MPG’s down, Rattle at accel and gas smell

[Number4]

So I started to get a rattle when applying a heavier than needed throttle.
Mostly from an idle or slow speed.
It’s not a timing rattle, farther back. While the heat shield on the cat has a busted weld, it doesn’t sound like that rattle.
Researching I found that the cats will sound like this when shot.
I’ve also lost MPG’s and when reversing I’d get a bad gas (as in bad, but not egg) smell. Now, I get a gas smell whenever I stop the car. Been parked for 1/2 hour and still smell it.
No codes, set or pending. Fuel trims are perfect.
I did run for a year with <20 spread fuel trims before the EGR set a code. After fixing that, my s&lft’s have been damn near perfect.

The no codes, fuel trims and gas smell have me off.
I’d think if I was smelling fuel this bad, my trims would be off. Unless the cats causing fuel vapor issues...

 

[Number4]

Well, found the source of the gas smell, perhaps the loss of MPG’s as well.

I am parked on a hill, so could be coming from back at the pump.

 

[mountaineer2004]

Did you determine from where is that leaking?

 

[Number4]

Did you determine from where is that leaking?

Working on it. Started a separate thread for just the leak.

Gas leak at front of fuel tank

I have gas coming down the side and front (toward front of vehicle) of my fuel tank. I removed the two shields around the fuel filter and dropped it down. Above the fuel filter is dry. There’s a hump on the tank it appears, so it shouldn’t be coming from the fuel pump area, yet it doesn’t...

www.explorerforum.com

It may be that the rattle is some shield. I was presuming that the loss of MPGs with the rattle meant it was a Cat. Conv.
But now that I see there’s a fuel leak, I’m leaning toward a broken shield. The only one that has a broken tab is on the transfer case. Still leery it could produce the rattle.

 

[94Eddie]

Regarding the rattle, my 2002 Explorer had one from the time I bought it which turned out to be from the torque convertor. It sort of sounded like a couple of rocks in a tin can. I took it to a good local transmission shop for what I thought would be a torque convertor replacement. They told me that numerous convertors Ford used developed this rattle and other than the sound it did not effect the operation of the transmission. I decided to live with the rattle and drove it another 65k trouble free miles until I sold it. The way to tell if this is the case is that the rattle stops when the engine shifts into overdrive. This locks up the torque convertor and stops the rattle. I am not saying this is your problem but it might be worth seeing if the noise disappears when overdrive is engaged.

Also, I thought the transmission took a dive when going down the interstate one day and the engine lost power and god awful noises were coming from the area of the transmission. I had it towed to the transmission shop I mentioned previously. They said the transmission was fine but one, or more, of the catalytic convertors had catastrophically failed and severely restricted exhaust flow. The noise was coming from parts bouncing around in the convertors. They installed a new Y pipe with convertors and the problem was solved.

As a side note that transmissiom shop got struck by lightning last summer and burnt to the ground. The owner retired and never reopened. I shead a tear that day because finding a transmission shop that is as honest as they were is hard.

 

[Number4]

@94Eddie I was thinking cats, but my fuel trims are fine and I have no codes. Was that true for you too?

 

[94Eddie]

The catalytic convertors never threw a code one or more of them just disintegrated catastrophically very quickly. It might have been rattling some before it completely failed but I might have thought it was the torque convertor rattling. The sound would have come from the same general area.