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I posted a few months back about a loud noise and you guys said it was my catallytic converter. Well, you were right, but Ford won't fix it under warranty for just making noise. They said the engine light has to come on specifically for that kind of emissions problem, so I've been driving it that way. Ford suggested that it was just rattling around down there and that they could put some clamps on it for a price. We haven't done it yet. Tonight, we tried to leave on a road trip and had to turn back because there was a hissing sound when we accelerated, and we lost a lot of power. The engine sounds like it's working hard when you first accelerate and the hiss noise is continuous as long as your foot is on the gas.The truck got pretty hot and we had to let it cool down before heading back home. Any chance that this is part of the catallytic converter problem? Sounds logical to me, but I don't know anything!!

Reply to
mommyo3
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yup. sounds like something is blocking the exhaust. either a bent pipe, collapsed pipe, clogged muffler, or clogged cat.

Reply to
Tom

"mommyo3" wrote

Why not? Did you at least crawl/reach under there and see if the heat shields are loose? Mine were, so I bought some long hose clamps from the plumbing department at Home Depot and strapped them on. Cost me all of $5.00

If it isn't the heat shields, then it's likely the "honeycomb" substrate inside the converter that has come loose, and is rattling around. It's supposed to be attached in place with some super-duper adhesive/epoxy/cement stuff.

If that lets go, the honeycomb is free to slide back and forth, bounce around, and generally pound itself until either it's a solid lump, plugging the flow of exhaust through the converter, or pieces of it break off and plug the converter outlet, or the mufflers.

Engines are air pumps. Air goes in one end, exhaust comes out the other end. If the air can't get out, it's not going to run too well, is it?

Reply to
MasterBlaster

"MasterBlaster" > under warranty for just making noise. They said the engine light has

Air won't be able to get in, because it isn't coming out the other end.

Kind of like put your hand on the exhaust part of a vacuum cleaner.

The overheating is because the exhaust carries a lot of heat with it. So the heat can't go anywhere, either.

Jeff

Reply to
Jeff

With a little luch, you are under the emissions warranty in which case, Ford will have to replace a defective converter. Usually, there is a reason for this to happen. Make sure they check the engine for fault codes or other discrepancies that may have lead to converter failure. If there is a problem, the replacement converter will not go very long. If this is a high mileage vehicle where you are responsible for the cost, you may want to consider a generic converter from a reliable independant shop which can save you megabucks.

Lugnut

Reply to
lugnut

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