Date:         Fri, 27 Apr 2001 20:41:51 -0400
Reply-To:     Greg Marshall <earthboy@home.com>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Greg Marshall <earthboy@home.com>
Subject:      Re: New Engine - No Power
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

The old catalytic converter in my van was badly melted inside, and the broken
chunks of honeycomb had turned sideways inside the shell of the converter.  This
did a great job of stopping things up and sucking away power, especially once
the engine got hot and the whole clogged up affair expanded.  If that's the
problem, then it's also likely that you'll find chunks of catalytic converter in
the muffler, which also plugs things up.  I don't know if it could cause as
great a loss of power as you describe, but When it happened to my van, it sure
felt sluggish.

greg.

Mike Finkbiner wrote:

> We got my Boston Bob 2.1 liter engine in this week, and I have been
> puttering around town, trying to break it in gently.  The couple of times I
> have gotten it out on the highway, it performed OK, but didn't seem to have
> any more punch going up hills than the tired one did.  It also seemed to
> have, if possible, less power at low RPMs, such as pulling away from a stop
> sign.
>
> I figured that part of that is being new and tight, and my mechanic is gone
> until Monday, so I thought I would see how it went on a drive this weekend.
>
> But today, it doesn't seem to be able to get out of its own way.  Little
> hills required full throttle, and it didn't want to come up to speed, even
> in 1st or 2nd.
>
> I have a digitool mounted on the dash, and didn't see anything unusual
> there.  The TPS goes on and off OK.  Temp II comes down to .11 or below when
> warm.
>
> When I pulled into the driveway and got out to listen, I heard a stones in a
> coffee can sort of rattle from time to time.  Crawling around underneath, it
> sounds as if it is coming from the muffler or cat.
>
> I can't tell if there is anything funny about the amount of exhaust coming
> out of the tailpipe or not.  The engine revs ok when I pull the accelerator
> linkage.  Sometimes I hear a sort of thump when I shut the engine down.
>
> I went to a muffler shop and made an appointment for tomorrow to check if
> the cat is plugged.
>
> Coming home from there, just a few blocks, it seemed to have even less
> power, and I barely crawled into the driveway.  It idles fine, at about 900
> rpms.
>
> Anything else I can check?  Could the cat alone be causing such a rapid and
> massive loss of power?
>
> Puzzled in Idaho
>
> Mike Finkbiner (who wants to leave for Seattle on Tuesday!)
> '87 Westy
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