New Problems...

[Jhonathan]

Lately my car has been acting up very strangely, the problem i have a question about happened last night going to school, i was cruising about 45-50 mph in 4th gear, then i put it in neutral and coasted to a stop at a redlight, and i had my stereo on just enough to not hear anyhting, and i tried to stear, and my engine was dead, just died while coasting, so i cranked it back up, and when i did i had misfires all to hell, noticeable detonation(loud too) and the "Reduced Engine Power" and "Service Engine" light came on, not the service engine soon, but service engine! I have never seen this light before... Well i took off from the redlight and pulled into the next parking lot at a blazing fast 14 mph since my car wouldnt go any faster, it died going into the lot, i reset the PCM and it ran fine, but it feels like ive lost 20-30% of my acceleration and when taking off, i have to give it alot of gas or it stalls, i also noticed i had a film of oil and some pooled oil in my throttle body, which seems very odd for it to be there, im hoping thats just a pcv valve or something sticking...
if anyone has a clue on why my car would do this id appreciate it...
thanks
Jhonathan

[Jhonathan]

anyone have any ideas?

[vtv6firebird]

First Check plugs and wires, fuel filter, air filter. Those are always the likely culprits. Is it possible you got bad gas, or someone put something in your gas tank, people always forget about that one. I think all people have a little oil in their throttle body. At least I have since my car was new. I just clean it out everynow and then. That just comes from the PCV system. But errors there wouldnt cause the problems it sounds like you are having. But I would start with looking at the ignition side of things. Get your codes scanned, autozone does it for free. Come back here and post the numbers and someone will be glad to help you out. I have the GM book that lists the diagnosis for each code and what to do about fixing each one. It helps you rule out problems and narrow them down really quickly.

[Jhonathan]

already ran autotap for codes, only thing being thrown is the o2 sensors since i dont have a catalytic converter...

[OneQuickV6]

Jhonathan, do you have anyw ay to know for sure that your car is weaker now than before? Get a race that is always a good one, always close, and see how you fare for real, that will help you know if it's just your imagination on the power issues. Now when our cars throw the reduced engine power even for a second, it will not let you accelerate over like 25% throttle. Kendall's did the same thing when we ran the SeaFoam, and until we got it cleared, it wouldn't go. Call me if you need help of course.

[SuprSpdDB7]

GAS? did u get the usual or something different this time?
--
cat converter maybe?? (but that won't cause dying)

[Gmtech1005]

hi, i am a technician at a pontiac dealership. If you don't have a catalytic converter any more, i would get an O2S simulator from RK Sport. They are designed to trick your pcm into believing everything is fine, and the converter is working perfectly. Your pcm relies on those oxygen sensors to tell it how to adjust the fuel trim. Your pcm will then make you fuel mixture rich or lean depending on the oxygen sensor readings. It also never hurts to disable your fuel pump by removing your fuel pump relay, and compression testing you engine. Detonation sometimes damages pistons and rings. If it did you may have dropped a cylinder.

[camaro_speedemon]

My friends Honda did something similar when he changed the cams, the timing was way off. Maybe something happened with the timing chain? I'm not a mechanic so it's just a suggestion. I would exhaust the easy things first like plugs, wires, filters. Just a suggestion.

[Houston F-Body]

my question is who/where did the cat removal and who/where do you get it inspected? I would love to remove my cat but dont for the obvious reasons.