6G Celicas Forums

The car was running perfect up until this morning. I was gonna be on my way to work & I turned the car on to let it warm up like I do everyday year round. After starting her up it was normal higher idle from a cold start then about 1 1/2 into warming up the car it started to idle like ****. It sounded like a muscle car out the back of the exhaust and when I went to tap the gas to rev it up, it sounded like a lawnmower. So after it warmed up I turned her off waited a minuet then turned her back on and it was idling like crap again this time right off the bat. So I drove to work and it sounded like a damn lawnmower all the way to work. Certainly lost power too cause the RPM went high just to get up to 2nd gear. Got to work left her sitting there for a few hours. When it was time for me to go home I turned her back on and still the crappy idle, but there was no engine light on yet. When I got home she had no power to make it up the drive way. I have a steep drive way at the front. When I got to the end of the drive way I put her in park and then got out for a sec to look under the car too see if there was a hole in the mid pipe or around that area and it looked fine. Then all of a sudden I started smelling burning and then went to pop the hood. As soon as I reached to pop the hood I looked at my cluster and saw the Check engine light finally came on. Then I opened the hood and saw this light blueish color smoke coming from right behind the driver side high beam. Right between the radiator support and the radiator on the driver side. Turned her right off and went back to where the smoke was coming from but couldn't locate the source. Also the car was not over heating I watched the temp the whole time.

Any ideas? I've spent way to much money fixing and replacing **** in the engine that went bad. Now this? I think it's time for me to move onto the Integra I want. I really don't want to get rid of her but enough is enough. This car has seen the repair shop more than I have gotten pay checks every Friday in one month!

Thanks for the help.

***UPDATE***
Just got off the phone with my mechanic and he told me it sounds like the catalytic converter is clogged. I turned my car since I last posted this thread and there was no smoking coming from behind the high beam like I mentioned before. I also topped off my coolant seemed to be a little low. Taking her in to the shop once...again... on Monday too see whats the damage to my wallet.

Any of you know how much it cost for a replaced catalytic converter?

This post has been edited by Tech-Nics: Dec 14, 2009 - 8:11 PM

63-230 something. Guess it depends on what you want to get. Add some labor on top of that. Even though it might be a direct fit, the cat may still involve some work to get it to fit. Also, if its the cat attached to the manifold its probly gonna be closer to 300.

1. you need to start working on the car yourself...
2. integra will need more work guarenteed
3. diagnosis sounds about right... if you search the boards... people are selling cats from parted cars... i have two that i am selling cheap... the work itself is easy.. it just depends which cat is bad

Now, Im not going to be the biggest supporter of used cats.....but from what it sounds like your trying to go with the most "cost effective right now"...in that case get a used OEM cat. But you may find yourself in the same spot a ways down the road. But who knows, mine is still the same cat that came with the car and no problems so far (in fact just got ASM2 tested and its well below tolerable limits). The work is easy to replace the cat, if everything is not rusted over. If it is (like mine) then your in for a bit more.

I don't think its your cat.

did you diagnose the check engine light?

best way to know for sure is take the 2nd cat off and start the car, if it runs then replace it. but the cat 1 is a bit of a hassle,

check the codes, a used part may give you the time necessary to put it back on the road.

Mechanics will always give you a reason to come back. They like your money

Seriously, check the code. You can do it yourself with a paper clip. There is a howto on this site.

i agree. clogged cat would cause a bogging under hard acceleration usually.

btw, you can use gojo as a body wash. we use permatex fast orange as a shower scrub on friday night. works amazing!

This post has been edited by Bitter: Dec 12, 2009 - 6:07 PM

Never even would think to use gojo as a body wash. But anything has to be better than "ZEP double play"...hate that stuff.

we use the stuff with the pumice.

on topic
he has bogging... he has really bad bogging... now other than a blown HG, theres really not too much else that would cause that bad of bogging as well as smoke and a noticeable difference in sound

This post has been edited by pittfirefighter: Dec 12, 2009 - 6:30 PM

bad cat and hg combination, dude check the code

his description sucks then, i didn't read bogging.

that sounds like bogging to me

sounds like misfiring to me, muscle cars have a rough lopey idle due to a long duration cam. a misfiring 4 cylinder has a rough lopey idle and no acceleration/power.

a clogged cat will sound like a loud hissing or no sound from the exhaust. you'll only get intake noise and cannot accelerate beyond a certain amount of throttle but you can creep upto a speed at which it feels like you're driving with the brakes on, but the engine is still very smooth.

This post has been edited by Bitter: Dec 12, 2009 - 8:08 PM

Sorry was out all day...thanks for all the replies. I tried to make it as best as possible to explain whats the problem. I don't have the device to grab the code but I will look into the paper clip method. If this explains more when the engine is running the whole engine move way to much when its idling. Idling really hard. I know our 5sfe engines are naturally loud but my engine rocks back and forth really hard. I will remove the top O2 sensor too see if the backed up exhaust comes out the O2 sensor port and the car runs better again. What I meant about the car sounding like a muscle car was when I went to the back and listened to the way the exhaust was coming out...it sounded like a muscle car. I do get a odor of exhaust coming from the engine bay area. Also when I turned my car on about a hour later the check engine light was off again. Also the bolts where the CAT is are so corroded that the only way to remove the cat would be to cut it out. Same with all the other bolts where the mid pipe is. It looks like there are not bolts left cause the amount of rust there is.

I know the description I'm explaining may sound off and hard to understand but please understand I'm not a mechanic. Please bear with me, I'm trying to explain it as best as I can so you call can understand what I'm saying.

This post has been edited by Tech-Nics: Dec 12, 2009 - 9:34 PM

well grab a camera and videotape the noise

Hey sorry to hear this bro, it always sucks when shut gies down hill but I wish you the best of luck

check your timing, belt may have jumped a couple teeth or so. i know its unlikely but its possible. i replaced the head on my car and my belt jumped on me and sounded choppy, kind of like a high compression engine with some nasty cams.

Checking the timing isnt too hard, there is a sticky on here that shows you how to replace it, same basic concept, but if that is the problem it could save you a few hundred.

Timing Belt Sticky - ( http://www.6gc.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=57712 )

yo man good way to check to see if your cat is clogged is to disconnect it from your exhuast its gonna sound hella loud but if this solves your problem then you know its your cat...... if its your cat then you could always straight pipe it until you get another thats the quike run down. If this doesnt then you know youve got a different problem