I was driving down the road at 75 mph when the check engine light came on. Then, no matter how far down I pushed the gas pedal it gradually lost more and more power and wouldn't go over 40 mph. After about 30 minutes of driving to get home it was down to only being able to drive in first gear with the engine knocking and sputtering. I made it home, let the car sit for about a half hour and then tried starting it. It started back up easily and when I gave it some gas it ran as smooth as it did before the check engine light came on. Should I try driving it again? Haven't got a chance to test for codes yet. What the hell happened?

 

I would start with the basics. Check all your fluid levels first. What were the RPMs doing while this was happening?

 

Codes first! Is it an NA or SRT?

 

Yes, get the codes. I would not start or drive it without checking fluid levels.

 

RPMs were normal. Oil is full. Normal operating temp as well.

 

Fluid levels are ok.

 

05 6speed NA.

 

I asked because SRT-6 power loss is usually the intercooler. Have you checked fuel pressure?

 

Brought up the codes today.
P0303 cylinder 3 misfire
P0301 cylinder 1 misfire
P0304 cylinder 4 misfire
P0300 Random-Multiple misfires

 

I was going to suggest plugged Catalytic converter but it doesn’t line up with the cylinders listed. It would be limited to one side or the other

have you checked both cam and crank sensors.

 

Well tonight I cleared the codes and CEL, took her for a half hour ride around town and she ran great. It was a mix of normal and hard acceleration. I didn't take it out and open her up on the highway yet but I think I will soon. I'm just hoping it was some bad gas in the system. It was the same gas from last fall. I do use a stabilizer in it but maybe there was some moisture in there. Maybe this weekend we'll hit the highway. I'll post more then.

 

I experienced something a bit similar in a different car. When was the last time you pulled the intake, replaced the air filters and cleaned all of that out? What could have happened (BUT I COULD BE WRONG) is you got a tiny, and I mean TINY spec of a fragment of a leaf or something that made its way to your MAF and got stuck on that tiny hair of a wire that started screwing things up. Pull the intake, pull the air filters and replace them if necessary and clean the whole thing out. Then while it is off, you can pull the MAF off that the intake plugs into and then spray some MAF cleaner through the grill cleaning that tiny wire that resides inside just to be sure. I'd bet you got a little spec of something that stuck on that wire in the MAF that may have fallen off or shaken lose when you re-started and was then sucked on through, fed into a cylinder and burned up. Here's a link to taking the MAF out...