there is a lack of passing power at 70 mph. the engine revs but speed does not climb to pass a another vehicle.
Can we assume that a downshift is occurring in conjunction with this revving? Can we assume that this is a smaller displacement engine with automatic transmission?
How about model/make/year/engine/trans information?? Oops Mazda Tribute. I’ll venture 4cylinder auto.
Has this always been true or is this a new problem ?
thanks for the reply - it is a mazda tribute 2002 v6 lx model 3.0 engine. the tranamission seems to shift well. we recently had a heavy down pour and the vehicle was driven in the flooded area damaging the catalytic conver(front) this vehicle has 3 converters. the front one was replaced as well as the the one near the muffler. the check engine light came on indicating there was a problem with the front one. I also found chunks of the front convert in the main converter. this seem to return the car to a driveable condition. However, i still have the lack of power when I need to pass another vehicle.
I’d be surprised if all three were not damaged. Lack of power can easily be caused by a restriction in the exhaust, like a damaged catalytic converter. A restricted exhaust can be determined with a simple vacuum gauge test.
Don’t you love when posters initially omit “trivial” details like driving the car through a flood and causing damage? Sometimes I feel like we’re playing Twenty Questions here.
There are TWO front catalytic converters-----one for each bank of the V6 3.0L engine. There is ONE rear catalytic converter which the two front ones feed into.
The one catalytic converter which has not been changed could be hindering the exhaust flow from that bank.
Thermal shock to the catalytic converters, by the water-splash in the flooded area, could have caused them to fracture, I guess.
Another possible cause of the catalytic converter self-destructing is that they may have been running red-hot from an overly rich running engine. If this is the case, the new ones will fail in a simular manner.
Exhaust restriction can limit acceleration. So can inadequate fuel flow at that power setting. The fuel pressure needs to be checked at that power setting. An able mechanic knows how to do this.
There are other things (dirty air filter, dirty air intake tract, poor fuel injector spray pattern, etc.) which can limit maximum performance.
Okay …you must still have damaged exhaust components. This was a howl in 70’s domestics that used double walled header pipes (pre-catalyst era). The owner would go through a puddle, the pipe would chill and contract …collapsing the HOT inner pipe. The outer pipe would return to normal with warming …the inner one remain collapsed. It would drive a mechanic nuts.
Yours must be a mild blockage to only evidence itself at 70+mph. Whatever has not been replaced is either fouled with debris or likewise damaged itself.
you didn’t seem to have any answers other than complain. try helping but posible causes like the car books do. no one likes to read long drawn out stories. thanks for your non imput
thanks for your response. now i can look into the areas you mentioned.
the check engine light came on and it indicated that i had a misfire on # 6 cylinder. I replaced the coil pack and it resolved the lack of passing power. The vehicle is running fine now. thanks again for your input.
the check engine light came on and it indicated that i had a misfire on # 6 cylinder. I replaced the coil pack and it resolved the lack of passing power. The vehicle is running fine now. thanks again for your input.