Experiencing subtle but consistent hesitation

I have experienced subtle but consistent hesitation since 8/22/16. At 11:00 am on 9/12/16 while on the freeway the transmission seemed to go into fail safe locking in forth gear. Five miles later was a quick jolt, major rpm drop and what felt like a complete loss of throttle. I was able to maintain thirty mph with the pedal to the floor and a lot of hesitation.

Once off the exit I could only hit twenty mph. Stalled at stoplight but restarted. Taking off from stoplight to fifteen mph was painfully slow. As I turned the wheel to pull into a parking lot I lost more power and high pitch belt chirp.

I had it towed to my house on a flatbed.

Once home I spent the day troubleshooting and tuning up. It continued to fire up at the end of the night. Still major throttle hesitation and no way could I pull it out of the driveway.

The next morning it will not start. Still will not. Seems to be getting plenty of gas (manually depressed valve on the fuel rail in the engine compartment while starting and got a fast steady spray of fuel). You can smell fuel when cranking. Wont fire.

Below I have detailed the troubleshooting done to date. I would appreciate any help. I am at a loss.

Worthy of Note: I replaced a bad fuel pump six months ago. I replaced it with a used $60.00 pump from the junk yard. When removing the old pump I broke the plastic pin that secures the gas line to the pump. The line has a ridge it the line slides over though. Twice in the past four weeks the line has come off while idling for fifteen plus minutes. Each time I simply slipped it back on.

Worthy of Note Two: The exhaust pipe separated from the catalytic converter roughly three or four weeks ago also. Possibly a combination of higher than usual heat and rust.


Changed all eight spark plugs (gap at.040) two right spark plugs were black and wet. The rest were dark and used up I am surprised they still worked. The gap was more than my gap tool. I have never changed them.

Changed air filter - old filter K&N washable but was so blocked up I just bought a regular filter.

Changed oil and filter. The dipstick was not showing any oil but the pressure gauge was half way. No signs of leaking and nothing in the antifreeze

Removed serpentine belt and scrubbed with wire brush. Belt looks good.

Check all pulleys - no play and no noise except the tensioner which had a slight noise to it.

Lubricated Pulleys and steering components

Break and power steering fluid good. Power steering reservoir has been leaking for some time but I have not fixed it. It is a slow leak and I keep it at the right level.

Removed air intake. Throttle body butterfly valve had a lot of crud on it. I sprayed it with CRC Throttle body and air intake cleaner as I moved the valve back and forth. I wiped the crud away with a rag.

Added Sea Foam engine treatment to gas tank. Gas tank half full. I have problems with the slightest amount of water in the gas so I also added a half bottle of Freeze moisture remover to the gas.

Reviewed hoses and electric wiring for any visible damage or lose connections. Tightened anywhere there was a ground I could find.

Checked all fuses

Removed positive battery terminal for twenty seconds to clear codes etc.

trickle charged battery overnight at two amps.