DrerbyDad03

I'm curious if anyone has seen this happen before.

My wife has a 2005 Taurus wagon. The other day it began to run very rough, almost stalling whenever she stopped so she dropped it off at a shop that we trust.

The owner called the next day and said that there was a hole in the Intake Manifold. He said he had never seen that before, but there it was.

We called another shop that we trust and the owner there also said he had never heard of it - "Are you sure he didn't mean that the gasket was bad?"

We confirmed that it was a hole, not a gasket problem, and had the shop replace it. The owner called me today and told me that the hole was not the main problem but actually the result of the real problem.

He said that after he replaced the Intake Manifold he test drove the car and it seemed very sluggish. He dug a little deeper and found that the Catalytic Converter was so clogged up that it was using the EGR valve as an exhaust outlet. This caused the Intake Manifold to get so hot that it burnt a hole in itself.

When I asked him why there was no Check Engine light or other warning that the Catalytic Converter was bad, he said that the position of the O2 was such that it didn't really monitor the Catalytic Converter.

Does this all sound above board to you folks?

Thanks!

Bert

That doesn't sound right to me. If it was plugged that long, you'd have had a loss of power for a long time. Did you get the old parts from them?

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Bert

RickMN

It's becoming VERY common. See the Ford Escape post below. But it doesn't happen overnight. The driver has to ignore the check engine light for a while. The misfires overheat the cat converter and it goes into partial meltdown mode. The restriction results in too much backpressure and the hot exhaust blows out the EGR valve. Any shop that works with a tech support line could easily find out that this is a known issue.

A tech that shrugs his shoulders simply hasn't done his homework.

So, you have to correct the underlying misfire problem before you replace the EGR, manifold, and cat converter

Exploding EGR valves on Ford Escape

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Bert

That's why I wondered about the running part. The don't just happen that quickly. No MIL and suddenly running rough. Maybe she didn't notice the running or the light.

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Bert

chipset

The first thing is they don't have a " Ford Escape " They have a Taurus. Second thing.
Cat. converters don't die they get " MURDERED ". Driver fault. ALWAYS. Burt has it figured out. I have 589,521 km. on my wifes 94 Taurus. Original Cats. Works fine but the
heat sheilds rotted off. Car has two cats. That is the only things i replaced so far. Two
heat shields. Went through 2 mufflers though and a complete exhaust from cats back.
Cats are just fine. Work like a charm.

tbird100636

Chip, the Escape and the Taurus both have the 3.0L Duratec engine. The original poster could have the Duratec. If you have a coil on plug unit(s) on the way out, and it's just skipping enough to run rough but not turn the MIL on, the cat can result in a slow death. Yes, it is usually the customer's fault for continuing to drive with a skip.

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Master ASE Certified L1 Chrysler Technician- still a Ford fan at heart.
1964 Thunderbird Hardtop- Chantily Beige- 390 FE 4V V8-Uncle's Car
1966 Thunderbird Convertible- Red- 390 FE 4V V8- Uncle's other car- waiting for paint and body work!!!
1967 Mustang Convertible- Blue- 289 V8- helping a friend re-assemble this classic

DrerbyDad03

As I mentioned, it's my wife's car. I rarely drive it, but I did have it all last weekend when she took my van to go out of town. I drove it over 250 miles, including a 180 mile round trip in one day.

No skip, no sluggishness, no lights, no symptoms that I noticed.

She said the car went from running fine on her way to work to sluggish and almost stalling on the way home.

I too don't quite understand how the cat could go bad so quickly, but I'll certainly be talking to the shop owner on Tuesday after the holiday. He can't get a cat until then anyway.

qman2

My wife only reports that something is wrong with the car when it stops moving. She doesn't hear odd sounds or feel funny vibrations. She just knows stop, go, and radio. So ya, I can understand.

Bert

We had a car towed in with the waterpump shaft seized and the fan part came off. It tore up wiring, hoses and punctured the radiator. I told the woman that I thought it shuld have been making a noise. She said "It has been making anoise for quite awhile. I wondered what it was."

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Bert

DrerbyDad03

We will be picking up the car later this evening.

The cat and intake manifold will be in the back of the wagon. Is there some way for me to tell that the cat is as clogged up as they claim it must have been to have destroyed the intake manifold?

Keep in mind that I drove the car 180 miles 4 days earlier and didn't notice a problem. Granted, it's not my car, so I don't drive it very often, but I was able to pass cars at 70 MPH and didn't notice any sluggishness.

My wife said she didn't notice any problem on the way to work and then she could hardly keep it running on the way home.

How can I tell if the cat is plugged up?