I have a 2003 Toyota Matrix with nearly 90,000 miles on it.

In Feb, I was on a road trip and happened to notice I was running low on gas. I had just hit a stretch where there were no gas stations and by the time I got to one, my check engine light was on and my 12 gallon tank took 13.08 gallons of gasoline.

I drove a few hundred miles with my CEL on before I figured I better get it checked. I went to Autozone and the guys said they thought the problem was probably with my fuel system, maybe an O2 sensor or something. I told them about nearly running out of gas and they that might have been it so they reset the CEL.

I went to go get my emissions check done for my tag and my car failed the test. The guy said everything else passed but the car failed because I had had my CEL reset and now there wasn’t enough history to pass the test.

Well, my CEL stayed off for quite a while, I was driving back and forth to my University and it remained off. It wasn’t until I left for another road trip (GA to New Orleans) that my check engine light came on again (I think I was about 350 miles into the trip but I had put about 500+ miles on the car since the CEL was cleared).

Now, I really need to get my emissions recheck so I can get my tag before the end of April. So I went to a Texaco oil change place just now to get my CEL checked. The mechanic plugged the meter in under my dash and told me that the problem was my catalytic converter and that it had to be replaced. He said that this was a major part of the emissions test and that there was no way to cheat it.

I’ve read that the code that comes up for Cat Converter is the same code that comes up for O2 sensors and fuel system issues and I’m just trying to become an informed consumer so that I don’t want into a shop tomorrow and get taken advantage of because I’m a woman.

I can’t say I’ve really noticed any issues with my car other than the CEL. I haven’t noticed anything different in her acceleration, her idling, or the smell of her exhaust. The only strange thing that happened was once when I started her up and still had my door open… She had been running for probably a minute or so and I heard this weird puff of air noise that sounded like it came from the engine.

The long and short of it is that I have to go into New Orleans for a funeral tomorrow and I was planning on taking her but I need to be able to get her emissions done (and passed) for my tag before I can leave.

Anyone have any suggestions or advice? Sorry this post is so long, I just water to give as much info as possible. Thanks!

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Post tags: Catalytic, Converter, Mean, Need, replaced, This

ok so for the past few days while driving my 02 trans am I have noticed that I’d be stepping on the gas and all of a sudden i would feel a sudden loss of power, kind of like te car was chugging along for a bit, then the horsepower would kick in, also to add in within the last 2 months I’ve heard while idling, I’ve heard a rattling sound in the exhaust, now does anyone have any idea what this may be, because tonight while I was driving i had the same sudden loss in power, while driving i felt the power loss so i pushed the gas in harder and noticed that the car was still slowing down so i down shifted to 1st gear then stepped on the gas again and all of a sudden the power was back, does this sound like a case of gas that has too much water in it or could this be something much more serious.?

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Post tags: Another, caused, Down, Fuel, hesitation, Like, Problem, sound, This, Vehicle, watered

I have a 1999 5.7L 2-barrel carb’d inboard Mercruiser engine in a 2000 Calabria Short Line Comp. About 2 months ago, I had no problems with the boat. New plugs, gas treatment, seafoam, and sprayed the carb with cleaner. Ran beautifully. Now I am able to start the boat, able to run the boat at higher rpms, but the boat stalls at idle and lower rpms. It also seems to hesitate and fluctuate at the higher rpm’s. I see gas dripping in from the carb (top of carb) but looks like the rail(jets?) is not providing gas to the carb. Is this a bad fuel pump that is sending the fuel through the carb dump line – hence allowing for some fuel to enter the carb? I dumped the water separating fuel filter and added new gas and sea foam. Problem remains.

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Post tags: Fuel, pump, This

I need a cheap car that runs, but is also under $300. I want to try and convert this car into a hydrogen/gas hybrid, but I don’t want to nulify my car’s warrenty.

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Post tags: $300, alot, Been, Best, doing, having, i've, place, This, trouble, Under

I got this tomos moped and what it does is that when you drive it
it tends to stall. it’s as if I hit the kill switch (just like that, dead)
after that it wont start until it cools off. Im good with small engines but this is a 2 cycle engine that for some reason is giving me trouble
Ive try’ed new spark plug still does it. Cleaned the carberator, changed the fuel filter and air filter, change the gasoline (just in case of bad gas or water) still does it. what is wrong with this thing?

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Post tags: Could, moped, This, wrong