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2004 grand prix: Engine light popped..rpms drop..I mash the pedal

 
FIXITMAN's Avatar
  • Answered by:FIXITMAN
  • Mater Technician
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Customer Question

Just bought a used 2004 grand prix. Engine light popped on and it won't accelerate sometimes at low RPMs. Seems to be getting worse, sometimes it will accelerate fine and then rpms drop off and won't recover even if I mash the pedal. Took it to autozone and found that it tripped the following three codes: p0420, p0134, p0306.

Hoping it is something simple like fuel/spark or clogged cat.

Any help? thanks

 

Country: United States
Make: Pontiac
Model: Grand Prix GT
Year: 2004
Engine: 3.8 v6

Already Tried:
autozone to pull codes, nothing else. I know the previous owner said he was running low octane gas for a long time.

Submitted: 359 days and 2 hours ago.
Category: Pontiac
Value: $18
Status: CLOSED

Accepted Answer

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Expert:  FIXITMAN replied359 days and 2 hours ago.


FIXITMAN : Hello, and thank you for letting us help you with your automotive question. From the codes you are receiving this sounds like you have a clogged catalytic converter. It is common for this to occur on a vehicle of this age. Before you spend the money replacing it though I would take it to an exhaust shop to have the backpressure checked. This will save you a lot of money if the converter is not faulty. How many miles are currently on the vehicle?
Customer :

Hello, thanks for the quick response, it has 155k and lacking any service records

Customer :

Can a bad cat be causing the misfire on cil 6??

FIXITMAN :

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. Please hold your ratings until the end. As for your follow up question, typically the converter will not cause a misfire on #6, but the misfire on #6 will cause the converter to fail. My follow up to you was to let you know that once you find out of if the converter is bad you need to fix the problems that caused the failure like this misfire. It may be due to an ignition system issue or a problem with a leaking intake manifold or a valve issue. Do you plan on fixing this yourself?

Customer : No I'm going to need to find someone to fix it. It actually completely died on my way to work. Stalled on a hill and took about a minute to start back up and then limped to a parking lot
Customer :

Thank you for being helpful, just one more question. It had no power this morning and I barely made it to a gas station but then I filled the tank up all the way and now it seems to be driving without any problems!?! Does this make it sound more like fuel system issue? Could you just give me the top three things you think I should get looked at and tell me what you would do in my shoes? Thank you for all your help

FIXITMAN :

Due to the various symptoms that you have and the codes that are coming up I would recommend having the misfire fixed first as well as having the fuel pressure checked. The fact that the vehicle runs different with more fuel indicates a problem with the fuel pump. These are the place to start as they will cause the converter to fail. There is no sense in installing a new converter and having it fail again until fixing these other problems first. I would ask the shop to diagnose the vehicle and use what you now know to determine if they are being truthful. if you have questions about what they tell you then let me know and I will help you.

Expert TypeMater Technician
Category: Pontiac
Pos. Feedback: 96.1 %
Accepts: 580
Answered: 6/25/2012

Experience: ASE MASTER CERTIFIED, AA DEGREE AUTO/DIESEL TECH

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