hey guys, had a quick question cause ran into some problems with my sc300 today.
i was driving and iv been noticing its been real sluggish say 0-45mph no big deal but all of the sudden my car throws a check engine light (which i guess was from my egr being unplugged for some reason)

All of the sudden after the cat clogs from 25-45mph it felt as if i had a rag shoved in my exhaust or even a potatoe and the air had to force past it.
then i brought it to my buddies shop and they said it seemed as if the cat was clogged or something to that effect.

so i end up bringing it up the street to a meineke and they explain they have to charge 80 dollars so they can use their personal diagnostic machine or else they cant gurantee the work they do blah blah blah.

anyways they get to testing the cats individually and ends up the one closest to the engine i at the exhaust manifold is fcked up so they have to do a custom job and cut the oem cat off and fit a magnaflow 2>1 cat.

real question is should i be worried about meineke doing this "custom" job?
i mean i really dont take it anywhere but a lexus shop but my buddy reffered me to this meineke.

 

i don't see a problem with it. meineke seems to be pretty decent and specializes in exhaust work. you should be fine. can your friend not do it at his shop?

 

ok guys now im really in need of help, i replaced the 1st catlaytic converter and this thing is still running horribly. is it possible i just need a tune up? like new spark plugs and new distributor cap? what could be going on.

basically when i hit the gas my car sputters horribly with barely enough power to get out of my own way.

 

Whats the mileage?

 

95000 im almost thinking i need a basic tunup can anyone give me some feedback???

if you need more specific info id love some tech support here guys

basically the car just feels as if its misfiring when i hit the gas..... real lack of power when i hit the pedal and makes a sputtering feeling as if its not sparking correctly

 

Check your plugs, especially #6

Distributor cap / rotor as well

 

yeah seem to be original 1992 plugs/rotor/cab/wires

god i wish it was easier to change your plugs in these inlines

does anyone know of a good DIY on changing plugs on these with pictures possibly? im pretty sure i could do it but would love reassurance from a tutorial

 

did anyone really check what the codes were from the check engine light? or was all this super fantastic personal diagnostic machine a hoax to get your money.

you know what the personal diagnostic tool to check codes are for a 1992 SC300. a paper clip. check your codes. and then diagnose.

 

yeah i guess the check engine was EGR valve cause for one reason or another it got unplugged.

they tried to feed me some bull**** on how thats could be what caused my catalytic converter to fail and i basically argued with them so they would reset the code and let me drive it around and show them that the code wont throw again with the egr plugged in again.

blah blah blah hours later and 460$ laters they tell me its done and now runs great! so now with a smile i run down there and hop in it..... and it runs even ****ing worse.

Now that i am thinking of it.... i passed CA smog like 5 days ago... how the hell is my cat bad??? so basically im thinking these *******s suckered me into installing a new cat for no apparent reason which has me pissed.

 

man thats jacked up! I had my CAT converter replaced by some custom shop im south carolina for $150 and after they got done wit it i ened up having a manafold gasket leak and they dont want to fix it because there scared there going to script or break the bolts.

 

I guess in CA (unsure about other places) they are asking shops only to sell OBDII cats now. They are buying back any CAT's that were OBD1 for whatever the reason is. I don't know that's just what a buddy of my told me a few days ago. That just means that any CAT replacement now in CA regardless of the year you have to use a OBD2 cat. That's how I understood it and tried to look it up on the ca webpage but it keeps timing out.

 

bring it to texas!! We can fit your pos...LOL!! and then TA-DAAHHH!!!!!!

 

Better yet, bring it here to IN where we can chop them all off and make some $$$

I'm starting to suspect the EGR has something to do with all of this. Do a search on retrieving OBDI codes and see which code is stored. Then bring it to us so we can give you a few extra steps on fixing the problem. It can't just be the ignition system, that EGR can also mess with the air/fuel ratios and if not working properly the car may not run right.

 

Appreciate the help guys. And dallas bean what pos do you speak of? i dont own any.... thanks for being productive in the forums.... not.

Hopefully today the tune up will solve me problem and can move on from this.