Hello
I have an 02 v6 mustang. The thing has treated me pretty well for a first car, and not having alot of money it was pretty cool and cheap too. However now that it's reached 180k it's starting to misbehave. I'm almost positive my cats are clogged, I can hear them rattle, the exhaust is choppy and there is a definite loss of power. I am wondering what caused the clogged cats, and also how to go about fixing my problem. I have very little money so I can't just take it into a shop, nor do I really have to tools to just through on a straight pipe. I'm feeling really stuck right now and am afraid if I keep driving it, my cars going to just get worse and worse. Any suggestion, tip or comment will help immensely.
Thank you all.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Your cats are probably fine, I'm guessing the rattle you hear is the tin sheet metal heat shield around your cats. The bands that hold them in place rust off causing the rattle. You'll have to take a look to verify. Otherwise have your codes pulled at any local autoparts store and see if something is stored for a bad sensor or switch that's causing the poor running. Good luck.