Hey yall, Im havin a problem with my beloved bonnie. Durin my lunch break I went out to cash my paycheck and pick up somethin to eat. Started up fine and ran ok untill I got home. When I started the car to get back to work, it had a hard time startin. Once I got the car runnin, it was knockin real bad and car was shakin like you wouldnt believe. There has been no maintinence done in the last 2-3 weeks as I have not had the money.
When I was under the hood a few minutes ago, I noticed there is some grease all over the left CV boot. I didnt really pay attention to it because a torn cv boot wouldnt prevent a car from starting up. But I will check it out when I get back from work tonight.

The last couple of things that were done

new plugs/wires
fuel pump
fuel filter
struts
tranny filter
valve seals
modulator
regular oil and filter changes
altenator
battery

The car needs motor/tranny mounts as the car was in a major accident a while back. But it is not critical (yet). O2 sensor and several other sensors need to be replaced aswell. The exhaust smells really rich in the fact that its like there is too much gas going into the engine. That would be the O2 sensor right?

Do any of yall have an idea as to what the problem might be?


PS Sorry about the long post. Any help yall can contribute would be really really really appreciated.

Look over the harmonic balancer, when the rubber pushes out and they are bad they will act similar.

With the O2 being bad and dumping fuel, there is a good chance your catalytic converter is plugged up and needs to be replaced. This could cause a bad exhaust restriction.

Thanks for the tip Bill. I took out the cat and put in a pipe for right now and it runs ok. In a few minutes Im gonna go to autozone and get a new cat and an O2 sensor. When replacing these two, is there anything else I should replace along with it?

Again, thanks for your help I really appreciate it.

Sam AKA Paco