2001 lights on and accel. problem

[jcmb]

Hey and thanks for reading my post...

I was on my way home today, and I live on an island, so I have to go up over a big bridge. As I was going up the bridge I pressed the gas down to get up more speed up the hill and it wouldn't go any faster, and it didn't change gears for a few seconds. The service engine soon light started flashing and the trac off light came on. After a few seconds the light stopped flashing and the trac off light went off. As I came to the second bridge, which isn't as far up hill, it did the same thing. When I got home and turned the car off I could hear a sound that was like water pouring out of a water bottle (like when you turn a bottle upside down too fast and all of the bubbles are going up). The temperature was normal and I looked under the hood and it didn't seem hot. That is all I"ve got to this point, my husband is on his way home to check it out and possibly take it to a mechanic.

Earlier this morning when I got to where I was going and turned the car off I heard a noise that sounded like large amounts of water splashing back and fourth in a big container. I called and told my husband that this morning and he thought I was crazy, but had me make sure the temprature gage was reading normal and it was. I do not know if this is related to what happend on the way home or not.

If anyone can give me an idea of what it might be, I would be very appreciative. Thanks in advance.

[jcmb]

I still don't know the answer to my problem, but the code from advance read as P0420, which is the cat. converter/O2 sensor.
My husband just replaced the O2 sensor, the one after the cat. converter, and the SES light is still on, and when we turn the AC on it does the sputtering thing it was doing a while back, I believe I posted about this a few months ago.

Is it possible it is the other O2 sensor? or something else? or is it most likely the cat. converter?

Also, how do you clear the codes once it is fixed, so that the SES light isn't on anymore?

Any help is appreciated.

[xeroinfinity]

To answer your first concern on the trac off oh the hill, I would say your wheels spun out and the traction control was keeping it from slipping by limitiing engine speed and wheel torque.

Pushing the ETC button on the dash turns it off.
But your wheels will spin next time and the front end goes sideways sometimes when spinning the wheels.

About the water sound its just the coolant in the heater core and engine moving around. It will gurgle sometimes too.
Might check and make sure your coolant level isnt low.

the P0420 is catalyst system effeciency below threshold which sounds like the cat migth be bad, or it could be the other O2 sensor

To clear all codes you need a scann tool that can clear them.