This car has been nothing but a nightmare since I bought it. Work done so far:

New NGK plugs and wires
New distributor cap, rotor and ignition coil
New Catalytic Converter
New timing belt, tensioner belt, tensioner and water pump
New power steering belt
New fan belt

Here's the issue:

The car intermittently decides to Rev limit at 3k. P1381 code pops up. It has cleared itself before whill on the highway. Code came back on same day. Had timing belt, etc replaced last Friday and while the car was idle in the shop the code cleared. On the way to work this morning it came back. On the way home this evening the car started driving worse. It had a small rumble to it. I took it to get checked and it showed p1381 and p0420 this time. My Cat is less than 6 months old.

I have read the p1381 could be caused by the alternator so had it tested at Advanced and it passed. The next to check is apparently the distributor housing. There was a little oil in it when I checked tonight. Can the p1381 cause the car to run rich due to misfire and cause the p0420?

This is only my second post so once I'm fully active I can post pics of the distributor.

 

H er es the pics from the distributor:

 

Anything get solved?

 

Yes.

 

Not yet. I ordered a new distributor and overnighted it but the shipping warehouse sewed up the order and it didn't arrive in time to get it replaced last weekend. I'm going tomorrow to have it replaced. My car is running like ****. It feels clogged. I can feel the misfire when climbing hills and when I try to keep it around 50 mph. My gas mileage has tanked from 30mpg to 27 ish. The car also seems to run hotter than usual. The temp gauge won't move but I can feel it on my legs when driving. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes. I'm hoping a new distributor fixes it and I don't need another cat. I just did one 4 months ago.

 

Had the distributor replaced yesterday. Car felt really well. Check engine light came back on but I know it takes 3 cold starts to reset a p0420. I did my oil, changed the valve cover seals and change the break pads today. Brake pedal is loose due to not having a second person to help me bleed them and the gas pedal is a lot tighter for some reason. It doesn't take much for it to get up and go now. I don't remember how it was before the 1381 started so I'm assuming it's back to normal?

 

Update here:

Check Engine light back on again after resetting it Sunday. Brakes have been bled and the brake are better but I still have to push it pretty far. Gas mileage seems a little off, even while running the A/C Saturday and yesterday. I also noticed oil underneath on the backside of my motor. My last Cat was clogged, so I'm praying I don't have leak from inside. What would cause this if the Cat turned out to be clogged again? I was told that if oil was leaking into the exhaust, there would be some sort of smoke from the tailpipe. I'm not sure how true this is since I don't see any while driving or idle. Anyone have any thoughts?

 

Make sure all connections are all clean, tight and undamaged.
Damaged/incorrect/worn ignition components can also cause the P1381 code to set, check your spark plug wires, spark plug tubes, and spark plugs for damage, oil contamination, loose components or improper gap at the plug.

Ignore P0420 code until P1381 code is fixed.

 

Everything on this seems fixed. I got 3 codes Wednesday of last week:

P0420 - Cat - Bank 1
P0430 - Cat - Bank 2 (I don't have a bank 2)
P0706 - Trans Range Sensor

I reset them by disconnecting the battery Thursday morning and haven't seen them since. Car was running fine until I noticed my gas mileage start to slowly drop. Was at 30mpg, then 28.9mpg, and this last fill up it was 28.6 mpg. Yesterday, the light came on again for a P0420. Like I said in my earlier posts, I replaced the Cat and the rear O2 sensor 4 months ago. The last Cat was clogged. Any ideas?

I put 5 quarts in during my last oil change. I will check the oil again today to see if it's low. I know I seem to be burning off oil. I wonder If there's an internal leak somewhere...

 

Verify which PCM is in the car.
Try a different code reader/scanner.

 

I know simple maintenance, but I'm no mechanic. Whats PCM? I don't have access to a reader that can check the emissions between the front and rear O2 sensors to see if the front one is faulty.

 

PCM(Powertrain Control Module) ECU, ECM, computer, etc.

There is no way you should be getting a P0430 code.

OBDII code reader/scanner is faulty or the PCM is faulty/incorrect for your application.

In the meantime, verify your wire harness is not damaged, the grounds and ground cables are clean and tight. Verify the battery connections are also clean and tight.

 

I don't have electronic issues anymore. They're fixed. I now have a p0420 and 10 days after changing my oil, I have lost a full quart. It's not leaking into the coolant. I think I have a clogged Cat. I need to figure out where the oil could be going. Theres no marks at work or in the driveway, which means I loose oil when I'm driving. Any ideas?

 

Do a compression check. Might be rings, if compression comes back good then the umbrella seals for the valves may be allowing oil to get past.

 

I'll do that then. Any idea how much a compression test would cost?

 

A compression check will not reveal bad oil control rings.....

 

If your up to DIY, it is easy to do. Just go to harbor freight and buy the universal compression kit. Just take out one spark plug at a time and install adapter from kit. The shut off the fuel and spark to the motor by removing fuses. Then crank the motor and record the maximum value obtained. Then repeat the test with pouring a little oil into the top of cylinder. If the value doesn't change much with the oil then your rings are probably fine and you have leaking valves/valve seals. Do this procedure for each cylinder. There are DIY online if you look up. Having two people helps as well since one can watch the reading while other person cranks motor 4-5 times (or until the pressure doesn't increase anymore).