blownz281

2003 Chevy Monte 3.4L 134,000 miles. Past few days the car has zero power from the time you put it into drive from up to 55mph then its better but not perfect. My first thought was converter clogged or muffler? 2 hr ride and neither one where red hot underneath. I reved the car up in park to 6grand and it didn't seem to have any issues.

The car when you give it gas sounds like its inside a glass bottle real muffled. Transmission shifts in and out of drive and stuff smooth. Then when it finally goes into gear its smooth. I tried to gas it good at 20mph it does nothing and I watched the rmps from 1,000-2,000 go up and down like a miss from a spark plug. Car idles perfect and no check engine lights.

How would I tell if the cat or muffler or resonator needs replaced?

Is the stall converter the cause of this? I would be surprised as they last forever as far as I know. I know a decent amount about cars,but not sure whats the issue here. Never messed with a transmission anymore then removing it and putting it back in place on my Z28 to install a HP stall.Thanks for any help.

Car temp is normal.

Abnshrek

Put some NPK tridium plugs in it next time. They last longer and fire better than run of the mill plugs.

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blownz281

It has AC Delco Platinum that's what they call for which are great plugs! But the plugs aren't the issue as they are less then a year old. Like what was said idling isn't a issue.

G.W.

Delco 41-101 is iridium and fits lots of stuff, even your car!
AC Delco Iridium/Spark Plug (41-101) | 2003 Chevrolet Monte Carlo 6 Cylinders E 3.4L SFI | AutoZone.com

after they're used up in cars they work awesome in most lawnmowers
I'm using one right now in my Honda push mower
suckers never foul with the little electrode


plug based misses are often present at idle and smooth out with increased rpm
I would have guessed MAF, but that should also be present at idle

I kow this isn't brilliant freakin advice but.... try a can of Berryman B12 Chemtool cleaner in the fuel.
They make one you can pour and Walnart sells it for $3.25, $5 at AutoZone

Check the voltage with the engine running. 13.5-14.5v
I recently saw higher voltage casue a bunch of problems but nothing more specific than "runs like crap"

I've only seen 2 clogged converters EVER. One of those wasn't clogged rather a chunk had come loose and was blocking the exhaust.
The other was a heavy smoker.

wish I could be more helpful.
Why don't you hold the throttle open until it sets a code?

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winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

cincinnana

Try Seafoam
Go to Youtube to see how to use it.
Using it is fun for the whole family !

I had similar symptoms with my Ford truck.
I had multiple cracked plugs.

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RandyGHO

Here is couple of things I have ran into on different model cars.
1.Fuel filter
2.On multiple coil models one coil going bad.
3. A single bad plug or wire.

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Thinking outside the peel always.

designshark

Maybe timing chain/belt?

G.W.

yeah the fact is you should start by pulling inspecting plugs, wire ends inside boots for burned conductor ends and check ohm readings , verify spark on each coil pack terminal

plug reading can give you a great idea of fuel situation

it could be tons of things and EVERY TIME I SKIP AROUND THE TROUBLESHOOTING CHART I REGRET IT

I still say WOT until it sets a code.
Better yet read it anyway, maybe the light is blown.

__________________
winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

Abnshrek

I put platinum plugs in my suburban it ran ok for a while but over loaded my coils, (I had to replace one) when I went back to iridium the problem went away. I guess they fire more efficiently than platinum.

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

G.W.

never heard of overloaded coils but when I put platinum in my 97 Riviera with da SupaChaga it ran like crap after a few months
changed to Delco 41-101 and got 70K miles before plug failures occured

I'm not saying that I think sparkplugs are the only possible problem or that yu should buy (oh god no) a new set of plugs.
I am providing a similar experience so Abnshrek doesn't sound like a shade tree kook with his overloaded coils.

I do think that without more clues, or a trouble code, you should start plugs/wires/coil inspection.

You have no idea how many times it's the first thing you didn't check.

__________________
winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

Abnshrek

Well they were the double platinum and they weren't in it long.. I can tell you that. You can call it what you want but I know all the misfiring stopped when I put the old plugs in it. What a waste of 35 bucks.. :^)

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blownz281

Thanks everyone. I pushed it hard today and check engine light came on. So Advanced said the scanner showed clean EGR valve or replace. car ran better after light came on,night and day difference. Computer changed the tables to even it out.

You shouldn't put platinum in a car that doesn't call for it and like wise.

Yep, I hate trouble shooting as well and sucks on a 3.4L as half the plugs are behind the motor . Work,kids equal no time.. Hahaa

blownz281

Also me and lots of other people running Camaro's, Transam's with blowers,turbos we always used AutoLite 103-104 as they run cooler.

blownz281

Well all that for nothing. Took 4hrs to take it off and put it back together including,cleaning everything. Nothing was dirty really. Car didn't want to start at first for a while then it did. Played around with reving it,then drove it 1000ft and it drove horrible again. So must need a EGR valve. The pvc hose that runs to the valve cover,then runs up to a little plastic box,then to a 3" long hose. Well that hose is all collapsed. Completely when I give the car gas. It has nothing to do with the egr though. Wonder if that's the problem and throwing a code for egr?

I use to love working on cars,but with working 10hr days and two kids,Wife working 10plus and school. I'm starting to think this is my last time,patience is lacking with this stuff. Plus side this is the first thing needing fixed on the cars for a long time.

$45.89 free shipping on ebay for brand new egr valve.

Scuba_Dave

I had a collapsed vacuum tube on a car & it ran like crap on & off
As I gave it the gas the tube would collapse & power would drop
As power dropped tube would open up & power return - cycle repeated
Drove me nuts til I found it

blownz281

Dave - now I did find a small hose for the EVAP Purge Valve Soleniod,hose would collapse with throttle. Has to be the issue,guess I will find out tomorrow.

G.W.

sounds great

the last egr problem I fixed was on a Ranger
there was a separate 3 wire device from the egr that actually caused the problem
whatever the part was, it was easily testable with a DMM and no amount of valve cleaning or swaping would have fixed the problem

I doubt the systems are the same, and I'm just throwing in my most recent egr exp.
I cleaned the valve.... nothing..... went to google.... hmmm let's test this part.... TADA

there are too many finicky little items in cars lately with little published data on testing or untestable with DMM
makes it a real pain in the A

__________________
winter winners, jackfruit, carambola, hua moa, d namwah, hak ip lychee with pink leaves 2 days before a cold snap eeeek!

Winter losers, kohala longan, misi luki, 80% jackfruit seedling loss

first bloomers, HUA MOA, DC, D NAMWAH, FHIA 17, KANADARIAN, RAJA PURI, M D NAMWAH

best bunch FHIA 17 , undisclosed

WORST BUNCH hua moa, 2 fingers

blownz281

cars are made a certain so that just not anyone can work on them. So the dealer can charge you tons of money just to look at it and through parts at it. Then say ah yeah we had to replace all those others parts too. Even though they have nothing to do with your problem they were bad too. NOT!

Abnshrek

I can tell you GM has been engineering their products to make it harder for the backyard mechanic to work on for over 3 decades, especially mid-size vehicles.

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I'm a Nannerhead :^)

blownz281

That's the truth.