cat. converter??? - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

silver cobra · 09-14-2005, 10:14 PM

Alright, I posted about a month ago about my 1995 Toyota 4Runner having problems. The rpms would go up but I would go the same speed. I had several people tell me it was the transmission. Well, I had the transmission fluid changed and that seemed to work. Now, about 3 weeks later, it is doing it again. I couldn't get above 40 mph while trying to get on the interstate. My dad says that it maybe the cat. converter. If it was the transmission I would think it would do it all the time. It only does it sometimes and then stops for a while. Is it possilbe for the cat. converter to be stopped or plugged up for a time, then break loose later and give me my power back? Also, I can smell a kind of sulfer smell coming from my car. If there is anything else it might be just tell me please. Thanks for any help.

terrastrife · 09-15-2005, 03:57 AM

you may have an exhaust leak or vacuum leak of some kind. a clogged cat would stop your engine from revving up. a leak would be intermittant with expanding/contracting metal.

the smell could be from poor quality petrol.

Williams · 09-15-2005, 04:18 AM

The rpms would go up but I would go the same speed...

that pretty much says it all. Surely it can't be too difficult to diferenciate between an engine that revs/tranny that slips, and an engine that craps out/bogs/losses power....slip it into nuetral next time it happens and rev it up, then back into gear and pour the coals to it.....see what it does. It sounds to me like your torque converter is packing, did your tranny fluid look or smell burnt?

Williams · 09-15-2005, 04:31 AM

that would be as in transmission torque converter, not a catalytic converter for the emissions system.....

***Bakemono*** · 09-15-2005, 05:07 PM

When they changed the fluid did they FLUSH it or just drop the pan? If they just dropped the pan they didnt get the old fluid out of the torque converter and that could be causing you problems.
If you are actually talking about our CATLYTIC CONVERTER, it COULD be plugged. The honeycomb could be breaking up and reducing the flow at times.
Cap'n

silver cobra · 09-15-2005, 09:57 PM

I had an actual transmission flush at a Toyota dealership. My dad did say "cat. converter," and I hope it is not the torq converter, if it is I may have to have it rebuilt.

The main thing that gets me is that it doesn't do it all the time. It has happened in hot weather and also on a cool rainy day, so I know it is not temperature based. It has happened at low speeds and also while I was trying to get to high speeds. It, on average, happens about once a week (considering that I drive to work or school everyday). Thanks for all your help so far, really hope it's not the tranmission. I will try those tests if it does it again soon.

Williams · 09-16-2005, 01:59 AM

sounds like you've already done the tests...

The rpms would go up but I would go the same speed. I had several people tell me it was the transmission.

sounds like you answered your question yourself to me, but if you keep asking you may get the answer that you want to hear if that makes you feel better. How could/would the RPM go up if the Cat was so plugged that car couldn't hardly run? Your tranny is packing it in, just wait a while and it will crap out completely. Changing oil on a tranny that is on the edge generally makes it go south real quick from my experiences. Although when I put Red Line MTL into my MR2 tranny that had the noisy output shaft, it calmed it right down.......the fellow didn't even notice it when he went for the test drive.