I dont know if this is the right forum for this...

Well the ol 2003 was running a bit rough...no power to climb hills...and since it has 109,000 and change, it was time to do the plugs. I pulled the first one...and sure enough..it was time...so off to the store for some wires and plugs. It is an SS model...with the 3.8.

Now...those back wires...well...they put up a fight. I read a few threads here about to tilt or not to tilt. After a couple hours of not tilting....I decided to tilt. Way easier...I cant imagine not removing those dog bones...and getting more room. I used a ratchet strap...hooked on the motor lift bracket, and to a hole in the radiator support...tilted it right forward...no sweat. A pliers on the wire boot...made it an easy twist and pull.

total time... 3 hours....for the rear plugs and wires. 1 hour for the fronts.

I will add a few warnings:

1) the exhaust heat shield thingys are SHARP so watch the fingers.

2) as mentioned in another thread...laying on the engine seems to be the preferred method of reaching those rascals...but be careful of the fuel line..if you lay on it...or push down...fuel leaks out...or you can crack the little plastic connector.

Only thing...it didnt correct the problem. It starts right up...idles fine. but press down on the accel and it just doesnt go.. I am done for the night..hopefully it makes it to work tomorrow.

 

I would bet your catalytic converter is pretty plugged up after 109,000 miles. That would explain the loss of power.

 

My old s10 had the same issues. I did the complete tune up from top to bottom with no change. Cut the cat out and it fully restored the power. Replace your cat and your problems will go away. Also recycle your old cat, they bring good money at the scrap yard.

 

I am checking the coil packs...and fuel pressure today

 

Rear plug wires gave me and friend a really hard time while installing headers. Getting those things out was probably harder than the header install itself! I'd also say replace/remove the cat more than likely it's fairly clogged.

 

It's quite possible that your cat is clogged, but I would replace the air filter and clean the MAF sensor first and see if that makes an improvement.

 

Id say cat is clogged aswell mine was @ 90,000 so i just cut mine out

 

if you want it to be easy to do the plugs, get rid of the stock exhaust manifolds and get headers! lol... my Z is so easy to change the plugs in. not tilting or anything.

 

I gotta hand it to you guys...you nailed it. Melted the cat. We are runin like a scared dog now. It ran $750 at Car-X out the door. Dang When I first read the cat thing...I thought you guys were insane...I was convinced it was ignition.

New problem. When they pulled the exhaust down...the resinator is rusted out and split....so while we are runnig great now...I have a "Kentucky" race car sound.

(1) What does a resonator do...is it like a chamber with baffles...like a muffler?
(2) Is it expensive?
(3) Is it necessary?

I want a custom exhaust anyway...something that sounds cool...but not like when I was a kid with cherry bombs on my 71. ( I will post a picture of it when I find it) any suggestions?

 

Resonator helps take some of the drone of the exhaust out of the cabin.

You can get rid of it with a piece of straight pipe if you want. Was it split at the top? There is a heat shield there that likes to trap moisture.