Ok, so my car has been having some issues. It is a 2003 Imapala LS. It has been having this issue where when i go to speed up or go up a steep hill it revs like crazy. At first I thought it was having trouble shifting. Then I realized when i rolled down my window I heard a sound much like when you sip a straw and there is a hole in it. So now i think it is a problem with the fuel getting to the engine. If you press down really hard on the gass and the engine revs real high something makes a sound like a baseball card in the spokes of a bike. So i take it to my garage and they think it is the catalytic converter. I have no engine check light and just dont think THAT would be the problem. Anyone have any ideas?
Thanks!
Why do they think it is the converter? We have little or nothing to go on. If they noticed it had a hole in it, then it is time for a new one, but that is not likely on a 2003 and it should be covered under the mandatory 8 year or 80,000 mile warranty on that system.
Has there been a light (Check Engine Light) come on? If so getting the error code would be very helpful. Some auto part stores will do it for free. Bring the codes back and post them. They should be in the format [P0123] .It could be if a portion of the cat has collapsed, and causing a blockage and rattle in the exhaust. If that is the case, you can only fix it by replacing it.
Are you sure they didn’t say torque converter?
The Cat converter would not cause the engine to rev up. Probably is the torque converter ot the transmission.
I trust the shop. It just really expencive and i wish it wasnt the cat. The guy thinks it was probably a melt down within the cat. He said he did a bunch of tests on the fuel pressure and that it was off. I have to admit it was a little confusing, but I do believe them. Booooo this is a bummer. A $550 bummer.
I’m with Elly on this.
The torque converter is a fluid coupling device shaped like a split bagel with vanes inside and viscous fluid. When the front half spins the fluid drags the back half along, thus turning the rest of the drivetrain and pulling the car along. If the torque converter is toast, the engine will rev without pulling the car along like it should, as it’s essentially disconnected from the tranny. That’s what your car is doing.
The catalytic converter is totally irrelevant to the connection between the engine and the tranny. It’s a canister in your exhaust system that contains a honeycomb matrix coated with platinum-palladium. If that honeycomb crumbled it could choke off the exhaust and the engine would lose power, but it would not rev.
I think he probably said the torque converter is toast.
Are you sure they didn’t say torque converter?
That would make sense.
BUT if the converter was damaged or blocked, the engine would not rev up like crazy. I suspect they were talkin’ about the torque converter.