Car spuddering

My car, 92 Lexus es300, hasn't had the check engine light come on but it's running like shit.

My dad is a mechanic but lives nearly a thousand miles away. Plus I'm broke as fuck, so I don't want to take it to a shop unless I know something is up that we can't fix at home.

The exhaust smells like something is burning and sulfur while the car spuddering and has difficulty accelerating past 35 mph.

What do I do? I put seafoam in the oil and gas like my dad said to do, but it's not working much better. He says the catalytic converter might be clogged but I don't know. Help?

Check the code faggot.

It's an OBD I and the check engine light hasn't come on. I don't have a reader either.

You have a clogged catalytic converter. Your options are
A) Hollow it out
B) Remove it and soak in a mix of citric acid and hot water to clean it
C) Purchase a new catalytic converter

Derp. Check the intake for air leaks after the maf or map sensor, could be intake manifold gasket. Do a power balance test and/or a leak down test to eliminate mechanical failure, check the cat with a infrared thermometer after driving. Should be hot if working effectively.

I'm a fairly weak, 5'2 girl and not the most mechanically inclined (also broke as shit). What would be the simplest option in your opinion? I mean, it's just me and my mom working on it and I hate to pull some sexism bullshit but we aren't particularly strong or agile.

Tits or gtfo

Tits or gtfo

Let me see if I can figure that out. Thank you.

this is one of those situations where if you don't do it yourself it's going to cost a lot of money because they are going to want to buy a new cat ($$$). no muffler shop is going to hollow the cat out (free option) because it's illegal. as long as the cat isn't melted, it should be able to be cleaned ($15) with citric acid. See if any guy friends can help you out I guess if you feel like you can't do it. Where are you located?

don't listen to , he doesn't know wtf he's talking about. It's the cat.

Nah bro, even California legal cats are like $70 for pre-OBD2

You don't know for sure. Fuck off. It's good to diagnose instead of being a dumbass parts changer.

>smells of sulfur
>can't accelerate over 35 mph
Diagnosis: Catalytic Converter

Sounds like the cat. Mine was 100 for a new cat installed, but i have an 04 chevy.

Yeah, I looked on rockauto and both CA and US versions are about $100. A muffler shop would probably charge around $40 for labor. Keep the old cat and sell it to a scrap yard, you'll probably pay for the new one.

I live in Southern Oregon so the towns are pretty small and the mechanics rip you off and try to get you to buy shit you don't need. My friend took out his cat but I think my car is a little more difficult to take out so he probably wouldn't want to help.

My dad lives in LA and my family has a shop but I don't think it can make 100 miles... much less the 1000 it would take to get there. Basically, I can have it replaced but I can't afford to do it right immediately now with tuition being due soon.

Would you happen to know of any videos online that could walk me through it?

Would you happen to know if any videos or tutorials that would help?

You could also take one of the o2 sensors before the catalytic converter to verify that's it before you do anything expensive. It should run a bit better, and all you should need is a big wrench.

Can you afford $150?
see

Is it a weld on type? I found a couple of those for $50 but my dad said it was a bad idea since we're just going to replace it shortly. What do you think?

That sounds like a good idea. My ac doesn't work so should I worry about carbon monoxide when I do that?

direct fit
no

1. remove the exhaust
2. get a chainsaw or some cutting device
3. cut the cat off the exhaust
4. weld the remainder of the exhaust back together
5. put it back on

easy

If you do it, just make sure there's nothing around the hole to catch on fire, other than that, as long as you aren't sitting in the car for an hour with the windows up you should be fine. Just take it for a short ride to see if it helped.

It'll also sound pretty shitty since the exhaust gasses are exiting before the muffler, so it's really just a short term thing to verify that your cat is fucked up.

Fags