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Old 04-03-2011, 11:11 AM   #1
Caterer
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Exclamation 04 tribute LX (2WD, 3.0L V6) mechanical ??

Okay, the transmission kind of exploded in January, I had it rebuilt and while it was on the rack we noticed a decent amount of engine oil on the outside of the pan. Took it in to have the oil changed two weeks ago (at 149,845 miles) and I replaced the front brake pads and rotors the following day. That night the MIL came on, we pulled a P0420 (rear catalyst?) code at Autozone. It's been two weeks, still just the one code.

I'm noticing a smell of exhaust under the hood (and sometimes in the cab when sitting idle) as well as a slight hissing sound. The vehicle has a significant loss of power. It takes off fine, but it won't jack-rabbit. It won't exceed 3800 rpm's and obtaining a safe freeway speed of 60-70 takes much longer than it should. The Oil is also a bit lower than it should be (about a quart or so).

I'm wondering if there's:
A) An exhaust leak that's causing the hiss, the smell, and the code to be thrown.
B) A bad catalytic converter that's causing the performance issue and the code.
C) A gasket leak that's letting oil out and air in, causing the hiss, decrease in performance, and the code.
D) Some combination of the above.


Need to get this solved ASAP, any help would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.


Mark
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Old 04-03-2011, 12:22 PM   #2
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Re: 04 tribute LX (2WD, 3.0L V6) mechanical ??

Sounds like the converter is plugged... that will give the poor performance and P0420. Smell could be a defective converter or just oil burning on the manifold from teh oil leak.
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Old 04-03-2011, 12:51 PM   #3
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Re: 04 tribute LX (2WD, 3.0L V6) mechanical ??

Quote:
Originally Posted by adamgrant View Post
Sounds like the converter is plugged... that will give the poor performance and P0420. Smell could be a defective converter or just oil burning on the manifold from teh oil leak.
Thanks, planning on taking it in tomorrow. Not sure oil would produce an exhaust smell though.
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Old 04-03-2011, 01:14 PM   #4
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Re: 04 tribute LX (2WD, 3.0L V6) mechanical ??

A DTC P0420 is usually throw when a catalytic converter is blown, a plugged Cat
would cause Misfires, over heating, and could choke an engine out!

1) Have a muffler shop check your catalytic converter with a back pressure test, it's alot cheaper.

Because of Age + Mileage suspect bad plastic, rubber seals, and gaskets.
A smoke test can pin point vacuum leaks on your Intake, EGR, and PCV systems.
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Old 04-04-2012, 02:17 PM   #5
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Re: 04 tribute LX (2WD, 3.0L V6) mechanical ??

Wow, I've been away too long. The Cat on the back of the engine was bad. Morel like shattered internally. Replaced that and still had issues. Turned out the shattered debris moved down the line to a third (unmonitored) Cat and plugged it up. Removed that one tried to drive it. MY OH MY what a difference. Too loud to leave it that way, so cleared the cat, reinstalled, worked just fine.
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Old 04-06-2012, 11:31 AM   #6
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Re: 04 tribute LX (2WD, 3.0L V6) mechanical ??

You might consider using a H02 cheater down stream to suppress the P0420's until a new catalytic converter.
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