so the whole world came crashing down on me last night. the car was fine and then i hit the gas a little bit going up a hill and i hear a really strange noise coming from under it. definitely sounds like an exhaust leak. havent figured out where it is exactly yet but thats not my biggest problem. later that night i went to take off in second up an on-ramp and the car went nuts. it started sputtering after about 3000 rpm and lost all power at 5500. the car would not redline it would only sit just below it and not go any higher. i tried this in first and same thing. theres no CEL or anything. anyone think it could be the exhaust leak? it just doesnt seem right that that could be the problem but let me know what you guys think

Thanks

 

check to see if the cat and turbo have seperated... Check all charge piping. Get it scanned even tho the CEL didnt come on...

 

plugs?

 

theres no turbo its a 6. i posted this in the morning and when i took it out today it ended up throwing a light. i had it scanned and it said it was the secondary air injection system. i also did a more thorough check and found that it had nothing to do with the exhaust the noise is coming from the intake right at the inlet. (normally im not that bad at blind diagnostics but i guess today i had a huge brain fart) anyway the noise is getting louder and the car is losing more and more power by the minute. by the time i got it home it would barely hit 40 in second gear. i had a friend who look at it and he said it was most likely the secondary air injection control module which sits right under the inlet. the thing i dont understand is the secondary air system is only on during cold starts to help the car warm up quicker. why would that be killing my power when the car is already hot? im completely confused by this.

 

I had issue with my secondary air injection system ... pump was dead but it didn't change anything on the car performance ... I change it and I still get code for secondary air injection ( even if the pump is working fine ) but then again, no change on car performance ... I don't know for the V6 ( mine is 1.8t ) but I know there is some sensor connected to it, maybe a bad sensor can send some code to the computer making him loose power , I can be totally wrong but that can be something to look at ...

 

it may be a sensor but that still doesnt explain the noise its making

 

so incase you guys were wondering i now know what went wrong. the car wouldnt go over 30 mph on sunday and i had to have it towed to a shop. the took a look at it... turns out something is lodged in the drivers side cat and its choking up the motor. that explains the funny noise it was making and the ridiculous power loss. in the end i need a new cat. wooo those are cheap...NOT.

 

how in the hell did something get lodged in the cat?