Hello everyone,
I am back here after a really long time. From those of you who remember, my 2000 corolla VE had problems accelerating beyond 70 mph. A distinct hesitation as if caused by intermittent fuel supply problems, was apparent at speeds above 70 or so. I have lived with this problem for years by simply maintaining the speed below 70. In the meantime, my CEL has constantly had P0420 code. Even after replacing oxygen sensors I hadn't been able to get rid of it.
Last night however, things took a turn for the worse. I was on a 300 mile trip back home, and couldn't accelerate above 65mph. The car was hesitating like crazy with accelerator pressed or depressed at those speeds. I stopped to refill the tank and dropped some Techron fuel injection cleaner which didn't seem to help at all.
Then after about 100 miles, I couldn't accelerate above 60mph. At a couple of stop signs along the way, the engine cut off at low RPM. Then a few miles later, I heard a very peculiar sound kind of like release of high pressure air accompanied by really strong rotten egg smell that lasted for a good 5 minutes.
These all sound like classic symptoms of the failure of catalytic converter. I have replaced this part before when my car used to burn a lot of oil. It's been more than 5 years since then. The cat was replaced right after swapping the motor. The new motor also burns oil, albeit much slowly than the previous one. But five years of oil burning has probably taken a toll on the cat.
So my question is, should I just go ahead and replace the cat? I plan to get the aftermarket one but not sure if I should get direct fit or universal fit. The cat I have now is welded onto the exhaust pipe. So I am thinking universal fit should be fine. If you guys have any recommendations, please share.
Thanks for reading.
Edit: Drove car again this evening. Engine cuts off constantly when stopped. Had to keep revving it up with one foot on break. Definitely looking like choked cat.