2000 cadillac escalade. Had a problem about two months ago after a long day of driving on a very hot day. Parked the car went into the store and when I came out and started the car no problem. then as I tried to accelerate it ws like there was not any fuel getting to the engine. Car still ran, but no acceleration. Finally got the car home. Had the fuel filter replaced and was hoping that would solve the problem. Seemed to work till I had to a long weekend of extended trips. on the way home while trying to accelerate up a hill on the interstate. Same problem. It was like the fuel was not getting to the engine. Finally got the car close to home and dropped it at a garage. They said with the mileage I had on the car 110,000 that it sounded like a bad catalytic converter. Had it replaced. then one month later while a trip back home after a weekend away. the same problem happened again. Not near as bad as before, but still the loss of what appears to be fuel to the engine. Always happens on longer trips not while driving around town. Engine does appear to be over heating. Has anyone had the unpleasant experience of this same thing happening to them.
Have you ever changed the fuel filter?
Yes that was the first thing we replaced, then about a month later we replaced the Catalytic convertor.
Holy cow - you had a shop replace the cat on a guess? Don’t use that shop. The issue would be that the cat was clogged. But you don’t GUESS about that. You can find out. (I’m not even a mechanic and I could tell you whether to worry about it or not with 10 minutes and a vacuum gauge).
How old are your plugs & wires? These should be checked along with the rest of your ignition system. One of your correlates is a hot engine and heat can make a mess of failing ignition components.
Did anyone ever check the fuel pressure? This should be done under load - not just static pressure.
Different shop on the cat. Was kind of in a dilemma. Barely got the car to the shop.
Plugs and wires are original
As far as chekcing the fuel pressure I don’t know…thanks for the advice.
This time, instead of telling the shop what to change, tell them what teh symptoms are and let the diagnose the cause.
This may turn out to be a dying fuel pump, not uncommon in a 10 year old GM. But the fuel pump can be (and should be) tested, along with the other possible causes of loss of power.
Actually I never told them what to change. I described the problem and then they recommended the cat change. I took it back to the shop and told them to run the computer check as the check engine light is now on.
Is there a test for the fuel pump?
In that case, don’t go back there. A clogged cat can be either dismissed or verified as a cause, and it should never be replaced just on a guess.
Yes, there is a test for a fuel pump. It requires “Teeing-in” a fuel pressure gage to the supply line and checking the pressure under idle and at specific engine conditions. Any competant shop can do it.
The CEL is indicating that you have fault codes stored in your ECU and those should help diagnose the problem as well.
Wait, wait, wait…
“Plugs and wires are original”
Ding, ding, ding!!! 10 years and 110,000 miles are more than too old for these components. Is your “Check Engine” or “Service Engine Soon” light on?
I’m with BustedKnuckles on that. Don’t bother with anything else until those are changed. (Though a fuel pressure check is pretty simple & routine as well.
That CEL (check engine light) is just a kid in class waving her hand trying to get you attention because she has the answer. You need to have the codes read. Some places will read them for FREE. Try Autozone or Advanced Auto Parts. Get the exact code (like P0123) not just their translation into English and post it back here.