Well I searched the only repair manual that I have access to right now and it does not provide instructions for testing the cats, only removing/installing them. Where would I attach a vacuum gauge? There are no outlets after the cats except the tailpipes...

 

i knew you would ask another question.

go to 'google' and ask 'how to read a vacuum gauge' and all will be clear.

basically, it connects to a vacuum source on the engine.

edit: i just looked in all my manuals, ford service manuals, haynes and chiltons covering ford, lincoln, subaru and buick and every one has how to read a vacuum gauge. look more in the front, not by cat convertor/exhaust, or look in the index.

 

Do you have a friend/relative with a Ford with a E4OD? If you do, try comparing how hot your TC is to thiers.

The blue ring of death should still be visible even after the it has cooled, kinda like if you take a piece of metal and heat it up with a torch and let it cool, you can still tell which end of the metal you got the hottest.

If the tranny expert doesn't think its your tranny, then I am going to give you instructions for finding out whats wrong the countryboy way. Just drive it till it gets worse or breaks, then you will know whats wrong. Just be sure to pay attention to it 24/7 when your driving it to keep from damaging something costly.

 

Quicklook I have to speak up man, I've been sitting on this for a while. You have a tendency to be very rude, and other long term members have agreed with me. I haven't spoken up before because you seem to be very knowledgeable and I don't want to start any hostility around here. You are very rude and short in all of your posts and it just frustrates the rest of us. I hope you don't take too much offense from this, I just thought you should know how I, as well as some other members, feel about the way you carry yourself around FTE. Aside from you snide attitude you are very helpful around here, maybe you could just try to be a little nicer to us guys who are still trying to learn?

Now back to the topic at hand. I'm sure I could figure out how to read a vacuum gauge but my question was where could I possibly hook one into my system to test my cats for being clogged? There aren't any places in the exhaust system for doing this. After you made your first post I googled clogged cats and found someone who suggested drilling a hole in my exhaust and welding in a hose fitting, but that seems like more work than I can do without creating some problems. And I already searched the forums for "+clog +cat" and "clogged cat" and did not get any useful results. Again, THE SEARCH FUNCTION STINKS ON THIS SITE!

Sorry if I have angered you quicklook but I only have access to 1 manual right now (a complete online repair manual) and it did not make any reference to testing cats. I have no truck so I can't go out and buy a paper repair manual, so what would you like me to do? You don't need to be so short with be or the other guys who have little-to-no knowledge of working on trucks man. Any knowledge that I have is strictly from personal experience, and seeing how I have never checked for a clogged cat, I DON'T KNOW HOW!

Forums are meant for asking questions and getting help. Yes they can often get spammed with stupid questions (yes, some from yours truly), but nobody is forcing you to read, let alone reply, to my stupid questions. If you want to help me then PLEASE DO! But it's not fair to scold me or other members for a lack of knowledge.

PHEW! Glad to get that off my chest. No hard feelings quicklook.

 

i may have short answers because that is all that is needed.

if you, or anyone else, thinks that is rude i am sorry but that is how i write.

my advice to google this question would give you this:

http://www.dogpile.com/info.dogpl/se...17/top/-/-/-/1

pick one that says how to read vacuum gauge.

i hope that was not rude and is easy for you to do.

 

Fair enough, quick. Again, no hard feelings. I just had to speak my mind on this because it has been bugging me for a while.

Dean, running it 'til it dies was my original plan. But then I started worrying about damaging other parts of my truck by doing this. I began to grow especially worried when I was driving around in Tahoe, and I started up a 10% grade at 25mph and the truck decided to shift from 2nd to 3rd part-way up the hill. It didn't make sense for it to do this as right after that the engine got lugged WAY down. I jammed the accelerator a little more and it still refused to shift back into 2nd. I limped all the way up the hill as my RPMs SLOWLY climbed. My brother was in the truck and we both looked at each other as he goes "what are you doing?!" and I say "I'm trying to make it downshift but it won't have it!!" Very strange behavior indeed...

So I would like to get whatever is happening repaired right away so I don't cause further damage. Whatever it is, its going to need to be repaired sooner or later, so why not sooner?

 

Again quick, you're last sentence was sarcastic and up until I read that I thought to myself "good, he's being nicer." This is much like your other post, which was mostly helpful except for the part that said "I knew you would ask another question."

You're trying to make us inexperienced guys feel small and dumb, and it just isn't necessary. But thank you for the help.

Back on topic, my issue here is not the lack of knowledge for reading vacuum gauges but rather, where to read vacuum from to test my cats for blockage.

 

who are you to judge me?

i told you how to do something 3+ times a couple of different ways and you still think i am not trying to help.

amazing!

did you even bother to go to the link i put up?

or are you looking for something that in not in my posts?

read three post back and it says to use an engine vacuum source for the gauge.

good luck with your problem and i hope that i helped you.

 

Yes I did visit that link, but for the third time, I do not need help READING a vacuum gauge, I just need to know where to put the damned thing when trying to read exhaust pressure! And again, THANK YOU FOR TRYING TO HELP ME QUICK.

 

After reading several pages about the way catalytic converters work I finally found an answer to measuring backpressure in the exhaust:

Thanks for trying to help quick. Hopefully I haven't created too much hostility.

 

that is for a backpresure gauge not a vacuum gauge.

again, go to the link i posted and read on how to use and read a vacuum gauge.

i have no hostility to you.

 

Okay I think there a huge misunderstanding here...

What exactly are you steering me towards doing, quick? I thought we were trying to figure out if my cats were clogged... Would the backpressure gauge in the o2 sensor bung not tell me if the cats are clogged, like my prior post says

Once I learn how to read a friggin' vacuum gauge like a pro, where are you expecting me to stick it so I can read the pressure I'm getting in my exhaust?

 

A hah! I think I see what you're getting at here. Here's a page that explains reading the vacuum gauge and what the different readings might indicate:
http://www.classictruckshop.com/club...ts/vac/uum.htm

One of them indicates restricted exhaust pressure. Perfect! Now where do I plug the danged thing in to get these readings?

 

Any Engine Vacuum Source.

i left out the all caps so you would not think i was yelling at you.

 

Great. Thanks quick. I'll buy a vacuum gauge and check that when I get my truck back. Thanks for helping me and trying not to be rude