So yesterday, my car almost ran out of gas, it was to the point where I can feel stall a bit when I am going up a hill. I quickly pulled into the gas station and gave it gas.

Now the car feels really weird, like it has no power? In fact, I had just put on a new muffler 2 weeks and now it felt just like before I put the new muffler in.

Here are all the recent changes I can think of...

1. Put new muffler in 2 weeks ago, the old one has a hole in it.

2. 2 days ago, put in a new driver side front axle

3. 2 weeks ago, same time I put in the new muffler, I got an oil and filter change. Also, I poured some cleaner into the oil tank and the gas tank. But the thing was, before I did all that, when i was driving home from the muffler shop, the engine sound was SOOO smooth, like butter!

The way the car feels is like I was driving a manual on a lower gear than I should. This is a automatic by the way. But the RPM never went above a 3.5, so I know it is switching gears. Usually when the car gears up, I can feel a big push but I didn't notice it as much yesterday..
Anyone know what could be wrong? Thanks

 

Idle the engine and unplug the fuel injectors one at a time to make sure that all 4 cylinders are working. When you unplug a good cylinder, the engine will slow down. If a cylinder is "dead", unplugging its injector will have no effect.

Another reason for a sudden decrease in performance is a skipped timing belt. To check that you need to remove the upper plastic cover and check the timing marks.

 

So I took it to a mechanic this morning and he said it was part of the exhaust that was broken. This is the part that is right after the Catalic COnverter? The enlarged part.

NOow he is saying that there may be a leak in the Master Cylinder? How did he check for that tho? He didn't say definitively where the leak is, just that there seems to be a leak and that the fluids were low. I checked the brake fluids the other day and it was near the full mark, maybe a little low so I am not sure what low is low?

Also, when I push on the brakes, nothing out of the normal. This is an old car so the breaks are not sensitive but I can feel the car braking pretty good.

I know the brakes are very important, what should I do? DO I need to fix this?

 

There should be 2 lines on the master cylinder reservoir..A Min line(minimum) & a max line..If it's below that max line then fill it up TO the max line, but before you do..check for any leaks from the cylinder, it's better if you feel with your fingers below the cylinder, if there's wetness on your fingers..it's leaking. If it's not leaking & your fluid still is dropping low then check the brake lines & wheel cylinder.

About that part after the cat...wouldn't that enlarged part be the Resonator?..then going down the pipe comes the muffler.

 

You haven't said what model year and version you have. Most models have the converter under the car just behind the firewall, then there is a pipe going straight back with a resonator a few feet back from the converter. The resonator is just a bulge in the pipe. Experience with my cars has been that once the muffler or one of the pipes goes bad, it's best to go ahead and replace everything between the converter and the back of the car. It all tends to rust out at the same time and you'll just be back soon with another leak.

A leaky exhaust before the muffler will make the car a lot louder. And, suprising to people who think that louder must be better, it can make the car slower.

Leaky master cylinders usually cause fluid to run down the brake booster (the big round part the cylinder is attached to). For now just keep an eye on the fluid level and if it goes down, it must be leaking somewhere. Having all the fluid leak out will cause the brakes to fail entirely, one day the pedal will just go to the floor and the car will not stop.