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Thanks for the kind words tomatofarmer. I can’t tell you how many family members I had tell me to just “junk the old truck because it’s old and not fixable”. Shows what they know. Thankfully all of you pointed me in the right direction which led me to Midas so I can’t thank you guys enough. Now I just need the old girl to last until I can afford a newer used car.
Thanks for the kind words tomatofarmer. I can’t tell you how many family members I had tell me to just “junk the old truck because it’s old and not fixable”. Shows what they know. Thankfully all of you pointed me in the right direction which led me to Midas so I can’t thank you guys enough. Now I just need the old girl to last until I can afford a newer used car.
Sorry for the late follow up guys, but it was in fact a clogged cat just as you all suspected. My brother worked at this Midas a couple years ago so I know the manager which really saved my wallet, but I’ll get to that in a minute. The part with labor came to almost $500, but the manager told me that he could clean the cat out which would restore most of my power and mpg’s instead of installing a new cat. We don’t have emissions testing in this part of VA so I said go ahead.
Long story short, $200 out the door and my truck drives the way it did a few years ago and I’m getting 18-19 mpg’s again instead of 10 or less. I know $200 is still a hell of a lot, but since I know next to nothing about working on vehicles, I think I went the right route. Now my Ranger is just a really old slow 4-banger pick-up instead of a barely driveable really old 4-banger pickup.
Sorry for the late follow up guys, but it was in fact a clogged cat just as you all suspected. My brother worked at this Midas a couple years ago so I know the manager which really saved my wallet, but I’ll get to that in a minute. The part with labor came to almost $500, but the manager told me that he could clean the cat out which would restore most of my power and mpg’s instead of installing a new cat. We don’t have emissions testing in this part of VA so I said go ahead.
Long story short, $200 out the door and my truck drives the way it did a few years ago and I’m getting 18-19 mpg’s again instead of 10 or less. I know $200 is still a hell of a lot, but since I know next to nothing about working on vehicles, I think I went the right route. Now my Ranger is just a really old slow 4-banger pick-up instead of a barely driveable really old 4-banger pickup.
I’ve got an appointment tomorrow morning at Midas to pinpoint the problem. When telling the guy on the phone about my issue the first thing he said was that it sounds like it’s a clogged exhaust/cat just as you guys mentioned. He said the extreme loss of power and god awful mileage is always a dead give away, but I’ll know for sure tomorrow. If it does turn out to be a clogged cat, are they hard to install yourself? Is any welding required.
I’ve got an appointment tomorrow morning at Midas to pinpoint the problem. When telling the guy on the phone about my issue the first thing he said was that it sounds like it’s a clogged exhaust/cat just as you guys mentioned. He said the extreme loss of power and god awful mileage is always a dead give away, but I’ll know for sure tomorrow. If it does turn out to be a clogged cat, are they hard to install yourself? Is any welding required.
Just a quick update. I took my Ranger to Advance again and had them use their code scanner. Before they told me they couldn’t because it wasn’t a 96 or newer vehicle, but I asked the guy if he would try anyway and it turned out that it worked. It’s throwing 2 codes and both are P0401 aka EGR insufficient flow. Would this cause the truck to be as slow as it is?
Just a quick update. I took my Ranger to Advance again and had them use their code scanner. Before they told me they couldn’t because it wasn’t a 96 or newer vehicle, but I asked the guy if he would try anyway and it turned out that it worked. It’s throwing 2 codes and both are P0401 aka EGR insufficient flow. Would this cause the truck to be as slow as it is?
[quote=”tomatofarmer1″ post=111306]This could be so manny things, from ignition components, dirty injectors to restricted fuel/ fuel pressure as Tedybear315 noted. Maybe a little more detail about the make of the vehicle and more detail about the symptoms would help. For example, does the vehicle jerk, buck, does it simply bog down, etc.,? You need to check for a restricted exhaust too, such as the catalytic converter substrate broken, etc. Good Luck
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d-jp1IIJVVk%5B/quote%5D
So far the truck still rides smooth. It’s just extremely bogged down. One note I forgot to add is that there is a rattle coming from under the truck whenever it’s in idle/park that goes away when it’s moving. To me it sounds like it’s coming from under the middle of the truck. This started a week or so before the extreme loss of power.
[quote=”tomatofarmer1″ post=111306]This could be so manny things, from ignition components, dirty injectors to restricted fuel/ fuel pressure as Tedybear315 noted. Maybe a little more detail about the make of the vehicle and more detail about the symptoms would help. For example, does the vehicle jerk, buck, does it simply bog down, etc.,? You need to check for a restricted exhaust too, such as the catalytic converter substrate broken, etc. Good Luck
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d-jp1IIJVVk%5B/quote%5D
So far the truck still rides smooth. It’s just extremely bogged down. One note I forgot to add is that there is a rattle coming from under the truck whenever it’s in idle/park that goes away when it’s moving. To me it sounds like it’s coming from under the middle of the truck. This started a week or so before the extreme loss of power.
Thanks for the input guys. The reason I asked in the first place is because I know someone who bought a new 2011 Hyundai Elantra and hasn’t had a single issue with it even at 120,000+ miles. It also looks like it’s really easy to work on so I figured as much about the Rio/Accent. Everyone always tells me to go the Japanese route with a Toyota, Honda or Subaru but any Jap import around here costs a fortune used even if ten years old with high mileage.
Another thing I know is that parts for Toyotas and Hondas cost a pretty penny and if I owned a Civic or Camry I probably couldn’t afford the darn parts for it. My sister just had some electrical work done to her 2005 4Runner because something crawled up under the engine when her and her family were gone for a week and chewed up a slew of wires. It ended up costing her just over $4,500. Anyway, I know the Japanese make great vehicles, but that’s why I’ve never owned one.
Thanks for the input guys. The reason I asked in the first place is because I know someone who bought a new 2011 Hyundai Elantra and hasn’t had a single issue with it even at 120,000+ miles. It also looks like it’s really easy to work on so I figured as much about the Rio/Accent. Everyone always tells me to go the Japanese route with a Toyota, Honda or Subaru but any Jap import around here costs a fortune used even if ten years old with high mileage.
Another thing I know is that parts for Toyotas and Hondas cost a pretty penny and if I owned a Civic or Camry I probably couldn’t afford the darn parts for it. My sister just had some electrical work done to her 2005 4Runner because something crawled up under the engine when her and her family were gone for a week and chewed up a slew of wires. It ended up costing her just over $4,500. Anyway, I know the Japanese make great vehicles, but that’s why I’ve never owned one.
Just thought I’d post a quick update. I picked up a replacement line (the entire line) at Advance Auto and had my brother put it on for me. It took him about an hour to do so at least that’s one problem that’s fixed on the old truck. He did point out to me though that a few other lines were also starting to look extremely rusty so it probably won’t be long until they crumble as well. BTW, is there any way to prevent this rust in the future or is this just normal with older vehicles and wear and tear? Thanks again for all of the tips and advice folks.
Just thought I’d post a quick update. I picked up a replacement line (the entire line) at Advance Auto and had my brother put it on for me. It took him about an hour to do so at least that’s one problem that’s fixed on the old truck. He did point out to me though that a few other lines were also starting to look extremely rusty so it probably won’t be long until they crumble as well. BTW, is there any way to prevent this rust in the future or is this just normal with older vehicles and wear and tear? Thanks again for all of the tips and advice folks.