Loss of power

[Tlittle]

OK. Here is my problem... I found out that my caytalic converts are making this rattle noise. I was told to hit them with a hammer to tighten up the ceramic disc in them, so I did it quited them down... This morning I went to pass someone and I didn't have any power and the chedk engine light came on.. I had the code check and it said "#2 cylinder miss fire", so I said that's easy... I bought new plug and wires and installed them, also bought a code reader... I deleted the first code and went for a test run, I was out on the test run and the check engine light came back on... I check the code again and it said "multiple cylinder miss fire".,, Deleted the 2nd code, started the truck let it run for a little, check the code again, same thing...... So I deleted the code and that is where I'm at right now.

 

My question is, I used a hammer on the caytalic convert, do you think I blocked a little bit and that is what is making the miss fire on the cylinders?

 

Any reply would be nice. Thanks for your time , Tony Little..

[Crawler]

I'm not sure why someone would tell you to beat on your catalatic converters unless they were pulling a prank on you. There are no disc's inside them. It's a long honeycomb brick of sorts. If you hit it with a hammer, it's probably broken to bits inside. Older cats used a layer of ceramic balls. People would empty the tiny balls from the converter. Todays design converters, like I said, are honeycomb bricks. They are not restrictive at all. One thing I know of that will clog a cat up is anti-freeze. If anti-freeze from a bad head gasket or leaking intake gasket has gotten into the cat converter, it's possible it's clogged up. However, resetting the codes is not going to fix the problem. It may or may not be the cat converters. Without knowing what year you are working on. I assume it's a '96-'97. Could be time to replace the cap & rotor on the distributor or as it's now called, the crank angle sensor...

 

Beating on stuff with a hammer is never the answer. Sell the hammers on eBay, but a set of wrenches with the money.

[TEE]

Shoulda' took the hammer to the guy that told you that

[Tlittle]

Sorry I forgot the year, it's a 2002... I went to go to work this morning and it couldn't get out of it's way, so now I'm gonna call around and see if I can get it fixed/looked at.. I should have know better than to take a hammer on anything. Live and learn I guess...

 

So will a clogged caytalic convertor cause the cylinders to miss fire, like it's doing now...

[GM-Tech]

So will a clogged caytalic convertor cause the cylinders to miss fire, like it's doing now...

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

Yes, absolutely.

[Tlittle]

Thank you GM-Tech.. That was going to be my next thing to do, I just didn't want to spend $400+ for the new pipe to find out that it is something else... Is there anything else I should check before I go and buy the new pipe... Again thank you everyone....

[GM-Tech]

That was going to be my next thing to do, I just didn't want to spend $400+ for the new pipe to find out that it is something else...

 

It very well could be something else. A clogged cat can cause a misfire. So, is there a misfire present due to the clogged cat or is it something else? Can't tell ya that.

 

I think it's pretty obvious you have at least one bad cat what with the rattle it had in it.

[TEE]

I had my cat replaced at a local muffler shop for $169

[Tlittle]

I replaced the cat pipe yesterday and that fixed the problem. I don't have any codes present and it's running just like a new one now... I would like to thank all of you on the help. I will think twice now before taking a hammer to anything cause that was a very expensive fix... Again thanks to every one, Tony..