help, not revving

[greatone2matt]

ok guys, my car is a 5 speed. when i was driving today the exhuast sounded a lot different today. i drove about 20 miles to and from work and it still sounded like that. on my way home i decided to give her a little gas. the engine stopped revving at about 4500 rpm....it wouldn't go any higher. so i did it again, this time it paused at 4500 for a second then it let me go higher. tried again and it stopped at 4500 again. i haven't changed gears or anything so i don't know why it was doing this. there was a slight ticking noise coming from somewhere....couldnt really tell where but it sounds likes its at the cat or anywhere in front of it. only 23000 miles on her so i doubt its the cat. anyway, anbody have any idea what this could be?

[Little G]

As for the reving, if you are in neutral, you won't be able to go above 4500. As for the exhaust sound, you probably have a leak somewhere.

[greatone2matt]

i wasn't in nuetral though. in first gear when i hit about 4500, it doesn't let me rev any more and there is a metallic grinding noise. in second gear it does the same thing, except its at about 4000rpm

[Little G]

Were you moving?

[greatone2matt]

yup, i was driving home. i can feel that the engine has less power, or at least there is a lot less getting to the wheels. when it gets close to where it limits my revs i can feel her really struggling

[Little G]

ah, i see. I would say it sounds like an exhaust restriction. Even though you have a new cat, they can go bad really quickly if you have a bad O2 sensor and end up running too lean. Get it scanned and see if it turns anything up. A good way to check this is have someone in the car revving it up and hold your hand near the tailpipe and see if you feel much pressure. If you don't feel much of anything, it's definitely an exhaust restriction.

[greatone2matt]

that wouldn't make it throw a code though? i don't have an ses light

[Little G]

You may have a code, but no SES light.

[greatone2matt]

went to the dealer today just to talk to one of the guys. all he wanted to tell me was how my air filter was probably ruining my MAF and my catback was destroying my cat. so yea...havent gotten anywhere yet. gonna try changing the fuel filter and such

[JohnD.]

Does it miss at all or does the engine run smoothly it just won't accelerate past a certain point?

[greatone2matt]

it runs smoothly, its just lacking power and wont go past that point

[Little G]

The guys at the dealership are retarded. That's why they're at a dealership. Take it to a real shop.

g

[greatone2matt]

yea, so i take it out today and it revved all the way, but theres still a severe lack of power. gonna have it checked out monday though