02 merc. sable no go over 40mph..??

[jc97sub15004x4]

hi.. guys.. yeasterday I was going on the freeway,.. and I started to feel lack of power on my gas pedal.. speed dropping to 40-45 mph,.. and could not make it go faster.. not the tranny, but felt like the engine was choking.. and all of a sudden,.. I hear a puff under the hood,.. and started to make like a giant vaccum leak.. but it started to give little more power to the gas pedal..
got off the freeway,.. and opened up the hood.. and found that my dpfe sensor gone.. broken tip was touching the exhaust,.. and burning.. at least the connector itself was o.k..
asked around for parts store,.. but too far.. but a person directed me to a close by junk yard.. well something is better than nothing.. so I went.. lokked for my year car,.. no luck.. did find 98 taurus,.. and got me a dpfe sensor from it.. different..just thought to put it on,.. to block the two exhast holes.. but plastic connector for electronic was different..
as I drove,.. it kept on popping off,.. at that point,.. I kew that there was too much pressure on the exhaust.. BAD CAT..??
well I still had to drive few more miles to home,.. so I had to take off the o2 sensor to let the exhast breath.. well.. sounded little loud, and smelled like you know what,.. but did make it home..was able to drive 60- 65 mph or so.. sounds like a clogged cat..?? if it is,.. what are my options..anyways to clean it..?? saw some chemical stuffs,.. would they work..?? least expensive way would be better,.. thanks to great economy that we have now..
well.. if anyone had same experience as I did,.. your inputs will be appreciated..
my car is 01 mercury sable,.. with 135km,.. duratec, 3.0 dohc.
thanks..jc

[rdh2]

Sounds like catalytic converter is plugged. It is illegal to tamper with the emission system, so the best bet is to purchase a new universal converter. Junkyards typically don't sell used converters for liability reasons.

A direct fit aftermarket converter can cost $200-$400. A universal converter costs $100-$200. The engine is tuned for a certain amount of backpressure, and removal of the backpressure can cause driveability issues.

[thisnametooktolong]

I hate to say this but in many states ( like Indiana ) it is OK to loose the cats. To make the MIL light go out either drill out a 18 mm anti oil foul spark plug adaptor and screw the down stream O2 sensor into that. Or solder in a 1 meg resistor in line with the sensor and a 1 micro farad cap across the sensor. On a ford the down stream HEGO is only used to check if the cat is working
And for all those tree huggers out there, Just came back from LA. The last time I was there was 1979, guess what….. the smog is the same. And for all the global warming fans…. Removing the cats lowers CO2 in favor of NOX. (no difference) and just remember that the cats take 3% of all the gas going through the engine just to keep the cats working

[jc97sub15004x4]

thanks guys for your inputs.. I guess I'll be looking for a new cat.. there's three. I guess they all have to be replaced..or would one do..?? how can I check to see if one or three needs replacing..?? anyways to test it..?? or don't even waste time on it..??

[thisnametooktolong]

If you are not tossing a cat efficiency trouble code, my best bet would be the third cat. But the only real way to tell would be to pull the darn things and look through them

[shorod]

As a temporary test, you could pull one O2 sensor at a time and see if pulling any one makes the car run better. If you find one that does, than there is likely a restriction following the location of that O2 sensor.

-Rod

[jc97sub15004x4]

yeah.. it makes sense.. cause the o2 sensor that I took out, was the after cat sensor. one before the 3rd. cat. to get it home. I did have cel llight on,.about 250 miles previously, and just was too lazy to have it fixed, before the incident happened..oh..remember that had a misfires for about 500 miles couple of months ago and that was fixed though with changing the power pack.. after that,. I remember was lean codes. would burning lean cause a cat to be clogged up..??
the way I see,.. if I change the dpfe set ups, and the o2 sensors with clogged cat,.. I'm not doing much good.. right..?? It'll just go bad again.. right..?? OOrr.. would new o2 sensors make adjustments according to the low back flow of the engine to make it better..?? your inputs are appreciated.. thanks.. jc.

[thisnametooktolong]

By the way just as a thought, I thought that maybe rather than making a lot of noise around the house…. You could use a compression tester with a 18mm adapter on it. IF the upstream sensor locations have one that is higher than the other bank. I would bet that the high one is the offensive cat. If bank one and two are high, and the down stream is high, I would bet on the third cat. IF bank one and two are high and the down stream is low, I would bet that the bank 1 and 2 cats are plugged.
But, a two or three hundred PSI gauge probably wont be sensitive enough to tell the difference.

Sounds to me like I just though of a new E-bay product line-up!

A plugged up cat does not make the O2 sensor go bad. It just will make the down stream sensors switch faster than the upstream O2 60% Tolerance. The down stream 02 sensors are only used to test the efficiency of the cats and are not used for fuel trim. Knowing the ways that MIL eliminators work, and back pressure works, I GUESS that it could make the car run richer not leaner, as well as hotter. But there is a bunch of things that would change in that whole setup so I really prefer not to guess. I am one of those guys that won’t carve anything in stone unless I see and test the results first. Hands down the best way to check the 02 Sensors is with a graphing scanner first. Then check the wires to see why the sensor heater is open or the thing is stuck high or low.

[jc97sub15004x4]

makes sense.. great tips.. my car does not overheat at this time.. maybe not clogged enough yet.. it idles quite.. (no misfires or rough motor..) when I first start the car it drives allright.. almost in normal cond..but as I drive for several minutes,.. I feel the engine just does not want to push powerful enough. still no misfires,.. roughness..

I think I think it's not too clogged up yet,.. but maybe will get worse.. if I drive the way it is..clogging it more..

I've heard of some chemical additives that can clean out the cats,..?? I really don't know how inside of the cats are made,.. so can't say much about it,.. would sea foam help..?? to blow the carbons out of the cat..??.. or am I just wasting my time..?? what do you think..??

[thisnametooktolong]

magic goop never ever fixes anything. most comprssion testers hold compression so you could drive around the block, hop out and check quick. Heck if you had a set of A/C gauges with enough hose... I know that would work