mikescantlinWXchaser
New Member
Ok. I have used that handy 'search' function but didn't quite feel like the answer was there. I will try to keep it short, but beware, a wall of text is coming your way...
Lets go back to March 9, 2009. I'm heading out to western OK for the first chase of the year. My truck starts spitting a sputtering, so I stop and google the symptoms. It runs fine after I stop for a few, but after she warms back up, slowly starts the same old %^&*. I decided to get my fuel filter changed. I thought i had nailed the problem, until about 30 minutes down the road. Same thing. I stop at an auto parts store, google some more, and decided the next cheapest thing to try is the crankshaft position sensor. After that fiasco, the problem returns. I decide its my driver-side cat, after getting bank 1 codes front and back. So I get the magnaflow direct fit cats, and only replaced my drivers side sensors, since the bank 2 sensors were fine...
fast forward to 5 months ago. I'm moving my mom from southern TX to the Dallas area. The truck is full of antiques roadshow BS and all of her other junk strapped to the roof. Probably about 500lbs extra. The same spitting and sputtering comes back, and she throws all kinds of bank 2 codes, sensor low voltage, running lean, etc. Well, we don't have the money or the tools to fix it, so we just let her rest every 30 minutes, then she drives fine for another hour. stop for a few, keep going for another hour. After a few rns of this cycle, we heard a loud POP, then we hear the exhaust of the truck not being muffled... I knew at this point that the cat had clogged so hard, that the pressure had literally popped the cat pipe off of the manifold. sure enough, the pipe had broken off. That's a clogged cat, right there. Anyways, we finish the trip with the same 90 minutes cycle, and return to Oklahoma with a loud Tahoe, and no money to fix it. Since I didn't replace the bank 2 sensors, the pipe bursting wasn't exactly a manufacturer defect, I got to pay full price for another magnaflow cat, and decided to replace ALL of the sensors, just to be safe. I climbed under to unbolt the old equipment, and the 400 miles of driving with the busted pipe had done some damage. the whole area was blackened from the exhaust, and I think the heat may have damaged the bank 2 sensor 1 cables. Unsure, I strap in the new sensors, bolt on the new cats(in 20 degree weather, outside, in the dark
) and take her for a test drive. AMAZING. my loud hillbilly tahoe was once again quiet and able to accelerate like a champ. Wait, whats that? more spitting and sputtering. At first, she accelerates fine, until you push the pedal about 70%, then she starts bogging down, and then 60%, and as time goes on, eventually stop accelerating at all. Then after 15 minutes of rest, we start back at the bogging at 70%, and so on.
WTF IS WRONG?!?
I'm thinking either I damaged the engine driving with the exhaust just coming out of the manifold, or some of the broken up cat material made its way past the pipe, into the muffler or the pipe between the cats and the muffler.
ANY thoughts are appreciated. Need to figure this out, as our first chase is only 2 weeks away!!!
Lets go back to March 9, 2009. I'm heading out to western OK for the first chase of the year. My truck starts spitting a sputtering, so I stop and google the symptoms. It runs fine after I stop for a few, but after she warms back up, slowly starts the same old %^&*. I decided to get my fuel filter changed. I thought i had nailed the problem, until about 30 minutes down the road. Same thing. I stop at an auto parts store, google some more, and decided the next cheapest thing to try is the crankshaft position sensor. After that fiasco, the problem returns. I decide its my driver-side cat, after getting bank 1 codes front and back. So I get the magnaflow direct fit cats, and only replaced my drivers side sensors, since the bank 2 sensors were fine...
fast forward to 5 months ago. I'm moving my mom from southern TX to the Dallas area. The truck is full of antiques roadshow BS and all of her other junk strapped to the roof. Probably about 500lbs extra. The same spitting and sputtering comes back, and she throws all kinds of bank 2 codes, sensor low voltage, running lean, etc. Well, we don't have the money or the tools to fix it, so we just let her rest every 30 minutes, then she drives fine for another hour. stop for a few, keep going for another hour. After a few rns of this cycle, we heard a loud POP, then we hear the exhaust of the truck not being muffled... I knew at this point that the cat had clogged so hard, that the pressure had literally popped the cat pipe off of the manifold. sure enough, the pipe had broken off. That's a clogged cat, right there. Anyways, we finish the trip with the same 90 minutes cycle, and return to Oklahoma with a loud Tahoe, and no money to fix it. Since I didn't replace the bank 2 sensors, the pipe bursting wasn't exactly a manufacturer defect, I got to pay full price for another magnaflow cat, and decided to replace ALL of the sensors, just to be safe. I climbed under to unbolt the old equipment, and the 400 miles of driving with the busted pipe had done some damage. the whole area was blackened from the exhaust, and I think the heat may have damaged the bank 2 sensor 1 cables. Unsure, I strap in the new sensors, bolt on the new cats(in 20 degree weather, outside, in the dark
) and take her for a test drive. AMAZING. my loud hillbilly tahoe was once again quiet and able to accelerate like a champ. Wait, whats that? more spitting and sputtering. At first, she accelerates fine, until you push the pedal about 70%, then she starts bogging down, and then 60%, and as time goes on, eventually stop accelerating at all. Then after 15 minutes of rest, we start back at the bogging at 70%, and so on. WTF IS WRONG?!?
I'm thinking either I damaged the engine driving with the exhaust just coming out of the manifold, or some of the broken up cat material made its way past the pipe, into the muffler or the pipe between the cats and the muffler.
ANY thoughts are appreciated. Need to figure this out, as our first chase is only 2 weeks away!!!
