loss of power, engine is louder, has less power than before Options

[celicamike]

Hey guys, I did a search but didn't find anything useful. I've noticed that my '94 GT has been kind of sluggish recently. It takes forever to accelerate, particularly when going uphill, and it kind of sputters/hesitates when I wind it over 3500 RPM. I've also observed that the engine becomes much louder when I put it under a load, almost like a exhaust leak. Anyway, the car idles fine and there is nothing unusual when cruising once I get up to speed. Have any of you experienced this or have any idea what the problem is? I don't have any apparent vacuum leaks, and the compression was great. The car is pretty old though, with 213,000 miles. I'm thinking that I might need new plug wires and distributor cap and rotor, since the ones I have now are presumably the originals. What do you guys think, could this be the answer to my problem? I appreciate your help. Thanks.

[silver6gc]

i don't know where you're from that you think gasoline smells "sweet", coolant smells sweet when it burns (i.e. blown head gasket), but not gasoline. if the hose keeps popping off, then there is positive pressure coming throgh the diaphragm in the egr valve, it will need be replaced. you may just have a bad catalytic converter, not necessarily from it running rich, if it's bad and isn't doing it's job then the car may smell "rich" to you. you're in california, so i know there are plenty of shops around you with five-gas analyzers, take it to a good shop and have them diagnose it for you, this may not be too easy to diagnose in your driveway, then again it may be something stupidly simple.