skipping, jumping, hard starting, bad smell??

I've replaced coils, plugs, cleaned EGR, replaced fuel filter. everything I can think of.
Starts but seems like car is stuck in closed position(full choke). smokes badly from exhaust , terrible gas smell from under the hood, sounds like valves are about to rip out of the motor, and will make a muffled sound like a back fire under the hood. The sound is like a muffled pop sound.
when I put into reverse and back up it seems like I have no power brakes,
The found no codes last time. And now the engine light will even go off whil it happens and not come back on. I'm so freaked out about it, Can't put any of the pieces together.
Please help before I give up

Let's start by understanding what year the car is and which engine it has.

Since you say the CEL will go off now, that suggests that it was recently on. There should be codes stored.

It really sounds like you have a severe vacuum leak somewhere, maybe you didn't get the air intake tubing installed correctly and securely when doing the plugs and coils? Maybe you left the Mass Air Flow (MAF) sensor disconnected?

Do you have access to a scan tool with the datastream feature?

-Rod

03' V6 126k miles
All connections are good.
Dealership said the only code they found was a bad cat. converter. These are the same guys that told me I needed to replace almost everything to fix my heat when in reality all that needed to be done was clean the DCCV valve. Then they said transmission was fine when it's been jerking so bad I'm surprised I don't have whiplash. Sorry, back to the point.
It sounds to me like a vacuum as well but I can't find anything off. I've cleaned every sensor I can think of. I'll get it scanned again but seems like I'm just wasting $ and not finding the problem. Guess I'm just irritated. It was bad, but has gotten worse since I changed the coils etc. I'm positive I did everything correctly.

The V6's have a problem of the elbow that goes to the PCV valve splits. That might be your problem. I think that you have to take the intake manifold off to get to it.

Get the full code and post back. Many of the chain auto parts stores will pull codes at no charge. The code should be in the format of P0123.

-Rod

i'll try

update, I crank the car in the morning and it smells like raw fuel from under the hood. It doesn't smoke at first. Then after about 60 seconds it starts blowing out smoke like crazy from the exaust pipes and smokes out the garage in about 20 seconds. The odometer has little dots covering up the miliage alomst like it
s going nutz. Then I drive it out of the neighborhood and within a minute or so it starts running fine.

How old is your battery?

maybe 9 mths. I've thought about that as well.
Thx

Are both banks throwing a P0420 & P0430?
If one of the cats are plugged, it could cause random misfires.

A blown cat can cause blockage, thus act like a plugged cat!
Rich, misfiring

Because of age, suspect bad plastic, rubber, and seals on Intake, EGR, and PCV system.

Do a smoke Test -
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfiQ7qWiG-M (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfiQ7qWiG-M)

What kind of plugs did you put in? I was told by autozone it didn't matter, then I found out only Iridium spark plugs work in the ls.

I replaced the plugs with stock Motorcraft plugs. Nothing fancy. I think I may have a air leak somewhere on the intake but what's strange is it runs fine after driving a few minutes. I'm shooting for the EGR or O2 sensors. Cats are probaly clogged as well. I'm thinking about going with a pair of Cherry Bomb mufflers too...
Just kidding..

I saw a Honda civic the other day with the same muffler that My motorcycle had on it. I about died.