Truck has Bad Odor, Smells like Sulphur/Rotten Eggs

Batman13 · Aug 17, 2020

skellr said: ↑

Keep driving.

Fix it when you can stop. One dead battery will kill the others rather quickly so I'd plan on replacing them all when you do.
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Yea that's what I was planning but had to be sure..another question..so I'm figuring it's a dead battery because of the horrible rotten eggs smell...I mostly smell it when I'm stopped but can smell while driving..and can also smell it on the outside..is that correct? I thought if you had a bad/dead battery the truck would have a hard time starting...And if it is a dead battery...is it more dangerous because it's dead? Like if I was to remove it?

Hollywoodsaint · Jan 19, 2022

jab8283 said: ↑

You don't have an engine problem, you have a battery problem. Either through corroded battery cables or defective grounding you have over-charged one or more of your batteries. You have a dry cell and that is where that horrible smell comes from. Be extremely careful if you do this job yourself because the battery or batteries affected in this state will explode with just the slightest spark or static electricity. Wear safety glasses in addition to full face shield, plus cover all exposed skin with something (an old coat for example) and wear leather gloves. Remove and locate affected batteries and set them aside by themselves away from all possible ignition sources. While batteries are out, find out what caused over-charge condition. Check your grounds from batteries to frame, batteries to starter, starter to engine block, frame to engine block, frame to cab body and frame to alternator. Also check that no main positive battery cable is corroded. If wires inside insulation are green, throw it away and have new cables made. Once all cables are confirmed good and all of your grounding locations are secure, reinstall new batteries and your good to go. On these newer trucks, all those grounding locations I mentioned including the little ground wire going to ECM from batteries is very very important for your truck to function correctly. If any are missing, install them. Grounds to your engine block and your cab body are the two most important electrical connections on your truck because for airride cabs, that grounding strap or cable from frame to cab is very important because your fuse box is where all the important circuits feeding your injectors, and ECM are located. Just use extreme care with batteries that have been cooked and remember a dead battery is more explosive than a fully charged battery of any size. I am a confirmed authority concerning battery explosions and trust me, you don't want to go there. In case your wondering why I mentioned nothing about your alternator, well that's because today's alternators rarely fail. Usually it's the cable or a connection that has failed because if either of those two items fails, the alternator has no clue how much voltage is in the batteries and will continue charging because there is no signal telling the alternator to quit charging. It's as simple as that especially on today's electronically controlled diesel engines. But run an alternator with bad cables long enough and yes, it too will fail. Check your cables and cable connections in addition to all grounding locations at minimum once a month to ensure they are performing the way they should and you'll never have an electrical problem. That's a fact Jack.
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how long do you have after smelling the smell before the battery can explode?
also, can it explode as I am driving ?
and if in fact it can, can I be harmed in the drivers seat?
I'm in a 2014 peterbilt 579. batteries are under the drivers seat

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