I doubt the throttle body has been cleaned so I'll look into that also. Would Seafoam help clean it.
theazz

 

Here is a video. Let me add don't spray a whole bunch of cleaner. Spray a little use a toothbrush or similar and a rag to clean it. This video will keep you from any other problems. I myself do a quick cleaning with ever oil change. A quic spray or two and a cloth it stays clean. I'm not a pat goss fan but this is good safe information.

 

Called a local Toyota dealer that I've had good luck with.
They recommend full diagnostic first, $90. This includes screen read outs of fuel system components and visual go over of entire engine.

I asked them about a fuel system cleaning and their price is $159 which includes throttle body, fuel injectors and fuel rail. This is a pressurized cleaning.

 

It is up to you on how you want to handle this. I don't you are that much off on your car. Getting the read out if you can't do it yourself. Will let you know exactly where you stand. I don't expect you to find anything dramatically wrong, which is a good thing.

 

I know it's strange but I hope the diagnostic does find something wrong and an easy fix.
My appointment is for Thursday. I'll post the results.
Theazz

 

So went to the Toyota dealer and they did an extensive diagnostic on the car.
Everything checked out 100%. I talked to the mechanic who did the diagnostic and he had worked at Lexus for many years. He said almost every time he sees this its the fuel that is used. He asked if I use premium and I said no and never had a problem with knocking and that this is my 2nd SC430.
He said there's more to it than knocking especially with the problems with gas today.
He recommended BP premium gas and then gave me 2 cans of BG44k fuel system cleaner to run through the next tank of gas (never heard of the product but after going on the internet it's apparently some real powerful and good stuff) 1 can each use should be good for 6 months. He said that's the only product that dealership uses and will clean injectors, O2 sensors, catalytic converter, valves and pistons.
So that's it we'll see how this works.

 

I guess I just assumed you used premium...I will say this, I have always used premium and the car would smell like rotten eggs when I was at WOT, wide open throttle.

The smell is gone now because I removed the third cat. I also removed the two resonators. All of this was done to add a little performance but mostly because my wife wanted her car to be louder.

I sure hope the premium is your fix.

What ever you do, do NOT purchase a cat unless you see a P0420 or P0430 code show up. Then you still have to trouble shoot the system to verify the O2 sensors are operating properly. If they are, then a cat could be suspected.

 

Theazz, Bgw, I just assumed premium fuel was used too. I knew it wasn't anything big. It's along that same line. Gold it was an inexpensive deal.

 

The results of the tech visit should also be posted in the "Regular vs Premium" thread that was discussed last week. Could be a great debating point to add to the discussion we had. I'd post it myself, but I think it would have more impact from a first person experience.

 

+1 on that Shawn I agree 100%

 

I've run on regular for 9 or so years (70k+ miles) without issue and without smell.

 

Yep, and like I said, I run 93 and the smell was there big time until I removed the third cat.

I just hope the smell goes away when he adds the 91-93.

Remember Cole discussing the O2 sensors earlier in this thread? He made some valid points about the O2 sensors becoming weak, which provides the wrong fuel amount...

 

He's still talking cleaning the injectors. I think it was a combo of stale fuel from storage and lack of detergents in the lower fuel grade.

 

There are rimes and conditions that you get the sulfur smell from a brand new car. With a working converter you will always have it on occasion. It's if it starts happening more frequently that you start looking for why.

 

Side question: once gas goes bad, assuming that it is not water or contamination, is the mixture just coming out of solution or is there a chemical change to the gas? If it is just coming out of solution, could it be shook up or stirred up to go back into solution? (I've never experienced this even with the gas I use for lawn equipment that will sit for 4 months at a time.)