[sue]

I have a 2003 rodeo with 1200 mi on it. From day 1 I could smell the dreaded rotten egg smell associated with a bad converter. Dealer rep advised putting on a few more miles. Did that. After a while checked fuel economy. In the toilet at 12/16 Again dealer says needs more break-in time. Then noticed muffler looking very blue like it was getting too hot. Son looked under and says converter burnt looking . Going back in tomorrow for service. Anyone else having converter problems on a new vehicle?

 

[JTK]

Sue, a sulpher/rotten egg smell is not the symtoms of a bad cat. It's usually the result of a rich running engine, or the quality of the gasoline being used. 12-16mpg is pretty typical for a brand-new 3.2L in mixed city/hwy driving. MPG's will get better after 3-5Kmi or so. My 2002 rodeo will give off some stink when driven hard. Depends on the brand of gasoline used. I have the best luck with sunoco gasoline. These are fairly thirsty, heavy breathing, somewhat rich running engines. I guess thats how they get 205hp out of a small 3.2L engine. @ 16Kmi, my 2002 will get 15mpg mixed diving & 20 hywy. The sulpher smell will fade as the engine breaks in. Try some different brands of gasoline to see if that helps. You would get a check engine light & SEVERE performance issues if either of your (2) cats were bad. G/luck
Joel

 

[Amigo-2k]

The smell is from over spray of under coating. I had the same smell for about the first 7k miles. Also, as your engine breaks in your MPG will go up. At about 15k my MPG leveled off at about 18/22. So no worries. Don't forget to check your oil often on the new engine.

-Ryan

 

[JTK]

Yep. Good call on the overspray Ryan. Thing is- my rodeo LS never had an ounce of undercoating on it. Nothing but factory paint underneath. No gooey stuff at all. Maybe the RS's are different??

Joel

 

[sue]

The smell is from over spray of under coating. I had the same smell for about the first 7k miles. Also, as your engine breaks in your MPG will go up. At about 15k my MPG leveled off at about 18/22. So no worries. Don't forget to check your oil often on the new engine.

-Ryan

Thanks Guys! Basically this is what Iszu said today when I had the vehicle checked out. I guess I was just PO'd when I was only seeing fuel usage comparable to my old Ford 350/v8 van! All my life folks have been telling me that smell was a bad cc. Who knew?

 

[LTC Don]

ISUZU is not unique in the mileage respects. All manufacturers it would seem have mileages in the sewer including HONDA and KIA. You would think the 'foreign' makes could do significantly better than the domestics with the SUV MPGs.

It's been very frustrating for someone like me with a 12-year old Trooper that actually gets better gas mileage than the brand new SUV offerings. I just can't afford to get rid of the ol' gal when its still getting between 18 and 19 mpg highway with some 160K miles.

Just pay very close attention to the tune-up schedules in your maintenance charts so your MPG doesn't suffer, this especially includes checking your tire pressures on a regular basis.

Cheers,

 

[eeZooZooJaz]

Uh, Sue? Have you checked underneath the seats for, uh, maybe an egg that has spoiled!