Pop sound, then barely running, then died. Ermergency!!

[Jp-oh]

Hi. Driving home today i gave the car the beans to oull into traffic amd heard a pop and the car start d runnjng awefully. Like barely limping. Made it to a side road and it died. I got out a d the cat was gloweing red, like actually red, to tje point i was worried it was going tk self immolate. Now it will barely start and when it does it barely runs.

It had been running for approx 20-25 mins to this point amd all seemed perfectly notmal. . The oil temps were fine. WTF??

[Flat6pac]

Sounds like a plugged cat and a misfire. Remove the cat and see if it runs.
Bruce

[Jp-oh]

I should add i put a new cap n rotor on yesterday. Just checked rotor and it busted. Fn bosch part too.

[Jp-oh]

Kept old parts and will replace and test. Anyone think an o2 sensor can survive glowing hotness?

[darrin]

Originally Posted by Jp-oh

Kept old parts and will replace and test. Anyone think an o2 sensor can survive glowing hotness?

probably not, but if you disconnect the o2 sensor's plug, the car will run rather well in "open loop" mode

d

[schoward]

My cat and o2 survived bad misfires and a glowing cat when my CDI went. You may have caught it early enough.

I switched to German made Beru cap and rotor afterward. The newer Bosch parts just didn't feel like they fit awesome. Used to be good but noticeable difference post 2013. The beru seem like better quality and fit now vs the current day Bosch IMO.

[Jp-oh]

Replaced the new, busted cap and rotor with old parts and it started right up. Seems to be running ok. Maybe ever so slightly less smooth and it smells rich. O2 pooched?

[911obgyn]

check the play on the rotor shaft. broken rotor meant I had to rebuild my distributor. put a few drops of oil on the felt under the rotor to keep the bearings lubed and avoid the shaft wobble.

[Jp-oh]

Originally Posted by 911obgyn

check the play on the rotor shaft. broken rotor meant I had to rebuild my distributor. put a few drops of oil on the felt under the rotor to keep the bearings lubed and avoid the shaft wobble.

Ive never noted the play before tje rotor broke. How much play is acceptable?

[Jp-oh]

I checked the rotor shaft and there does not seem to be any play. So I assume the glowing red hot cat borked the O2 sensor. It's been in there a while so I'll change it out anyway. (using Bosch 15735, that is the universal part yes?)

But should there be any concern for the health of the cat itself? I mean it was so friggin red and smoking I was half convinced the car was going to burn to the ground before my eyes.

The car is running well but noticeably smells rich. It actually smells sort of like my old V8 Audi S4 that had cat-less downpipes.

[Jp-oh]

As was most obvious from my olfactory observations the cat is indeed badly melted and cracked. The car runs fine and I ran a bore scope down it and it seems to not be blocked. I will at least replace with the test pipe I have but my preference is for another cat; my wife is not a huge fan of the sweet sweet un-burnt hydrocarbons that engulf the garage.