stingray454 wrote:
That sounds like a very reasonable explanation. What year is your car? If its 96 or older, I would definitely suspect a clogged cat.
  It's a 1996, with about 121,000 miles on it.


I've got the obd-2 scanner and software on order, and should have it either Saturday or Monday. Actually, I have the software license number already if I want to download it, so I guess I can read your data without the actual hardware. So I guess e-mail me your file, and I'll take a look.
  You only need the code to have it talk to the hardware interface.  Even without the code, you can still use it to analyze files recorded by others.

  My file is at <http://www.impulse.net/~blaylock/96Mstq.zip>.

  So, how bad is it gonna be to get this cat fixed, if that's the problem?  Is this anything I can think of doing myself, or does this need to go to a shop that does exhaust work?  What's a new cat gonna cost me?  Any chance I can clean out the old cat in some way, perhaps by blowing clean air through it backwards?

{I do hate spam, but that isn't really part of my email address.  Remove the string ?HatesSpam? from the email address ?BobHatesSpam@blaylock.to? to email me.  No advertisements.  Spammers will be dealt with very harshly!}
-------
Moonlight Blue 1996 Mercury Mystique GS , Zetec engine, ATX.  No mods. (Well, OK, one mod.  Before I got rid of my previous car, a 1994 Tempo, I swapped radios.  I liked the Tempo's radio better.  That counts as a mod, doesn't it?  I also kept one of my Tempo's wheels to use as a spare.  I hate those stupid ?compact? spares that come with modern cars.  Does this count as a mod?  If so, I guess I have two mods.  Replaced burned/melted blower switch and connector on 19 February 2002 with a 1P3T toggle switch from Marvac and a Molex connector from Rat Shack; I guess this now makes three mods.)