The Crew Dies.......But $525.00 Fixes It

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 10:45 am

I Took A Short Trip Last Saturday, About 5 hours 1 Way. I-68 West To MorganTown Wv, Stayed Over Night At A Hotel And Started Back About 11Am Sunday Morning, Didn't Have A Problem The Whole Way Until About 20 Minutes Into The Return Trip Started Up A Steep Part Of The Mountains I Dropped The Tranny Out Of Over Drive Into Drive And The Engine Died

This isn't Good I Was Thinking As I'm Trying To Get Out Of The Fast Lane At 75 MPH. Got To The Side Of The Road, Got Towed To The Nearest Dealer 23 Exits Back The Way I Had Just Came From.

It's On A Sunday Nobody Was Open. Monday Morning The Dealer Calls Me About 8 Am And Says The Fuel Looks Funny When Was The Last Fill Up? They At First Thought It Was Diesel Mixed In The Tank.

Turns Out It Was My Distributor. It Had Gotten Moisture In It, Corroded The Shaft, Cracked One Of The Magnets And Basically Killed The Distributor? (does this sound right?).

They Cant Get The Part Till Tuesday. Tuesday At 10:30 Am They Call Say The Trucks Ready, They Washed It, And Sent Someone To Pick Me Up. $525.00 Later I'm On The Road.

Truck Seems To Run Better Than It Ever Has Since I Bought It. And I Average 20.2 MPG On The Way Home. And The Slight Rattle Which I Thought Was The Balance Shaft Noise Seems To Have Disapeared Too (distributor going bad was messing up my timing??)

Oh By The Way, My Wife & 3 Year Old Were Stuck With Me. We Only Had Enough Clothes For An Overnight Trip (ever wash your underwear in a hotel sink with hotel soap and use a hairdryer to dry 'em out

). The Hotel We Were At Was NoWhere Near Any Place To Walk To And The Local Car Rental Agency Had No Cars To Rent!

What A Fun Extended Weekend

Hope Your Weekend Was Much Better

BADs Crew · Post by **BADs Crew** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:47 pm

The important thing is you all made it home safe. It sounds like the dealer treated you fair and now your truck runs better.

Post by **Walt** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 5:28 pm

Hmmm....I'll have to check my distributor....see if that could be causing some of my poor performance....

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 7:08 pm

Walt wrote:Hmmm....I'll have to check my distributor....see if that could be causing some of my poor performance....

Is that the first step after checking your ATF level?

Post by **Walt** » Thu Jul 13, 2006 8:51 pm

f9k9 wrote:
Walt wrote:Hmmm....I'll have to check my distributor....see if that could be causing some of my poor performance....
Is that the first step after checking your ATF level?

ATF level? What's that? Ohh....you law enforcement types! Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms! I'm only involved in the Firearms part so I don't think that applies.

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 5:02 am

Ok, The Truck Is At It Again

It Started Yesterday And Again Today, When It's Cold And I First Start It It Make A Terrible Sound For Just A Couple Minutes Until It Gets Warmed Up. The Sound Is Kinda Like A Couple Empty Soup Cans Rattling Around Under The Truck. At First I Thought It Was The Chain In The Transfer Case But Now I'm Thinking Pre-Cat Or Cat Converter??
Any Thoughts Or Input On This Would Be Appreciated. I Can Make A Sound File Tomorrow For You Guys To Listen To If That Would Help

Jeff

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:26 am

gocntry, are there any codes stored?

Steve

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:44 am

Keep in mind that mine did not set any codes when the precat plugged - Plugged Pre cat

You don't mention other symptoms that are indicators, so I can't point directly to that.

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 9:59 am

HenryJ wrote:Keep in mind that mine did not set any codes when the precat plugged.

So, I guess the PCM isn't very smart after all.

Didn't you have a major power loss and a rough running engine when the pre-cat plugged up?

I'm surprised the PCM couldn't detect any problems.

Steve

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 10:20 am

killian96ss wrote:gocntry, are there any codes stored?

Steve

I Dont Have The SES Light On. When I Get Home Tonite I'll Run The Scanner On It And See If I Have Any Stored Codes. Driveability Seems To Be The Same No Loss Of Power Or Running Funny. I Checked My Skid Plates And Tapped Around Under There With A Rubber Mallet But Haven't Found Anything Loose Yet.

Jeff

killian96ss · Post by **killian96ss** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 11:02 am

gocntry wrote:I Can Make A Sound File Tomorrow For You Guys To Listen To If That Would Help.

It certainly wouldn't hurt to record the noise.

Maybe one of us will recognize the sound and be able to point you in the right direction.

Steve

Post by **HenryJ** » Sat Jul 29, 2006 11:18 am

killian96ss wrote:
HenryJ wrote:Keep in mind that mine did not set any codes when the precat plugged.
... Didn't you have a major power loss and a rough running engine when the pre-cat plugged up? ... I'm surprised the PCM couldn't detect any problems.

Yes.
The OBDII is primarily concerned with matters that effect emissions. I guess a plugged cat is a pretty clean running condition?

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:14 am

Update:

I Ran The Scanner I Have No Stored Or Pending Codes. I'm Using An AutoXray 6000 If That Makes Any Difference.
I Re-Checked The Skids And checked The Heat Shields And Tapped Anything I Could Reach Under The Truck And Could Find Nothing Loose Or Rattling. I'm Getting Ready To Check / Change The Transfer Case Fluid & The Transmission Fluid.
There Are No Obvious Fluid Leaks - Or Anything Bad Looking Under The Truck.
I Have Only Had The Truck Up To 30-35 Going Back & Forth To Work, I'll Take It Out Today & Give It A Run Up To 60 Or So And See If Driveability Is Affected At All.

Here Is A Sound File I Did This Morning After The Truck Sat All Night

Right Click & Save 1.37 Meg File

F9K9 · Post by **F9K9** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:23 am

DAYEM! Are you positive it isn't your fan? How does your tranny mount look ?

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 5:53 am

Do you have a reciprocal saw?

Check the transfercase for fluid first.

Now you need a stethoscope. I have a favorite 24" long 3/8" drive extension that I use. I place my thumb on the end and my thumb firmly in my ear. Then place the other end against the suspect source. Be careful to avoid moving parts. The sound is transferred through the metal shaft to the thumb, to my ear drum. Touching different places you will easily be able to distinguish the source.
Any metal rod can be used, as well as a wooden dowel, small tube , yard stick, ruler, ratchet, wrench, etc.

I too would suspect that the guts of that precat are now a ball rumbling around in there. If that is what you narrow it down to be, you can take it to the dealer for warranty replacement, as the emissions parts are covered for 80K, or cut that precat out and have the muffler shop inspect the cat.

SONOMA915 · Post by **SONOMA915** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:13 am

I agree with HJ, sounds like the cat is busted, it should be covered by an 8yr 80,000 mile federal emissions warranty. Your dealer will replace it under that warranty.

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 6:38 am

HenryJ wrote:Do you have a reciprocal saw?

Check the transfercase for fluid first.

Now you need a stethoscope. I have a favorite 24" long 3/8" drive extension that I use. I place my thumb on the end and my thumb firmly in my ear. Then place the other end against the suspect source. Be careful to avoid moving parts. The sound is transferred through the metal shaft to the thumb, to my ear drum. Touching different places you will easily be able to distinguish the source.
Any metal rod can be used, as well as a wooden dowel, small tube , yard stick, ruler, ratchet, wrench, etc.

I too would suspect that the guts of that precat are now a ball rumbling around in there. If that is what you narrow it down to be, you can take it to the dealer for warranty replacement, as the emissions parts are covered for 80K, or cut that precat out and have the muffler shop inspect the cat.

Gave It A Hard Test Drive But Seems To Have No Hesitation. As For The PreCat I Have No Problem Cutting It Out But I Wonder If I'll Fail My Visual emmissions Here In Northern Va. If I Do That?

With The Inspectors Around Here I Seriously Doubt They Would Even Notice It Missing As Long As The Main Cat Stays In Place.

I Wonder If The Distributor Going Bad On The Highway Then Me Trying To Restart It And Obviously Now Realizing I Was Just Pumping Raw Gas Into The PreCat / Cat Helped It's Early Demise? As It Seemed To Happen Within 3 Weeks Of The Breakdown I Just Had??

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:06 am

gocntry wrote:... As For The PreCat I Have No Problem Cutting It Out But I Wonder If I'll Fail My Visual emmissions Here In Northern Va. If I Do That?

With The Inspectors Around Here I Seriously Doubt They Would Even Notice It Missing As Long As The Main Cat Stays In Place.

You could cut it loose, finish breaking out the ball that is bouncing around in there and have the gutted precat welded back in place. That is if the main cat still looks clean.
The main cat should do all you need to pass the sniffer, but you may be right about needing the precat "there" to pass a hardcore visual inspection.

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:23 am

HenryJ wrote:You could cut it loose, finish breaking out the ball that is bouncing around in there and have the gutted precat welded back in place. That is if the main cat still looks clean.
The main cat should do all you need to pass the sniffer, but you may be right about needing the precat "there" to pass a hardcore visual inspection.

No Sniffer Test Here. I'll Get The ObdII Plug In Test, Underhood Visual, And Under Truck Visual.

Post by **HenryJ** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 7:28 am

With an O2 sensor after the cat and On Board Diagnostics that check the efficiency periodically, you have a sniffer built in

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 4:40 am

As Of Now:
The Transfer Case Fluid Level Check Out Ok.
I Did The 24" Extension Stethoscope Trick And It Sure Sounded Like Something Rattling Around In The Precat & MAybe The Cat Too?

If It's The Precat / Cat That's The Problem And It's Under Warranty & It Should Be Fixed At No Cost I Didn't Want To Play With It Right Now As I Have Too Much On My Plate To Start With.

So It's Sitting At The Local Dealer, And I'm Waiting For A Call To See If They Could Find The Problem As I'm Stumped.

I'll Let You Guys Know What Happens Next......

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:31 am

Dealer Has Called And It's A Bad Catalytic Converter, They Didn't State If It Was The Precat Or The Main Cat Or Both But They Won't Get The "Special Order Part" Until Probably Thursday.

Good News Is It It Covered Under Warranty So It Is A No Charge Repair

So That's A Relief To Me

Steve2003 · Post by **Steve2003** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 11:54 am

I had the same problem and the dealer sent it out to the muffler shop to get repaired....They had it done in one day....no charge.

gocntry · Post by **gocntry** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 1:14 pm

Steve2003 wrote:I had the same problem and the dealer sent it out to the muffler shop to get repaired....They had it done in one day....no charge.

Mine's A 2003 Also It Has Almost 28,000 Miles On It.

Do You Remember What Milage Your died At??

Steve2003 · Post by **Steve2003** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 2:39 pm

gocntry wrote:
Steve2003 wrote:I had the same problem and the dealer sent it out to the muffler shop to get repaired....They had it done in one day....no charge.
Mine's A 2003 Also It Has Almost 28,000 Miles On It.

Do You Remember What Milage Your died At??

45,000 miles....I now have 52,000 on her!

adrenalnjunky · Post by **adrenalnjunky** » Tue Aug 01, 2006 4:47 am

Sorry I don't check the board as much as I used to - but as soon as I heard your audio clip I could have told you it's the Cat. I had to replace mine as well with the exact same sound coming out.

I checked my old one after the replacmeent, and the entire honeycomb structure inside had come detatched and was rattling around inside the housing.