My dakota just started loosing power and has a hissing sound under the hood while driving. Stopped to check it out and cant find noise when not in cab. Any info will help alot thanks. Cat started to make some noise also.

HAHA!

Your cat is clogged. Clean it out or put a new one on.

This is the exact same thing that happened on my truck. The exhaust note changed and the cat started making noise. The hissing under the hood on my truck was coming from the passenger side cylinder bank, as the enormous amount of backpressure from the cat kicked 2 of the 4 bolts holding the manifold on, out! They broke off inside the head and forced the manifold away from the head. Simply disgusting. Change your cat before you damage anything.

I was hoping it wasnt the cat but im glad you responded.
Thanks, will try and see what happens

Since your truck is a 1995 it likely isn't on warranty anymore. I don't know too much about that, but depending on where you live and maybe how many miles you have on the truck, you might be able to get it replaced for free...

Talk to your dealer...

Truck has 180k i put 40k on it in the past 4 months since i bought it.
Going to try an after market cat and see how that works. Will change plugs and belt and so forth to see how it runs then.
Thanks

You can find after market Cats for pretty cheap. If you know how weld you can fix it yourself its realy not that hard. Especialy if you have a 4X4. If not find a small exhaust shop in your town and check prices. The small shops generaly do just as good of work as the big ones and charge alot less. Good luck. :2cents:

With 180K you are most likely out of warranty for the Cat Converter (these are federally mandated now at 8 years/80,000 miles, regardless of owner or vehicle warranty) highrisk is right, aftermarkets will run you as low as $140 up to $300. Just depends on what you want to spend. The installation isn't too hard, but if you don't know how or don't have the time, some muffler shops will install a new one (that you provide) for as little as $30-$50.