Where did the pep go?

[FestYboy]

dude, you gotta pull your O2 sensor out and drive, if your cat is clogged, pulling the O2 will relieve some backpressure (thus restoring some power). it's either that or separate the downpipe from the cat and let it loose (hang there) car will be loud as hell but it'll give you and answer one way or another.

[88Adventurer]

I'm not near where the work was originally done on the car. So, I'll pull the O2 tonight and take a ride and see what happens from there. Thanks

[miami man]

mine has lost its pep but i know where it went..bad rings because oil is in vaf meter.

[88Adventurer]

Don't have a tool in the box to get the O2 out, will need to borrow one. Re-reading what FestYboy wrote about the carb, took it out for a spin and still top speed of 53. That secondary isn't kicking in like it used to. It wouldn't give a person whiplash but you COULD tell when it picked up. Miami Man, where is the vaf meter on these things? I'll check anything at this point! Thanks all

[Dave G]

There is no VAF meter with a carb. I think you need to slow down and consider what's happened; was running fine, you took it to get a tune-up, and now it runs like crap. I'd be looking for disconnected vacuum lines, disconnected wires - things that someone doing a tune-up may have forgotten to reconnect.

[FestYboy]

the secondary won't kick in till you have 4" or LESS of vacuum in the intake. if there's too much backpressure you'll never get less than 10" or so, possibly worse depending how large the obstruction is.
I'm still thinking it's a clogged cat. 88Adventurer, do you have a vac gauge that you can "T" into the car? that should tell you what happened to the 'pep'

[packrat427]

OK on all that. I've pulled the air cleaner off and checked for unattached hoses, are there any in particular that are harder than average to see? The car still idles fine, there's just no power to get it past 50 MPH.

Maybe I missed something ..
First you said it would not run past 50 ..
Now you say it has no power until past 50 ??

[FestYboy]

packrat427, read his post again. as i understand it, there's not enough "power" to get him past 50mph. if it's really a power issue, I'm thinking that the accel in 1st and 2nd gears through redline should still be ok, but then as more load is applied to the engine, the poewr falls off and there should be NO accel in 4th. In fact if he's in 4th, the harder he pushes the pedal the slower he should go, if my theory is correct.

[packrat427]

Re: Where did the pep go?

88 Festiva L, carbed engine. Took it in to have breaks put on, and had a new rotor button/distributor cap put on. New plugs and wires. Axles were greased, and that's all that should have been done. Now the car will only do 45 MPH. Checked to make sure the plugs were in good and snug and the wires were attached. It idles fine, but it won't go over 45 unless I'm going downhill. Any ideas on where I should begin looking?

I did read it again :lol:

[88Adventurer]

Wow, FestYboy explained it better than I did! That's exactly what's happening going through the gears, with 4th giving no acceleration. I may be able to borrow some tools to check on the O2 and catalytic converter this weekend. Now, the distributor had been loose, had to tighten it up. A guy here is saying that if I get the car running and move the dist it could improve the power? Any opinions on that? And if the cat is clogged would there be any particular things to look for like a certain color of smoke? Still not seeing any wires or hoses unattached. Thanks all

[FestYboy]

exhaust color/smell won't change if your cat is clogged. are there any emissions devices MISSING from your engine? if so ,this can have an adverse affect on your cat opperation and eventually clog it (which it already is)

[88Adventurer]

Haven't noticed anything missing.

[packrat427]

WOW , I guess I need to start wearing my glasses when reading these post :lol: :lol:

I am sorry ops: ops:

I read it again , man do I feel stupid , I thought that 1 post said different .

I agree that it does sound like a plugged cat or it has broken inside and has become restricted .

[Dave G]

I agree that it does sound like a plugged cat or it has broken inside and has become restricted .

How on earth could that have happened while it was in the shop being worked on? :roll:

[GenevaDirt]

^^...I agree....no way just getting a tune up clogs the cat. It is a wire...hose...something stupid. You said the dist. was loose....well that could mess things up for sure. As for the O2 snsore....you do not need a special tool....13/16 wrench fits great....just did mine tonight. I bought a new one so I broke off the extended piece and used a socket on it. 20 bucks for the universal one at autozone. I would try it , whats to lose.