Help needed.

[markus]

I have an 04, 27,*** miles on it. Only mods are headers and cats. I've noticed in the past couple days the car seems to be running a little slower. It runs fine, but it just doesn't have that power on demand like it should. Granted it's been a bit muggy, but I should at least break traction in 1st gear at WOT.....right??? It could be me just being a hypochondriac, but the clutch pedal feels a bit soft. Could my clutch be crapping the bed? Also, I have a CEL, but I've had that for a long long time now. Any ideas fellas?While we're at it, where is the OBD2 port? I swear I'm at my wits end with this car. It doesn't even have 30k on it, and I've already had cracked headers, a seized parking brake caliper, a CEL, I have to use my left hand to push the stick into reverse, and now this. I love her but she's cursed!
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Mark

 

[Mutts02GTS]

Does the loss of power happen right after start up or does it get worse after the car warms up? If it's the latter I would check out your Cats, sounds like you might have one clogged up, maybe both clogged, metal substrate or ceramic? Take care. Jeff

 

[markus]

it's right from the get-go. i'm really hoping it's not the cats, they probably don't even have 10k on them. they're belanger.

 

[Nader]

Get a good tune. The car from the factory is really rich in the mid range which makes it feel like is hesitates in the mid range. A good tune really wakes up the car.

 

[KNG SNKE]

Quick, is your car red?

Muggy air will cause a loss of power.

 

[Dom426h]

Also, I have a CEL, but I've had that for a long long time now. Any ideas fellas?
Mark

Do you know what the CEL is for? If no, Find out!!!

You cant figure out where the OBD port is? Do you have a manual? Its usually in the same place on most vehicles; driverside footwell.

What temp was the road when you were previously "breaking traction in first gear"? With fresh tires and a warm road i woouldnt expect for the tires to spin except at launch.

Nader,
A tune is good advice for Additional power. Howerver, if his car has an issue then fixing the issue should be the First step.

 

[TowDawg]

I had a similar experience with mine. When I would "get on it" through a few gears, the clutch appeared to get soft. It never had a noticable slip (like a really bad clutch would) where you could actually see the RPM rising fater than you were accelerating. I have heard that air in the clutch line can you the soft clutch as well. While I had mine apart for something else, I went ahead and replaced the clutch because it had about 27k on it and it was a "might as well" item since everything was already torn down. I can tell you after I put the new clutch kit in, I honestly felt like I picked up 100 HP! Like I said, it was never so bad, I actually noticed it slipping, but with the new one getting full "bite", I certainly felt the difference.
There's no way to know if it's the same issue with yours, but that's just my experience. By the way, the clutch that I pulled out didn't look "awful", and I did replace the clutch master and slave cylinders at the same time, so it really could have been any of a number of things. I just figured with as cheap as all of the parts are (clutch kit, slave, master), I would do them all while it was apart versus trying one at a time and having to have the whole thing torn down again.

 

[swexlin]

Go to Pep Boys, and have them throw their code reader on it to find what code you CEL is first. I just did the same thing the other day when my SRT8 threw a CEL (it's p0456, evap leak-small, which is most likely the evap solenoid, or bad gas cap, since mine is tight.) I'm having my dealer look at it on Friday, to see if they can track it down. Off topic, I know, but the point is, the CEL can be a single or multple codes, and they can shed some light on your issue. My 03 has bout 26,000 miles, and so far (knock LOTS of wood!) is running great, so I think the CEL codes will tell you alot.

Good luck.

 

[markus]

thanks for all your advice guys! i checked the manual, it doesn't say anything (that i can find) about the obd2 port, i also checked the drivers footwell but couldn't see anything. i'll check those codes tomorrow at the dealership.

 

[Dom426h]

Checking the codes at the dealership will likely endup costing you an hr of the vipertech rate to do a 2min job. Thats not an option for my frugal ass. I borrow a friends codreader or swing by autozone in a pinch.

If you your automobile tech knowledge is minimal and/or you have a lot of $$ then the dealership is the right move.

 

[TowDawg]

If you still haven't found your port to plug the reader into, look directly under your steering wheel.

 

[SNKEBIT]

LOL I have to laugh. The code is probably the 02 sensors shorted out and blowing the fuse for the reverse lockout. Runs crappy with a check engine light? Go figure.

 

[ViperGeorge]

The OBD port is to the left side of the steering wheel on the bottom side of the knee panel. Put your head in the foot well and look up. You'll see it or you need to go to an eye doctor. You really can't miss it. Buy a code reader, they're cheap and worth the price. The code will give you an idea of what MIGHT be causing your problem. You definitely should be able to break the tires loose at any speed in 1st. No question, I don't care how muggy the air is.

 

[Dom426h]

You definitely should be able to break the tires loose at any speed in 1st. No question, I don't care how muggy the air is.

I disagree unless we are talking about a Gen3 that still has the original runflats on. or perhaps a viper with a 3.7X or 4.10 rear gear. My. Bolton Gen2 puts down more hp/tq to the wheels than a stock Gen3 and I cant break the rear loose(except at launch) with fresh(less than 3yr old) tires unless its raining or below 40 degrees.

Gbate, what is the make/model and date code of your tires?
Do you have "upgraded" rear gears or any power adders?

 

[TowDawg]

Since I put my Invo's on, if I'm rolling in first and plant the throttle, I rarely get wheel-spin. I'll get going to second and of course get it launching hard from a stop, but Dom is right, the tires make a big difference. With the runflats on the car, I couldn't even be rolling in 2nd and get on it without the tires breaking loose.

 

[markus]

The code was a P1719 (skip shift) which is probably from the headers/cats. I'm going to investigate possibility of clogging up cats. I want straight pipes anyway.