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Loss of power[240-260/86] posted by Leon Tan on
Monday, 18 May 1998, at 8:40 a.m.
Recently, I've been experiencing problems with my 240. I've noticed that I don't have quite as much power when driving and just yesterday, I was going up a ramp when the car just started to slow down. I pressed further down on the accelerator and nothing happened except that the engine revved faster. The car wouldn't move faster than 45-50 mph. After a few minutes though, I was able to drive at a normal speed. I also noticed that I could not accelerate as fast and that the car was making a louder noise. Sort of like when a muffler's fallen off, but not as loud as that. Could anyone help? I'm pretty ignorant when it comes to cars. Oh yeah...could mileage/age be a factor? It's got about 191k.
Thanks,
Leon
ps- Brickboard is pretty cool. Wish I had found this place sooner.
Re: Loss of power[240-260/86] posted by abe crombie on
Monday, 18 May 1998, at 11:32 a.m.
You are describing the symptoms of a faulty catalytic converter (among other potential problems). I assume you have an automatic trans. If the ceramic element inside the converter case gets loose, it can rotate in such a way as to partially block exhaust and significantly reduce engine performance. When this happens your extra application of throttle will cause a downshift of your auto trans and this will make engine louder at the higher revs. Usually this problem can be found by bumping on your cat. converter (while it's cold) with your hand and listeneing to see if it rattles.
Another potential problem could be the ignition module on the right inner fender under hood. When it fails it will somtimes go into a limp home mode where ignition timing is retarded and will not advance. This will cause severe power loss and will give same symptoms.