Alright, I am finally working on a low power problem that I have had since I learned to drive in this truck. (It's about time!)

I am going to start a new thread here soon on trying to troubleshoot my low power problems top to bottom on my 1987 22R 2WD truck, but I thought I would start somewhere and take a look at the catalytic converter.

Before I learned to drive, my dad drove this truck to work. One day it blew a head gasket and allowed coolant to enter cylinder #2. That was back in 2009. The shop replaced the head gasket and resurfaced / pressure tested the head, but that is all I know.

Unfortunately, I have no Idea how the truck drove prior to the head gasket failing and I still don't know why it failed in the first place with only ~50,000 original miles. The truck was taken care of very well by my grandfather, but as you can see, it wasn't driven much in the first 23 years of its life.

Since the head gasket failed, I thought I would have a look at the original catalytic converter just to see how it looked.

Here is what I found. It is hard to take a picture of light coming through but you can see some of the squares in the grid are blocked. Is this clogged enough to cause poor acceleration and difficulty going up hills?

Should I be concerned with it? I still need to pass emissions tests and it passed about 1 1/2 years ago, so at least it still works to some degree.

 

nah thats fine,
its when it looks like this u want to worry haha
http://forums.trailvoy.com/attachmen...1&d=1251460479

 

as for ur low power problems,
Poor acceleration is most likely fuel or spark related.
But a generally poor performing compression can also result in weak performance.

tools u should get yourself in order of importance
Compression tester.
multimeter
timing light
vacuum gauge

As u have a 22R carb, it start by checking the jets and giving the carb a rebuild.

 

I use two tests for a cat still connected to the exhaust. The first is to hold your hand up to the exhaust stream. If it feels strong, the cat can't be plugged. Then tap it with a rubber mallet. It should sound solid, rather than full of small fragments (like mine does right now). Yours looks good.

 

Good to know, thanks!

I figured it was OK, but I didn't really know if a few square grids being plugged would cause an issue or not.

I did have to tap on the converter with a rubber mallet to help break the rust bond and it sounded solid.

Thommo Tompson, more testing is to come. I just decided to start at the converter because it is the original and you only need a socket, ratchet, and some PB Blaster to remove!