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Loud "whistle" or hissing under the hood. Vacumm Leak?

V

ValCor

CEG'er
Joined
Jul 12, 2000
Messages
140
Location
San Jose, CA USA
I have a 1998.5 CSVT E1 with this sudden problem that started yesterday.

SYMPTOMS:
When I accelerate I get a loud "whistle" or hissing sound.
The idle is just fine and the car does not run rough at all.
Mileage has dropped and I can smell gas under the hood.

I have plenty of power for normal driving and other than the "whistle" and dropping gas mileage, she runs great.
Do I have a vacuum leak? I checked all my hoses and connections and all appear to be OK. I had my mechanic look at it before it got too dark and he advised me to check on the forum for a clue.

My original engine spun a bearing at 128K miles. I have about 3K miles on the replacement engine which had 5K miles on it when I swapped it out.

Lastly, on the way back home this morning I threw a CEL. Great, I thought, now I will have a clue as to what is wrong. Well, my ODB-II code scanner reads FAIL! when it tries to read the code. That has never happened before! I thought it was odd since we unplugged the battery last night while checking hoses and stuff and I had not completed a drive cycle. Is that why it fails to read the code?

Any help, hints, or leads will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time.

~ValCor
 
Possibly exhaust leak at the EGR flow sensor (DPFE)? Connected by two silicone hoses to EGR pipe. If they pop off the leak is on the exhaust side and is quite small. The possible cause is a plugged exhaust or cat making too much pressure.
 
beyondloadedSE said:
Can you take it to an autozone and have them pull the code for you? My guess is the CEL is related to your problem.
Click to expand...

Yes, and I agree, and I also have a code reader that cannot pull the code for some reason. There is an AutoZone near by that I can visit. Thanks for the suggestion.
 
dennyb said:
Possibly exhaust leak at the EGR flow sensor (DPFE)? Connected by two silicone hoses to EGR pipe. If they pop off the leak is on the exhaust side and is quite small. The possible cause is a plugged exhaust or cat making too much pressure.
Click to expand...

I mentioned the EGR to my mechanic and he agrees. We will be taking things apart over the weekend Thanks for the feedback.
 
Well, after doing a little research it appears I have a clogged cat which in turn caused a hose to the DPFE to pop off. My mechanic and I will be checking it out this afternoon sometime. I see that California Legal cats are hella expensive! Ouch!
 
It was indeed my main cat that was clogged. We gutted it and replaced the hose to the DPFE and my car runs like new once again. The hose cost me $1.40 at O'Reilly. Of course I am now illegal but I just passed smog and have some time to fix it before I'm due again.
 
satya_svt98 said:
How did you have a clogged cat and not be losing power?
Click to expand...

In the early stages I did not notice a loss of power, and it was not that significant a loss. She still had plenty of giddy-up, just whistled like heck while doing it. Of course once I realized what was up I was very easy on the pedal. I drove her on my normal commute today and it was nice to have all the ponies back and no annoying hissing. I've learned a lot about our exhaust in the mean time. Now to find a new cat.
 
When the brick inside the cat turned 90 degree to clog up, the car ran like it had 50 horsepower. Trying to shove exhaust through a wall is tough lol gutted the cat, hory ••••! Night and day lol
 
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