Help diagnose my problem!

Okay I have a 94' chevy cavalier rs. 4 cylinder 2 door coupe. Im pretty handy with cars but i just cant figure this problem out. Here is a list of the cars symptoms, maybe someone can tell me what this points to:

1) Exhaust sounds bad, as though something along there is going but as far as I can tell there are no holes.

2)At the beginning of the summer (couple of weeks ago) I noticed the engine was getting real hot, checked out the coolant level and it was real real low, filled it up to the right spot with coolant. Engine temp running okay now, coolant level normal.

3)When the car is forced to exert alot of horsepower, under alot of strain, such as accelerating up a hill, you can hear this sound as if air is rushing out of somewhere, I cant recreate the sound though when I go to look at the engine it needs to be going up a hill not just in neutral like when i look at it.

4) Horsepower seems lacking in general (especially going uphill)

5) I noticed when stepping on the accelerator if I only accelerate alittle, the exhaust lets out this strange noise, a kind of unproductive gurgle, and the car doesnt accelerate, i need to press harder to overcome that.

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Okay these are all the problems my car is having at the moment, They may not be all related but... they all are bothering me and i'd really appreciate your help.

What have you done to the car so far to try and fix this?
Clogged catalytic converter?

Sounds like a clogged cat, no biggie and not terribly expensive to fix yourself if you don't mind clamping together your system or if you access to a welder.

And this should've gone in the Problem Diagnosis forum, methinks.

I appreciate your help, havent been to AF in a couple of months and didnt realize there was a diagnosis forum inparticular. Sorry.

Possible clogged cat.? Is there a way to unclog without getting a new one?, i dont mind clamping my system together as long as it doesn't sound bad. I'll look into this problem tomorrow though. Thanks for the help so far, if you guys have any other ideas i'd still appreciate them.

-Dan

You could always take a brook handle to the pipes, but you will not be passing emissions any time soon unless you replace the cat. When you go to the store to buy this, make sure you ask for a Universal cat for a 4 cylinder with "this" pipe size. The direct OEM fits are usually quite a bit more expensive than a universal.

You could always take a brook handle to the pipes

by brook he means broom, also, to anyone that can answer this, will doing that cause your CEL to come on??

okay another question. online there are a number of places which say to remove it and see if the car runs better. You think that it would be safe to take it off and leave the exhaust pipe as is while i test it, cause that would be spilling exhaust pretty much underneath the center of the car... Id like to check it out without it on though for a change in performance, what you guys think.

definetely worth a try, the only thing that you would hurt is the environment, it would also be loud as hell, what do you mean by "spilling exhaust"?? exhaust is a gas, not a liquid, and for the tiny bit of liquid that comes out of the exhaust, it would fall straight to the ground...

by brook he means broom, also, to anyone that can answer this, will doing that cause your CEL to come on??
Indeed, and it won't make your CEL come on as that year of cavalier lacked an o2 sensor after the cat.

Of course, I meant take it off and shove a broom handle through it and then put it back on, and I have no idea why that'd make your exhaust leak, unless however you attached it had a leak.

lol. dont worry, im a biochemist, i know exhaust is a gas...
Im going to take it apart this weekend and see how it goes. If i run a broom handle through it im assuming i would permanently break the converter correct? Which makes me wonder, if it is clogged.... isnt it permanently broken anyway, as in i would just need to replace it....

Just replace it and have nice new cat converter on there.

, if it is clogged.... isnt it permanently broken anyway, as in i would just need to replace it....

yes, its "trash" anyways, if it is clogged, and yes, you replace them, not fix them

if correct me if im wrong but if you have liquid dripping out your exhaust dosnt that mean your not getting a good spark? like its gas dripping out your exhaust because your not getting a good fuel 2 air ratio...

Correct cav means your running too rich and its not burning all of the fuel.

Not necessarily true, pitbull. You should know that when an exhuast system works as well as it should, it can cause water to be a byproduct of the emissions control process...

Anyways, about my broom handle suggestion. Yes, it will work. Its also illegal, doesn't fix anything, and is a temp fix at best. You should always replace a bad cat, if for no other reason then you shouldn't kill mommy nature. But, the broom handle would be a good test...sort of....

shut up.