Ok. The other night my check engine light started flashing and my car began to drive horribly. I was only a mile from home, so I got it into the driveway and the cat was glowing orange for a few minutes. I changed out the ignition coils and the car wouldn't start. I suspected that it was flooded, so my roommate and I pushed it to a nearby hill and popped the clutch. It started right up. The CEL then went to solid instead of flashing. I took it to a nearby auto parts store and they checked the codes. Misfire on one of the cylinders was the only code stored. It was obviously from the night the CEL was flashing. He cleared it for me and it hasn't come back on since. That was nearly a week ago. Now my car is running weird. It doesn't have as much power and when I'm driving I can kind of feel it hesitating, almost like the wind is blowing really hard at me or the car is missing a bit. For example, there is a hill I drive up that I usually take at around 80 or 85 mph, but now I'm bogging down going up it and I end up around 65 or so. What could be causing this? I'm not getting any codes. Could it be the O2 sensor? Wouldn't that throw a code?
Could my exhaust be f'd from when it turned orange?? Is it possible that a spark plug is bad now due to the flooding? BTW I replaced the plugs 3 months ago.
Or could it be an injector???? The engine sounds normal which is good. It's not pinging or anything. It's just running like crap. Like it's not getting enough fuel, or air or something. What's everyone's opinion on how to approach this. I don't want to spend a shitload of money when I'm not sure specifically what the problem is. Any suggestions on where to begin???

 

lol you Definitely need a new cat. doubt your Spark plugs went bad do to the flooding, if you dont have much money, install a straight pipe for the time being, your clogged cat is gonna give you random misfires and make it run like ****.

BTW.

what year is your car?
any other mods?
where are you located? maybe some locals can help you

 

It could be something as simple as having connected the wires in the wrong order to the new coils. Also go ahead and inspect the plugs too to see if they're clean or still covered in oil or gas.

If the wires are on right and the plugs are good I'd move on to inspecting your Cat. When it glows is usually a sign that it's already clogged or toast, not the other way around.

 

Thanks for the reply. I have an 05 Shinka, no Mods, and I'm in the Denver Area. Would I have a CEL if my cat was bad???? I don't have a CEL.

 

I know the wires are on right. I checked that very carefully when replacing the coils. I plan on checking out the plugs tomorrow. If those are okay, how can I tell for sure if the cat is bad?? Is there anyway to know without actually replacing it? I thought the reason it was glowing was because unburnt fuel ignited in there when I blew the ignition coil. It hasn't glowed since, lol. Not that it isn't f'd. Would I get a CEL if the cat was bad??

 

your cat is glowing, plus you had the typical flashing CEL (misfires), i dont know if the car would throw a CEL for a bad cat assuming your o2 sensor is good. but yeah DEF sounds like your cat is making your car go nuts. i bet if you took it out your car would run strong, try looking into a hiflow cat itll solve your problem, but if you decide to run a straight pipe youll most likely end up with a CEL 24/7.

 

Well, it's not glowing anymore, and I know that's NEVER good. It just did it that night because fuel got down in there and ignited. Anyway to know for sure if that's the problem without spending money unessecarily. I'd be pissed if I changed it and still had the same problem. It does seem pretty easy to change though, so I'm sure I can do it myself. I don't want to use str8 pipe because of emission testing in my state. I was just looking and I saw a cat from WALKER for $250 brand new. I thought they were more expensive than that. You say Hiflow. Any recommendations???

 

Pull down the front end of your cat, shine a light down the pipe and look for wear/damage. You'll know then if your cat is the issue or not.

Did you replace all of the coils?

Even though you cleared the code, you should take it to auto zone to have it read, just to remove that as a (free) option.

 

Thanks. Yes, I checked and cleared the code at an auto parts store and I replaced all of the coils. NO CEL.

 

My car just did this on my way to work.. flashing CEL and started running like crap.... Did you have any luck?

 

I put new coils and and it got rid of the light and it's running better, but after it gets all warmed up it kind of hesitates like it's missing. I think my cat is f'd now. I am putting a new one on Tuesday. It's definitely your coils if you got flashing CEL though. 100 bucks or so for parts to fix and I did it in about 30 minutes. Makes it easier if you take the air intake off