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Hi everyone. First time poster.

I have a 2004 EX. Wife was driving the car on the expressway and it bogged down and wouldn't go higher than 2500 rpms. It made a terrible exhaust leak noise. It would, for lack of a better description, slipped in and out of gear. If she down shifted into 1 it would eventually get back up to speed but bog again. It also overheated. She cut it off and limped it home letting it cool down every time it got hot. Put a new thermostat in it and it didn't fix the problem with the overheating. Replaced the water pump and timing belt and still overheating. No coolant in oil or vice versa.

In the meantime, I looked for an exhaust leak and had a cracked exhaust manifold. Replaced it and catalytic converter (one piece). Solved the exhaust leak noise but now car has lost all power. It will start but with the pedal all the way to the floor won't go up ramps to work on it. With that said, I can't get it anywhere to have the codes read. Any ideas?

I really appreciate any suggestions.

 
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Also, no smoke. CEL is on and stays on.

 
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Is the CEL flashing while it is running?

Cam jumped time, a tooth off?




An EX shouldn't have the manifold and cat as one piece, LX does. That cat is one expensive SOB....You coulda had a code reader for less than that LOL

A poorly running engine can ruin even the best cat in only minutes.

 
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Sorry. I mistyped. It is an LX. CEL is on solid. No flashing.

 
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How is your transmission manual or automatic fluid? Clogged fuel filter, bad plug or injector?

I can relate I've had numerous views and no comments on my post. But I think I know what it is and hope to find out soon in about a week when I dig back into it for the 4th time.

 
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It's an automatic. Haven't done anything with transmission fluid. The rest I haven't checked.

 
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Take it back. Checked plugs. None fouled.

 
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Seems to me that the prudent thing to do is to see what the check engine light has to say about it.

 
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^^

get the code read at an autozone or similar. Take what they say with a grain of salt. Reply back with the actual code(s) that the car is giving.

 
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I agree. But I can't get the car to Autozone. It won't drive. It won't get enough RPMs to drive.

 
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Just went out and started it. I got it up to 3000 rpms (foot to the floor) and held it steady and it sounds normal with a hiccup. It had a little bit of a exhaust/air noise (like a gulp) with each press of the gas pedal.

Does this help any?

 
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This sounds like a blown head gasket which has progressed from simple overheating (the first sign, as compression gases evacuate the cooling passages due to compression pressure passing across the head gasket surface) to know a completely blown gasket which precipitated the "intake noise." Engine might be toast, or might be rebuildable, but if you are not a highly talented mechanic it's time to junk the car. Junk yard engines are not a good idea unless they have less than 70k miles on them.

 
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I was hoping that wasn't the case. The car has 250,000 miles on it. I have a guy coming with a code reader this weekend. Maybe I'll be lucky!

 
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I was looking at symptoms of a blown head gasket online and there aren't any of the normal signs - no smoke, oil is dark coolant is in good shape. Could it still be that?

 
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The 1.7 doesn't exhibit ANY of the most common symptoms most people look for.

All they do in the beginning is displace coolant from the radiator to the reservoir....... Ignore it long enough and it loses heater output, then it overheats. Keep ignoring it and it can become a disaster.

They are easy to fix if you are mechanically inclined and have a lot of time, and at 200k I'd think about doing rings if i were going to keep the car...Yeah, an "in the car rebuild" of sorts.


HOWEVER your problems started with bogging down and loss of power, and exhaust noise? I think the overheat COULD have been the result of poor running and having to keep the gas pedal floored. There could be head gasket damage from the event, but I seriously doubt the head gasket is the cause of the original poor running.


Got codes yet?


Have you checked cam timing or anything yet?

 
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Maybe you can buy or rent a compression tester that threads into the spark plug hole and compare the pressure readings between cylinders.

Other ideas are spark plug wires an old bad set can really make a car run bad. Or the oxygen sensor needs replacing.

 
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Won't have codes until the weekend. Haven't checked cam timing. Hope the codes answer a lot of questions.

 
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We really can't do anything without those codes. All we can do is speculate for now, and your symptoms can result from a myriad of things.

 
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Thanks for all of the input. Will come back with codes. Everybody have a great Thanksgiving!

 
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Ok. I finally got a code reader. It is pulling code PO 0335. It is acting exactly like the symptoms of a bad crankshaft position sensor. What say you?

 
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Oh, NOW you decide you know why it's acting bad? Why didn't you say so a month ago?


P0335. CKP sensor no signal output.

First, I'd inspect wiring.
Rodents LOVE eating wires!
Unplug the connector from the sensor and check for any corrosion of the terminals in both the connector and the sensor. (We have had a few issues with water getting onto the connection and rotting the terminals.)

Then I'd check with a voltmeter. Unplugged and key ON, test all 3 wires: You should find 12v, 5v, and a ground.

Then pin drag check the female pins, do they grip a male pin tightly?


If all that checks out then it's probably a bad sensor.

 
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Thanks for your help. I just said after seeing the code it did make sense. I wasn't saying I knew what it was. That wasn't something I had looked at before. Anyway, thanks.