Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Troubleshooting Catalytic Convertor.What happens when it breaks?

My 1996 2.5 Mondeo with 82,000 miles has begun to pink at about 4,000rpm at full throttle and the sound of rushing air comes from the engine area. It drives ok at slow speed and doesn't stall Although it has no power and won't rev anywhere above 5,000. It's like driving into treacle.

well back when i had my vw gti and the cat went out i had little pieces of ceramic i think it was shooting out the tailpipe...performance would bog down for a time til whatever blockage inside would be blown out the back

u can also check your muffler...tap it on the sides with your hand a few times if its wearing out u can hear the 'looseness' of the material inside...maybe this same way can be used to check your cat

mind u, this is from experience long time ago with a vw gti

when the cat went in my cougar i could hear the broken honeycomb pieces rattling around in the housing when i would rev the engine. also, the exhaust got louder and sprung a leak right next to the converter because it couldn't get through. this is an extreme example. i ended up gutting the precats and replacing the main with a high flow unit. what a difference in power that made. if your car pulls out with less umph then it used to and you experience any other symptoms like these then its your cat. they usually have a life of around 80k anyhow so even if it's not the cat i'm sure it needs to get replaced anyway.