Well, it always snarls and barks, but thats the Tubi. BUT, today I started her up, allowing her to warm up for maybe 5 minutes and then I hit the road. I got perhaps a mile from the house and "5-8 Slow Down" came on. Then the revs and tone dropped dramatically for 2 seconds, then returned to normal. Maybe 10 seconds later, with the light extinguished, I seemed to lose the entire 5-8 bank for about 20 seconds while I looked for somewhere to pull off the road. Making the u-turn made it obvious that I missing a lot of power and the engine was stumbling with a very low sound. I started to drive back to the house slowly and after maybe another minute, the other bank lit back up and the car drove home normally. I was not driving hard when this happened. I cannot imagine that the cats got that hot in 5 minutes, and the engine and oil seemed to read fine. Any guess on what it may have been? Is it acceptable to drive for a short distance like this, or should I have shut the car off? Just an Italian gremelin showing me who's boss?
Actually, no, but I had this fear when I last washed the car a month ago for Concorso. I just took it our for another 15 minute drive - no problems at all. But, letting it idle in the driveway, I did hear the faintest rattle - so maybe a bad cat? In searching the archives, the previous owner posted a similar problem about this car over a year ago. It only happened once and he disconnected the ECU overnight. But, I'd rather know what caused it in the first place! Next guess? Thanks everyone, too, btw.
Cat ECU has a cracked seal, water got into it and wreaked havoc on the stupid little thing. Remove the ECU's and see what the silicone seal on the back looks like. I'll bet it has cracked and pulled away from the black housing.
I searched for the answer but couldnt find any pics or find them in my manual, where are the ecu's for the cats located? Much thanks in advance!
Behind the shock towers. Follow the thermocouple wire from the cat to the exhaust ecu, behind the tower. Search "slow down light" and you should find a thread with a picture of it.
Yep---there are 3 total...Pull them out and have a look. Alot of times they get cracks in the silicone from the heat. I needed mine replaced when I bought my car. I ordered 2 from Daniel and replaced them. The third was in good shape, but I pulled it out and siliconed it up real good just in case...
Im not getting the slowdown light, but rather many CEL codes (p0160, p0134, p1448, p1115) They are saying the 02 sensors do not have activity and some say manufacturer control fuel metering etc, still looking for help on these issues :-( It must be a plug or something electrical IMO as I do not think all of these things would just go bad or whatever at once.
The diagnosis on this failure was actually discovered during my 30k miles service last week - my plug wires were shot. The ECU trip-up issues are another issue. I know that some people route resistance into those loops when the sensors are removed and you may be seeing the effects of not having those connected.
