Q: My car doesn't want to go up hills. It has slow acceleration, and feels like it's not kicking into the next gear when I drive it.

asked by on February 16, 2017

When I first start my car I have no issues. It idles fine, but when I'm accelerating it feels like it doesn't want to go to the next gear. I've replaced the spark plugs and wires and put a new fuel filter on it. We checked the fuel pump, but the car doesn't die out when i go up hills. When I push it to try to make it change gears the car stalls and I can hear a sound like air escaping in tiny little puffs. I've been putting fuel injector cleaner in it and it helps a little but I have no power in my car, sorry if I sound crazy.
My car has an automatic transmission.

Catalytic Converter Replacement $288.41 - $1959.69 Get a Quote

Hi There, What you are describing sounds like you may have a clogged catalytic converter. The catalytic converter converts toxic exhaust gases into less harmful pollutants that are suitable to be expelled into the atmosphere. When the catalytic converter is clogged, this causes these gases to be backed up into the exhaust system not allowing the engine to breathe properly. When this happens, the engine is forced to work much harder to expel these gases. This often results in the engine bogging down, hesitating, shaking and causing very poor fuel economy. This should also cause a check engine light to come on as the O2 sensors should be reading the incorrect amounts of oxygen in the exhaust gases if this is your problem. I would recommend having an expert from YourMechanic come to your location to diagnose and replace your catalytic converter.

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