Hey I just picked up a 96 ram 1500 with a 5.2 in it, I am using it as a work truck out of town and today all of a sudden it decided that it didn't want to run any more

Its idling very low (can't tell where, I don't have a tach) and I can't really get it to move at all. The exhaust smells rich and there is a rattle from the cat


Could a clogged cat cause it to not run at all? It was rattling pretty good, pretty much from idle up to any rpm. The only strange thing is this happened all at once, no warning at all....it was running fine all day then all of a sudden not at all

Keep in mind I am stuck out in a small town with no tools or anything, I am going to try and get it into a shop tommorow but I don't want them messing around with it all day as I need it for work and have no car out here


Any help would be appreciatted

Thanks
Kev

 

try banging on the cat like hard an it might free up a lil stuff but sounds like it could be that if its rich an or it could be no spark in some cylinders not sure but check an do a search on the forum its quite helpful!

 

Ya I did a search, it seems like it could be a few things, just seems like my cat was rattling worse than others

 

I am pretty sure its a clogged cat, I went under it a kicked the **** out of my exhaust and it ran well enough to at least get it to the shop (ie I could get it up to a whopping 40 km/h!)

I'm hoping thats the only problem...... i hate taking a vehicle to some retard mechanic when I could fix it my self, but oh well

 

Actually I have a second question, If I just get the cat hacked off and a test pipe or something installed will that fix the problem? Or can all the stuff from inside the cat clog up the rest of my exhaust?

 

If you kicked the crap out of the cat and it started up, and ran for a while, then that seems like the answer right there. Cut if off and run it without a cat till you get back home and can fix it properly.

 

thats what I was going to get done, I was just wondering if any of the stuff from inside the cat can clog up the rest of the exhaust.....this is the first car I have ever had this problem with

 

Just take the cat off and leave the pipe open. When you get back have the muffler shop inspect the rest of the exhaust and tell you if it's reusable.

 

ya just take it to a shop for like 30 bucks or so an they might be able to take it off an just put a pipe their ? but it might run a lil better never know i would try it or just hollow the cat out >?<

 

most shops won't cut a cat off unless another is going in its place because its illegal to run without one (in the states, don't know about canada) and the shop could get fined big time.

if you have a muffler that is not a straight through design then i could see some of that catalyst material catching in there or maybe getting caught up in a bend in the pipe.

if you run a straight pipe for a patch you may get a check engine light but that'll just be from your rear o2 sensor telling the pcm that the cat isn't working. the straight pipe is the way i would go if i were you, it'll have you up and running until you can get it fixed properly.