catalytic converter geting red hot and no power

Someone put sugar in my gas tank so I had it worked on at the Dodge place they replaced my fuel pump..fuel filter cleaned the tank..flushed the lines cleaned my injectors and replaced the plugs..I went to
pick it up I barely made it a mile down the road I had no power and a lady flagged me down to tell me to pull over because I had sparks coming from the bottom of my van I looked under the van and the catalytic converter was red like hit coals the Dodge place is telling me its my flex plate? I think they are misdiagnosing the issue because before the sugar issue I had no problems with my van???? Can someone please help??

Didn't give the year or motor. Plugged cat or bad knock sensor. Any codes?

Its a 2003 Dodge caravan I think its 6 cylinder sorry not sure of motor but I havnt been able to make sense of the Dodge places explanation of what the probleml is they say its the flex plate but I've never been showed a code I have had no problems out of this van until the sugar got put in my tank and the Dodge place worked
on it

See if you can find your knock sensor and check the connection. This may help:

http://www.autozone.com/autozone/repairinfo/repairguide/repairGuideContent.jsp?pageId=0996b43f802d73a8

Your cat is clogged. Common thing to happen when you get sugar in the tank.

The reason its glowing red is because all the heat is getting trapped in the cat and its overheating.
Quick fix, drop the exhaust and punch out the cat material with a hammer and screwdriver.
Long term fix, you need a new cat.

If it were a bad sensor you would have a check engine light so thats pretty easy to rule out.
The flex plate will do nothing for emissions systems in your car.
I would suggest you take it to a good muffler shop and have them inspect it for you.

SS

Thanks the Dodge place said that I could try to change the converter but they keep insisting that it had nothng to do with the sugar being in the tank amd that its the flex plate I think they aren't doin there job and just tryn to get more money for unesscary work

And I can't drive the van to take it anywhere it'll barely go 15 MPH and that's with my foot all the way on the pedal to the floor

Been cruising multiple forums for 8 years nearly every day and have yet to read about a flexplate causing a cat to glow and I've read many posts about cracked flex plates. Normally they are associated with various crankshaft sensor codes, ticking/scraping noises and stuttering or stalling. That said, I would think if the flex plate were indeed at fault, you would be seeing one of the other symptoms.

Your cat is clogged. A shop can verify it by checking the pre and post cat pressure.

And I can't drive the van to take it anywhere it'll barely go 15 MPH and that's with my foot all the way on the pedal to the floor

This is pretty symptomatic of a plugged up cat. If you have the ability. Look at the cat. Most have a removable plug/bung for testing. If you can get it off, try running it that way see if it improves. Before I would let that shop do any work.

Ok thanks I was wanting to take it for a second opinion because they are telling me that the sugar in the gas tank wouldn't have anything to do with the catalytic converter that its the flex plate that is causing it to overheat it..my point is it wasn't running like that before hand..they are saying its my fault for driving it with the sugar in the tank well I didn't know it was in there at first..they assured me the sugar never made it past my pump and filter..I can't driver it due to having no power and with the catalytic converter turning red hot so its still sitting at the Dodge place

If you google sugar in gas, you'll see this has been a myth for a long time. Sugar doesn't dissolve in gas. So that part they are correct. The cat issue can be just coincidence. I do agree with Rip, if it was the flex plate you would be hearing something.

The dealer guys sound like idiots. I had a cracked flex-plate. The engine ran fine, it just made noises. It is easy to check for a plugged catalytic converter, using a vacuum gage on the intake manifold. This has been done for decades, long before converters (plugged mufflers). Find a decent mechanic. A plugged exhaust will cause exactly your symptoms. With air flow choked, you get no power.

I also read that sugar in the gas causing problems is a myth. Usually, what plugs converters is too much fuel makes them run hot and the ceramic melts. "Converter don't die, they are murdered" is the Car Talk guys line. If you just change the converter, the next one will quickly be murdered. Find the culprit, which is likely the degraded fuel injector harness wires. Search and you will find photos. Common, and easy to fix.

You are correct the Dodge place towed it to a muffler shop today cause if they had done the job it would've cost me so much money so they were trying to be consideret and take it yo a place that'd be ch eaper anyway the muffler shop called said that the catty was burned up he replaced it but its still running the exactly the same and it hadvto be towed back because if it gets drove its just going burn back up again the Dodge place is acting like they have no idea what's goin on and swear its the flex plate..urrhh I'm so frustrated at this point cause I'm dealer with the insurance company as well.

I'm guessing you didn't bother to read my post. Whatever murdered your first catalytic converter will murder the new one. Sounds like you haven't checked the fuel injector wires or looked for the many posts about that with photos. Bad wires could keep an injector spraying all the time, which would pass raw fuel to burn up in the cat. It would also eventually cause cylinder wear.

The way a bad flex-plate could cause this is by messing up the spark timing pickup on the "toner ring" which is welded to the outside of the flex-plate. My car still ran with the flex-plate cracked all the way around and rotated 20 deg, so I doubt that is the problem. It might also cause mis-fire. But much less likely to pass enough unburned fuel to the cat to melt it.

No Bill guess I didn't bother to read your post since I already had taken it to have the converter replaced..if u don't like how I write don't read my post.
I didnt realize it was a grammar lession i thought it was an open forum for questions
about vehicles not smart rude remarks..so u have a good day

Thread cleaned

Play nice, or don't play at all.

Ok..so let me clarify the issues..I'm in the process of elimination..they've changed fuel pump,fuel filter, spark plugs and cleaned the tank,fuel lines and rails they also cleaned injectors and done a compression test..in result of it being drove the catalytic converter had to be replaced because the dealer is giving me the run around about what's really wrong with it..they insist they think it'd the flex plate which I think is wrong..and the only way to know for sure is another diagnostic test and complete look over..beginning to think I'm geting lied to for more money..I have no power..it does crank but it sounds terrible and whatever the issue is is making the catalytic converter burn up..could the sugar have killed my motor and the dealer just isn't catching?

Taken from the Mythbusters Wiki:

A car's engine will be destroyed when sugar is put into the tank. Busted The engine ran even better than without the sugar.

But, it DOES sound like they are giving you the run around... a clogged cat can cause a flex pipe failure from the added pressure, not the other way around. you 100% need a new cat, just need to find what caused the failure in the first place to avoid future problems

Now after all the work and money the Dodge dealer has charged and saying it was the flex plate now all of a sudden the motor is no good and they say its not because of the sugar..I just got screwed

You need to tow that car away from that dealer.

My problem is is that I'm dealing with the insurance company and the idiots at the Dodge place who went from cleaning a fuel system that had sugar put in from o well now u have a new issue that is the flex plate to now all of a sudden its the engine..so I'm stuck with a busted up van that I now have to prove to the insurance company that the engine failure was caused by the sugar in the gas tank before they will do anything else because the dodge dealer assured them that the sugar didn't reach the engine..my point is the van got drove for 3 days before we found that it was in fact sugar that was the issue. Thanks guys for the help

Can we back up a bit? Exactly what was telling them the flex plate was the cause? Next what is telling them the engine is toast? Need to know what tests they performed and the results they saw that lead them to their conclusions. If you can get that info it may clarify some of this. Did you or the dealer ever get a check engine light and what if any codes came up on diagnosis?

Ok after the fuel tank and injectors cleaned and the pump and filter were replaced the mechanic said there was still an issue said it was running ruff his best guess was flexplate because they said if it was cracked it would throw the timing off and make it run ruff..so I picked it up and got maybe a qrt of a mile and the catalytic converter burn out so that got replaced..the van still had no power and sounds terrible so the Dodge place says the issue is mechanical and wont hook it up for diagnostics so they checked it out physically today so now they are sayn the problem is coming from the motor so therefore now their saying I need an engine..but their saying the sugar in the gas tank isn't what is causing my problems but my argument comes in that I had no problems with this van until the sugar was put in the gas tank so how can I prove that it is?

I'm confused myself and I'm sorry if I'm confusing anybody else..I'm getn the run around so their explanation for not pluging it up for codes I have yet to figure out..he said without breaking the motor down they wouldn't know for sure he said it could be wear and tear or a bad barren or cylinder..

The easiest way to check for a plugged cat is to check the inlet and outlet temps of the cat. if its more than 100 degrees F then it is internally restricted...