Hesitation during acceleration

CANNON1349

MECHANIC
1997 FORD TAURUS
3.0L
V6
2WD
AUTOMATIC
153,680 MILES

DOHC.

First and foremost, the engine runs perfect. No rough idle, no stalling, nothing is running badly.

The problem is with acceleration. These engines are known for being "peppy, " however when I want to be "peppy" It will take perhaps one and a half or two seconds for the car to realize I have the pedal lower than where it was previously. That is, normal driving conditions are okay, but when I want to go faster (and in a jiffy), the car just takes its own time and it seems like it may be a problem.

- The spark plugs and wires have been routinely changed.
- The PCV valve has been changed.
- The fuel filter has been changed.
- PCV hoses are new.
- Air filter is clean.
- No exhaust leaks, in fact, I had my catalytic converters replaced two years ago (40,000 miles ago).

However, I am getting the "catalyst system efficiency below threshold" on one catalytic converter. Could that be the problem? Meh. Other than this engine code, there have been no other codes or problems.

1 Reply

DANNY L

MECHANIC
5,648 POSTS

Hello, I am Danny.

It is quite possible having your catalytic converter is not performing at optimum will have an adverse effect. Cars being computer controlled take readings from all sensor and are inputted into the PCM and adjustments are made accordingly. I would suggest replacing the bad catalytic converter to restore your performance back to 100%. Hope this helps and feel free to ask any questions. Thanks for using 2CarPros.

Danny-