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I’m completely at the end of my knowledge on this one. On my dad’s 2002 Ford Escape 3.0 4WD I just replaced the spark plugs (the harness forces me to put them back in the right place) and fixed a few leaky vacuum lines, replaced the pcv, and went ahead and replaced all the intake gaskets while it was off, and cleaned the MAF with the appropriate MAF cleaner. I put everything back together and triple checked everything and it started and idled fine. I tried to take if for a drive and it wouldn’t go over 20mph!!! when i got back home the cat was glowing orange. HELP! makes no sense. Check engine light is on
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Eric won’t be back until the 11th, but some here may be able to help you. First, were there any symptoms present before you did all the work described below? A glowing red cat means unused fuel is making it all the way into the exhaust system. This would indicated a no fire or misfire on one or more cylinders. Not to be discouraging, but oftentimes when a cat goes cherry red hot, it is ruined or will not be long for this world. A clogged cat or exhaust creating a restriction will also result in a severe lack of power…
Well it wasn’t nearly this bad before. it lacked power past 70mph (fouled plugs) and idled rough from the vacuum leaks. but it wont go over 20 mph now and wont even shift and the cat is glowing orange
Sounds like it might be an exhaust restriction. I’d definitely check into this. However, you still have to address the issue causing it, or you’d be replacing the next cat all over again. What kind of codes did you pull from the engine?
ok im working on it as we speak and i have narrowed it down to cylinders 1 and 3.
If i unplug coil 1 or 3 or both, nothing happens. if i unplug the other cylinders the idle drops. so i was thinking bad coils. but i took the coil out and turned the engine over and both 1 and 3 have spark.Pull the plugs back out and make sure they’re gapped right. Then you might want to move them to other cylinders. You’re looking for the power loss to move with the spark plugs. If you didn’t buy the OE plugs recommended for the engine, go back to the parts store and get the right ones. They should be Motorcraft platinums.
My money is on plugs and/or wires. The 20mph thing is limp home mode. It is set by the ecm so you don’t fubar the car too much and so you can still get the vehicle to safety ie if it happened on a highway.
Do what no_common_sense said first then if it doesn’t work try this.
If you can do this safely. It might sound stupid but with everything hooked up and running put a screwdriver up against or next to the injectors for 1+3 cylinders. Put your ear on the other end. If you can’t here them buzzing tap them lightly and i do mean lightly with a plastic handle like that of a screwdriver. it is easy to break injectors so be careful. See if it changes the idle. With you saying fouled plugs i am betting that the injectors on 1 and 3 are stuck open or not closing all the way. As for your cat its most likely toast. That is unless all the plugs were fouled in which case I would say your maf or o2 is probably fubared and/or the wiring between it and the ecm. Because those two sensors are what the ecm mainly uses to determine proper fuel ratios. Easy way to see if the maf is bad is to unplug make sure it won’t hit anything and run the engine and listen. Though that will set a code so if you get the dtc codes read or take it to a shop be aware of this.
I am kind of curious as to what in the ignition or fuel system would cause the cat to glow orange, I mean that is HOT HOT. Someone educate me on that?
For the OP – was it not going over 20 BEFORE you serviced things?
After you did all that stuff listed above –
How practical would it be to disconnect the exhaust system and see how it runs then?
Yes it will be louder than hell (and some vibration) but if there IS an exhaust blockage, you will know when you disconnect the exhaust and if the car decides to drive normally.
I had a 94 Jeep Cherokee with the same problem but after a mile of driving it would hit a whopping 45 MPH. Disconnected exhaust and the thing FLEW (and the noise scared a few people, I got cussed out a lot 🙂 ) Sure as poop stinks, the cat was clogged.Keep in mind there is a good chance of the bolts breaking. Have some new ones ready.
If things are horribly rusted together though, don’t try to remove it, at that point a muffler shop would have to handle it. I mean like if the bolts break and the exhaust is STILL together where the end of the manifolds meet the rest of the exhaust system.
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