so on my way home from work my truck was running fine...1995 5.9L 1500 automatic with almost 165K miles...i go off the highway and was comming through town...i stopped at a red light and when i went to take off my truck fell flat on its face and had no power...it was revving out at about 3000 rpm and it sounded real deep (the intake...its stock)...it would shift. it eventually did and it shifted real hard with a few clunks. it feels like there is something holding the truck back. it just doesnt wanna move. i live on a hill, so going up the hill i had to pull over for people because i was doing 15 mph with my foot to the floor. i got to the top of the hill and the temp guage was high. over 200 degrees but not at the over heating point. i parked it in my driveway and the temp dropped slowly. the truck as i said before sounds real deep when i step on the gas and in neutral barely revs over 3000 rpms. when i got home i revved it a little in my drive way and i heard a clicking sound. sounded like metal chunks or something? thats the best way to explain it. im so pi**ed off with it because i havent beat on it or anything. does anyone have any ideas on what it might be? thanks alot in advance

 

It sounds like you jumped timing.

Did you throw any codes at all? A CEL? Something?

 

i think my truck is obd 1...correct? its a 95. so the only way i can check for codes is with a scanner i think right? i think my buddy has a scanner so i gotta get my hands on it or on any one and check it out. any other ideas tho? and what would make it just randomly skip timming? it was fine then i stopped at a red light and then it the gas to go and it just has no power

 

It's not random ... it would be because you've got 165k on the timing chain. I'm not saying that you DID jump timing ... I'm saying it SOUNDS like you did. I jumped timing on my `73 AMC Javelin back in `79 ... I was barely able to start it and drive it home (same symptoms as you describe). It made very little power and sounded extremely "throaty" (backfired some, too). The next day it wouldn't start at all.

I was lucky. It only jumped one tooth. No broken valves or holed pistons. We just lined up the cam/crank, replaced the chain and went on our merry way.

You don't want to hear about the time I broke the timing belt on my Fiat X-1/9. 6 bent valves, 3 holed pistons.

 

Check your catyltic converter. When mine went I had NO power at all also.

 

Dang ... not ANOTHER converter.

Is it really THAT bad? What's the metallic tinging? I figured valves. Would it be pieces of the catalyst flying around inside the case?

 

sounds like torque converter to me

 

Hmm, trans or catalytic converter...the metallic tinging could be the cat. from being plugged and glowing red (if it is)...red hot metal makes some funky sounds

 

hopefully the cat, as that would probbably be easiest to replace, but it does sound alot like a timing problem.

 

Crawl under and un hook your pre-cat O2 sensor. That little hole can usually let it breath a bit better. Leave it unhooked and see if you gained any power.