I've just develop intermittent stalling when going down the road. It stumbles and loses power, but never cuts out completely, and recovers after a moment. The lights don't dim, and all the gauges read where they should. It did make the Check Engine light pop on, but I haven't checked the code yet.

When I stopped to investigate, I heard a rattle from underneath, maybe from the cat.

So my guess is: Something broke loose in the old cat and is intermittently blocking the exhaust, causing the stalling. I need a new cat.

If I'm right...

1. Can I keep driving until I get around to it, or is it gonna get worse and strand me?
2. Anybody know if there's a recall that would fix my cat for free? I looked but didn't see one.

Thanks

 

If it completely clogs you won't be able to keep it running. It could strand you. Take the cat off and gut the insides and put it back on for a temporary fix.

 

my 98 4.0 wanted to stall after it ran for a bit but cleared up after I changed my front exhaust sensor and that fixed the problem

 

my jeep has the exhaust rattle also..but when my jeep started to idle rough i got a check engine code it was a bad o2 sensor.