2004 4cyl tacoma loss of power/acceleration

I have a short 20 min commute up a hill to work, my truck had a complete loss of power the other morning, still got to work, didn't make it home, engine failed, had the check engine light go on after a mechanic friend banged on the catalytic converter, had a computer diagnose that the check engine light was on due to the cat, is this exhaust system the cause for the loss of power?

 

What was the engine code?

 

Need to plug in a scanner and look at real time data to properly diagnose it. A bad cat shouldn't cause lack of power. A clogged cat will, but should not cause a CEL.

 

If you know what code it was, post it here, it'll be easier to narrow down the issue.

When you say loss of power, did the engine stall and die? This is sort of a shot in the dark, but if your MAF sensor is too dirty or gone bad, it can stall out your truck and throw a code. My last Tacoma did that to me when I was stopped at a stop sign, went to accelerate and it just died on me. Started back up though, ran rough and kept dying until I got it looked at...dirty MAF likely from a dusty trail run I had done the day before. Easy to fix, try cleaning it first (use MAF specific cleaner only) if that doesn't do the trick it might need to be replaced.

 

If your cat is all plugged up from lil pieces of it in there clogging the line it'll definitely bog your motor down since it cant breath-exhale. Could your buddy have broken up the internals in there when he beat on it, causing it to clog?

Did you get the exhaust code after it completely crapped out on you or was this before your loss of power symptoms? And your buddy, did he beat on the cat after all this happened, or before? If he did that before it died then obviously he didnt cause the exhaust to clog up due to it being beat on...

Hopefully its just an exhaust issue!! If not its prolly not gunna be a good thing unfortunately...

 

the check engine light came on right after my buddy knocked on the cat with a hammer and pried the shield . i went and got a safety check, (required annually here in hawaii) and the mechanic plugged in the computer and told me the reading code was the catalyctic converter, the truck drove without problems for about a month and a half , until going up the hill, the engine began to really lose acceleration and power. going home...same thing, except for coasting downhill. engine starts/idles fine, nothing apparent under the hood or under the body, but lacks total accelaration now. my instinct is the problem lies in the loose particles in the cat, and am hoping its not something else as mentioned in the haynes book, troubleshooting section.

 

When's the last time you replaced your spark plugs and wires?

 

When was the last time the fuel filter was replaced? Sounds like a full tune up is in order. You can hook up a vacuum gauge to the intake and find out real quick if the cat is plugged up. You can also put your hand by the exhaust pipe discharge while someone revs the engine. Little flow means plugged cat. Ooh and tell your friend that he needs to partially cover a broken up cat.

 

So i gotta ask why did he beat on the cat converter?

 

i just replaced the spark plugs 3 months ago, the vacuum gauge is a great idea, he beat on he cat because we were trying tio find the cause of a rattling noise, which turned out to be a loose bolt under the air intake under the hood, could be the fuel filter, going to check now, thanks!!!

 

again computer reading, cat is the source, when driven, exhaust is issue, a lot of heat coming off the tailpipe, and little bit of water collecting on the tailpipe as well

 

The water is normal just a lil condensation. But how is the pressure of the exhaust? More specifically when someone is revving the motor? Also if the cat is obstructing the exhaust flow it will get very hot! Just feeling the temp at the tail pipe wont tell you much. It will always be hot there at the tail pipe, it is super heated combusted gas after all. On a normal/good running engine the tail pipe will be hot enough to burn stuff and melt mud flaps if it gets caught on it for any reason.

 

fixed the problem, took the muffler off and cleared out debris and buildup that looked like bondo was clogging the exhaust system, nut and bolt very hard to wrench due to rust, but able to put it back together, thanks for the advice

 

check engine light cleared also

 

Nice!! I figured that was it by your description of the problems!

 

what would the vacuum gauge show?

 

http://www.onlineautorepair.net/blog-auto-repair/testing-a-catalytic-converter-at-home

 

thank you, it almost feels like mid throttle it falls on its face, so strange, no codes either

 

Here is another site that has more detailed info. https://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-catalytic-converter

 

my MAF was pretty filthy, forgot my vacuum gauge at my parents house, ill have to measure that next week.