2001 Kia Sportage catalytic converter problem?

My Sportage has had a major loss of power. All codes were checked out(water temp, crankshaft) and cleared. Two bad plugs were replaced. This did not solve the problem, still no power. 10,000 miles ago wires, plugs and coils were changed. I am now told the catalytic converter is most likely clogged. My question is which one. I have a 4 dr 2.0. There seems to be one off the manifold and a rear one also. I don't want to be guessing for that kind of money. Any help would be great. Thanks!

My Sportage has had a major loss of power. All codes were checked out(water temp, crankshaft) and cleared. Two bad plugs were replaced. This did not solve the problem, still no power. 10,000 miles ago wires, plugs and coils were changed. I am now told the catalytic converter is most likely clogged. My question is which one. I have a 4 dr 2.0. There seems to be one off the manifold and a rear one also. I don't want to be guessing for that kind of money. Any help would be great. Thanks!

When your car misfires and sends raw fuel into the cat the element inside starts to melt. More than likely the warmup cat is plugged. The only way to really check is to remove it and look inside.

It is a possiblity that the main cat can be damaged also, but mainly I have replaced warm up cats. for no power issues.

The main cat. has an 8/80000 mile warranty if it has a problem.

What mileage is your sporty? DId the loss of power come progressively or on a sudden? Over 70000 miles, timing belt failure is a common issue and jumping one or 2 teeth could have same symptoms; it would have come on a sudden whereas cat clogging is rather progressive...

What mileage is your sporty? DId the loss of power come progressively or on a sudden? Over 70000 miles, timing belt failure is a common issue and jumping one or 2 teeth could have same symptoms; it would have come on a sudden whereas cat clogging is rather progressive...


Funny you should mention the T-belt. I had an 01 come in just the other day with all the symptoms of a clogged cat. As I drove it I thought that checking the timing first would be easier.

Sure enough timing off, belt had jumped about 8 or 9 teeth. I have seen them jump at around 40000 miles before and sometimes more than 8 or 9 and still run.

Should of thought of that one before. Good call LMP. :biggrin:

Funny you should mention the T-belt. I had an 01 come in just the other day with all the symptoms of a clogged cat. As I drove it I thought that checking the timing first would be easier.

Sure enough timing off, belt had jumped about 8 or 9 teeth. I have seen them jump at around 40000 miles before and sometimes more than 8 or 9 and still run.

Should of thought of that one before. Good call LMP. :biggrin:


Sorry I didn't answer sooner, I,m still learning my way around this web site. It's a wonder I can even turn the computer on.
I now have 71,000 mi on my sportage and the belt went at 59,000. The dealer replaced it. At first I noticed the vechile didn't have the pep (ha) it normally had and after a couple of weeks there was a quick decline in performance. Thanks again for the help.