I think my catalytic converter is clogged

[Americanclassicg]

My new (used) Olds 98 (I know, I should have bought a Festy) may have a clogged cat. The symptoms are loss of power after a few minutes of driving and when I push the gas it just dies down a little more and occasionally stalls.

I thought it was the trans getting stuck in OD but it does the same in neutral/park.

Also I felt at the tailpipe, and exhaust was slowly (very slowly) being let out (think very gentle breeze) and then in short irregular sperts.

Any ideas? Ive heard the MAP sensor could cause similar problems, but I dont know about at the tailpipe.

Thanks for looking

[Levitan]

Sure sounds like it to me. Easy enough to diagnos. Go to a muffler shop and have them check it if you don't want to do it yourself. They should check it for free. Don't throw the cat away. Can be worth big bucks for the platinum inside.

[elcamino1]

Don't let the muffler shop steal your cat,ask for it back!!!

[miami man]

back years ago at the auto class they said to hook up a vacume gage then rev it up and see if the needle goes back to zero. someone one chime in on this please.

[zrice88]

22 in. vacuum is about the normal reading at idle. If it reads higher than that it could be a plugged cat. Or, you could do what any other shop would do and remove the O2 sensor before the cat and see if it runs better.

[GenevaDirt]

^^yes...remove the O2 sensor first. What year 98 is it?

[WmWatt]

Check the vacuum diagnosing your car sticky at the top of this forum for clogged exhaust diagnosis.