find out.


Also-- If you already know, then disregaurd, but if you dont --- You can use either a tablespoon of baking soda mixed with a large glass of warm water or a can of Coca Cola followed by a good rinsing with water to get rid of all that battery acid before you replace your cable ends. If its really bad, You may need to replace the cables as the acid will travel down the inside of the cables and eat the wires up. Get the little package of grease from the parts store and coat your new ends with it and any exposed wire on your batt. cables. It will seal out moisture and oxygen.

The corrosion does sound like the cause of your intermittent electrical issues though, could be caused by the battery sliding around and contacting metal or could be the battery itself being bad either way, but it sounds like your on the right track to find out.

Edit-- Be sure to rinse off the area where you clean the acid off so it doesnt eat into your paint/metal/plastic parts in the area. Would recommend using a large glass or old antifreeze jug or something so you dont accidently soak your opti**!

 

Thanks guys for your help I just finished everything. The battery acid had eaten right threw the back of the battery mount and the screws broke in half when i took them out it was in pretty bad shape. But I was able to use the old connector just had to clean it up. Then I used that liquid weld stuff and fixed the battery mount and put it all back together. It still wasn’t to sturdy so I took a small piece of metal and screwed it in the same hole the headlight uses it hangs over the battery and it helps keep the battery from moving around. Ohh and the coke worked great btw

 

I have not tryed running it hard yet, but I am pretty sure I fixed the problem... i hope