i was coming home yesterday truck was running fine...then i lost power.and i cant hear the exhaust it was loud with the new flowmaster.
truck runs but has no accel. if i give it much gas it makes bad noise.
can you cat conv clog that quick? any ideas has good spark and such
any thoughts?

 

usually you'll lose power gradually,and the CEL will be on. But some do break up inside pretty fast . Have you checked the plenum gasket ? And for ... sake will you post all the info about your ride! I should have said that first! LOL

 

ok i have a 99 ram 1500 with the 5.2 4x2 sport model

can i hear the plenum gasket leak with the truck running?...
please be nothing major...i had just gotten the title to the truck the same day

 

i had my cat go out. that is why i gutted mine. the cat can break apart in a heartbeat. it happen to me. does that truck overheat at all? and one other thing you can do to see if it is the cat. go underneath, take out your front o2 sensor... it is before the cat, start the truck, it will make a vry loud and kind of annoying hiss sound to it and run fine if that is the problem, but dont do this for to long. it is really bad in gas milage and probably not good for the valves. might be why mine went bad, because i drove around like that for almost 100 miles. but if you do this for like 5 mins most it shouldnt hurt anything.

The plenum gasket i have heard alot about but dont know where it is or what it does so i cant help with that. check into it though. it could be it

 

I only mentioned the plenum gasket because if the cat is bad, that's most likely why. So make sure it's good before replacing and ruining another cat.

 

so heres the deal ...i have suction from my oil dipstick. and oil in my intake. so undoubtedly my plenyum gaskety is shot....
but will that or a clogged cat, make my truck only go 25 mph instantly as in all of a sudden i was driving a truck that was running good and the next minute i'm limping home at 15-20 mph

i just started a new business and i need my truck i just dont want to replace the plenum gasket and find out that wasnt the problem.... i think im going to sawzalll my exhaust in front of the cat first...if that doesnt fix it{doubtfull in my eyes} i think i need a shop for this one

 

The plenum is what caused the cat to go bad in the first place. If you don't fix it you will be destroying valves too. And replace the plugs and the 02 sensors also. Cutting the pipe will only show you if the cat is bad. If it is and you put a new one on without fixing the plenum leak, you'll be in the same boat not too long from now.

 

If you got some tools and a little skill there is no need for a shop.
Try pulling the front o2 off like mentioned above and if you have alot of gas coming out then your cat is plugged or has come apart.
No big deal.
go get an exaust band clamp from the auto parts store and get ready with an air hammer or if you have a welding machine you can forgo the clamp and air hammer.
sawzall the side of that case open and peel it back like a sardine can.knock the guts out and then hammer it back tacking as you go until you have it flush.
That or use the air hammer method and bust it up with a long chisel tip.

 

I forgot to say that I really don't think a pair of pliers is going to work! Maybe a pipe wrench or 7/8" / 22mm combination wrench. But if it's been in there since 99 and the cat is bad, the extra crap/carbon from the bad plenum and major heat from the clogged cat is probably going to make it pretty damn tight. Even if it does come loose at first, backing it all the way out is probably going to destroy the threads in the pipe. In which case a chaser might fix the threads.

 

Umm! You don't know where it is or what it does? OK, so you don't have a prob with the cat because you gutted it. But, you do realize that if your plenum gasket is blown, not only are you destroying the spark plugs in the area where the gasket is blown, but you are also doing damage to the valves and the pistons and the walls of the cylinders for that matter.