Problem Solved!
jsinton
05-21-2004, 07:50 AM
It turned out I had a clogged catalytic converter. That's why it would run at idle, but as soon as you gave it gas it would die out. Now it runs wounderfully and gets 35 mpg at 55 mph. The mechanic had to figure it out, I couldn't see it.
jsinton
12-19-2004, 09:56 AM
I'm sorry, looks like I failed to include my story. It's a really good one. Here's what happened:
My parents bought my 88 Camry wagon direct from Japan in Guam, drove it in the Philippines, then finally shipped it to the USA (important clue!) I finally got it when it was kinda used up. It never really ran right, always seemed kinda slow, but it still ran to Florida from Maryland well enough. One time in South Carolina, I started it up, and there was a faint "clunk" and suddenly it had no power. I drove on I95 about 400 miles that day at 45 to 50 mph (top speed) and made a lot of people mad, etc. all the way back to Maryland.
Ok, so what was wrong? I checked all the obvious things, I'm kinda proactive at changing parts, so I was confident in my machine. But I couldn't figure this out. Automotive Forums was no help.
Finally I took it to the mechanic, and he discovered the innards of the catalytic converter (CC) had completely deteriorated and collapsed, blocking the exhaust from escaping. It was caused by my parents driving it around the Philippines, where they still had REAL leaded gas, which toasted the CC. He cleaned out the guts of the CC and it ran like a rocket (ok, not really but you get the picture.)
Another interesting note is the performance of the CC in reducing the 3 major components of pollution. I got the acid tests to prove how good the CC is. When I had my Maryland emissions test done with NO innards in the CC I scored about 30% higher then the state's acceptible levels in NO2, CO2, and Hydrocarbons. I was forced to replace my CC. When I did replace it, it ran better, and there was no loss of power. When I had the emissions test done, the CC was a whopping 99% effective in NO2, 95% effective in CO2, and 90% in hydrocarbons in respect to pollution removal. I never would have believed it would be so effective.
I believe now we should put CC's on anything that burns gas, they work so good.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
My parents bought my 88 Camry wagon direct from Japan in Guam, drove it in the Philippines, then finally shipped it to the USA (important clue!) I finally got it when it was kinda used up. It never really ran right, always seemed kinda slow, but it still ran to Florida from Maryland well enough. One time in South Carolina, I started it up, and there was a faint "clunk" and suddenly it had no power. I drove on I95 about 400 miles that day at 45 to 50 mph (top speed) and made a lot of people mad, etc. all the way back to Maryland.
Ok, so what was wrong? I checked all the obvious things, I'm kinda proactive at changing parts, so I was confident in my machine. But I couldn't figure this out. Automotive Forums was no help.
Finally I took it to the mechanic, and he discovered the innards of the catalytic converter (CC) had completely deteriorated and collapsed, blocking the exhaust from escaping. It was caused by my parents driving it around the Philippines, where they still had REAL leaded gas, which toasted the CC. He cleaned out the guts of the CC and it ran like a rocket (ok, not really but you get the picture.)
Another interesting note is the performance of the CC in reducing the 3 major components of pollution. I got the acid tests to prove how good the CC is. When I had my Maryland emissions test done with NO innards in the CC I scored about 30% higher then the state's acceptible levels in NO2, CO2, and Hydrocarbons. I was forced to replace my CC. When I did replace it, it ran better, and there was no loss of power. When I had the emissions test done, the CC was a whopping 99% effective in NO2, 95% effective in CO2, and 90% in hydrocarbons in respect to pollution removal. I never would have believed it would be so effective.
I believe now we should put CC's on anything that burns gas, they work so good.
Thanks for reading and have a nice day!
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