Driving from home last night something new happened to me. Just some background: I redline on a normal basis, I have 89 Octane gas in the car, and just about 1000 miles ago changed my oil using 5W30 conventional.

OK, well, I am driving along and notice I am slipping below the speed limit in 6th gear so I give it some gas and between 3000 and 4000 RPMs my car is jerking, almost reminding me of an automatic car changing gears, it was very slight. it then smoothed out and I was like, damn, what happened? so, I tried to get it to do it again, just to make sure it wasn't just a fluke, and it did it again.

well, I come to a slower speed zone and slow it down, so I give it a little gas (about 25%-50% throttle) in 3rd, 4th, and 5th gears between that 3000 and 4000 RPM range. sure enough, it did it in all those gears as well. while in 4th though, I hit 4000 RPM and it would not go any higher, even at full throttle. I drop it into 3rd and picks back up. It then starts driving normal again.

All this time I still haven't had a CEL yet. I come to a small town, have to slow down to 25MPH and then it speeds back up to 45MPH. On my way up to 45MPH, in 4th gear I hit 4000RPMs and it stopped there, no matter how much gas I gave it it would not climb any higher. Then I drop it into 3rd, no dice, RPMs kept dropping, so then I try 2nd, give it gas, no luck. Then the RPM needle drops to zero and my guage cluster lights up like it does when I just turn the key to the on position right before cranking.

I get the car off to the side of the road and notice a very strange smell. I honestly can't describe it but I have smelled it before (not in my car, though), maybe a burning oil smell. After I have finished pushing the car off to the side of the road, I decided to try to start it back up before calling for a tow-truck, and it starts, slower than normal, but it did. I drove the rest of the way back to my apt about 30 minutes away and didn't experience the problem again.

no CEL, smell is gone, no engine "hiccupping" or jerking in the 3000 to 4000RPM range. I have tried searching, but don't exactly know what to look for that may pertain to this. I am thinking the dealer overfilled my oil, but I don't know if that would cause my engine to die like that. If anyone has any idea about what the problem could be, I am all ears.

Thanks! and sorry about the long post.

 

Check your CAT.

 

I will do that. But wouldn't I get like a rotten eggs smell if it was the CAT? I mean a few weeks ago I noticed that kind of smell, but it wasn't consistent.

 

How was your engine temp? Were you over heating? Was that smell possibly the smell of coolant? How is your coolant level? I've read of cracked rotor housings leaking coolant.... I'm only suggesting this because buring coolant is the strangest smell a car can make and I'm trying to figure it out.

But mostly I do think it's probably your catalytic converter - but it's not a strange enough smell...

 

Yep, that's the answer. No, it won't smell. It is a restriction to the exhaust flow that is causing the problem. I've had 4 replaced in the first 2 yrs of owning the car.

 

I just added more coolant a couple weeks ago and my engine temp was normal, so I am pretty sure it wasn't over heating.

Looks like I am building a consensus about this problem which is very relieving. so if my CAT is screwed up, would you recommend actually paying an arm and a leg and sacrificing a goat to have it replaced through the dealership or should I just look into something like the RP Supercat? I still have stock exhaust but this may be my excuse to upgrade to aftermarket.

 

Bad coil?

 

We had a Millenia that did that and in the end nobody could fix it. The same stuff would happen after it warmed up and the only thing that would correct it (for only a few minutes) was to stop and restart. Each time the jerking occured in the Millenia though the ABS and TSC light would light up (until you restarted).

I'm not trying to scare and hope you don't have the SAME problem. Sure sounds like the same game though. When you said "restart and it was fine" I got goose bumps.

 

stock eaxhust and emissions compontes are under warraney for 80,000 miles, by law. if you're under 80k then take it to the dealership and have them put a new one in under warranty. don't let the dick you around on it either.

 

Visually inspect the cat. If it's clogged, replace it, and check your plugs, wires, and coils.

 

Dumb dumb here.

OK, my '06 still runs awesome. With all the "cat chat" on this site.....can you tell me how I can visually inspect the cat for it's condition? If I know how I can keep on eye on it. Thanks!

 

Seriously, check your coils. I had a similar incident, thought it was the cat, but it was a coil.

 

I hope I don't have a problem that will linger for the rest of my car's life. I will see about getting the cat checked, and I will have the other stuff checked out as well. my car has about 85,000 on it so that presents a problem. But I will see about getting all that stuff checked and get it fixed asap.

now what I am wondering, is if it is a bad coil, would my problem be sporadic or more consistent? After I started it back up, it ran like a champ, and it also ran like a champ this morning on my way to work.

Thanks for all the advice guys.

 

This is why I thought Mellenia. TCS/ABS crud. A cat doesn't just unplug itself after shut off. Sounds like a sensor or CPU as they can reset after a restart. Doesn't sound like a loose wire as they don't reconnect after a start. I hope it's minor!

 

When my coil went bad, it did the same thing. First I lost power and smelled something like burning circuit board. Looked under the car and the cat was not glowing.
Next morning I tried startying the car and it worked perfectly. It happened again when I went for a drive to the Gym later that day. I limped home and had it towed to the dealership.

 

Disconnect the cat. look inside.

Coils are easy to check. Take them out and inspect for burn marks.

 

if it was not for the smell i'd say u took a look at the fuel pump also.

Those jerkings can be caused by coils and by cat also.

 

OK resurrecting the thread. I finally was able to change my spark plugs, wires, and coils this morning and now it runs like a champ. The only snag I ran into was when I was tightening the bolts for the coils, I accidentally snapped the bolt in half and cannot secure the 2nd coil via nut and bolt. So, I used a zip tie to hold it down temporarily, and it is very secure. My question is what harm may come to my car if I don't replace the Coil plate ASAP?

Also, my plugs were NASTY and my coils had some white residue on them. When I get the chance, I will take a picture to show the aftermath of my old coils and plugs.