dont know if its catalytic clogged or not

Hi. i have tacoma 98 2.4 L. lately its been having hard time accelerating and the engine manifold is red. i took out the catalytic converter and cant find out if its clogged or not.

 

I would imagine if the catalytic converter was clogged, your downstream O2 sensor would be throwing a code. Sounds like you have an exhaust valve that's not seating correctly or something along those lines, could be why the exhaust manifold is heating up so much. I would let a qualified mechanic check that out, you could be damaging important/expensive things.

 

it did throw the o2 sensor code bank 1. and i replaced the sensor to pass smog check.

 

Mine was restricted recently, and I ended up replacing it. The exhaust manifold and pipe upstream of the cat are noticeably cooler after replacing, and power is better. It was getting so hot before that you could barely touch the passenger side floor well with your hand.

I think your cat needs to be replaced. I got the Walker direct fit bolt-on from Rockauto and it has worked fine.

 

most times if your cat is restricted you can easily tell by just looking under the truck after a long drive and it will be glowing red or if its killing grass where you park is also a god indicator it may be getting too hot.

as far as I know there is no mention I ever saw anywhere of how you could clean them but I must think its possible that you could be able to soak it in solvent and flush it in reverse direction with a cleaning solvent like you clean everything else in the fuel air systyem. after all, its just a honeycomb screen.

 

sounds reasonable but all the o2 sensors do to satisfy the computer is as long as it shows different readings between the two and that prevents the CEL code so it can be restricted and never throw a code

 

normally if you can see threw it like that its still good.

 

if catalytic converter is good. what else can make it hard to accelerate and exhaust manifold red?

 

?

 

clogged muffler, I have seen the internal baffles come loose and cause excess restriction.

if you can see through the honeycomb inside the cat then im sure its good so take the muffler off and see if the manifold is still glowing without it.

can you tell if the exhaust coming out the tail pipe feels weak or not? maybe have someone rev the engine for you while you feel if it seams ok.

in some cases excess unburned gas could be burning off inside the manifold causing it to overheat but this would not cause it to be hard to accelerate, I suppose it could be burnt exhaust valves dumping fuel into the manifold and losing compression so do a compression test after taking all the spark plugs out

 

a vaccum guage hooked up to the intake manifold will tell you if the cat is plugged .
Rev the engine , if the vaccum doesnt drop quickly , you cat is a darn good possibilty .

Here is a short write up http://www.2carpros.com/articles/how-to-test-a-catalytic-converter