This all happened in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania. Right after getting my truck (used 2011 bought in 2018 with 140,000 mi), it would occasionally lose power or die especially when trying to go over 45mph, but would always start and run. Then 1 morning it cranked but would not start. It ended up being clogged cats. The dealer cut the cats out and the engine started right away. Total replacement for both cats with 3 year factory warranty was $2700, but I spent over $4200 chasing the problem. He said the problem usually begins with a clogged air filter. That causes the sensors to think the engine is running lean, so the fuel injection dumps in tons of gas, which means a lot of unburned fuel has to get burned in the cats, causing them to overheat and melt. The truck was a fleet vehicle so I thought they would have maintained it regularly, but I guess not in this case. Lesson learned.

The long back story is that I took the truck to several independent mechanics first to try to fix the problem. The first genius found a code, but did not tell me what it was. He just told me I needed new oxygen sensors. I said that should not prevent it from starting, but it was a cheap fix so I agreed to it. No surprise, after he replaced them, it still would not start. He spent a week on it before I had it towed to another independent shop.

The second guy also said he got an oxygen sensor code and said the sensors the first guy put in were generic aftermarket ones, so we replaced them with OEM but the truck still would not start. He then convinced me to replace the fuel pump even though we heard it running and could smell gas when we cranked it and got good pressure at the injectors. It took him a week to replace the pump but the truck still would not start. He gave me the old pump, which seemed to work fine and the fuel filter was not clogged. But now the gas gauge was not working and the bed was put back crooked so that 1 corner was hitting the cab.

I had the truck towed to a third shop. He said the code from the oxygen sensor was high levels of unburned fuel in the exhaust. So the first 2 geniuses had decided to replace the sensors instead of figuring out what was causing the high readings. I bet they would replace the dashboard if they got a check engine light, rather than check the engine. Anyway, this third mechanic said it was probably an ignition problem causing unburned fuel to reach the oxygen sensor, so we replaced all the plugs, wires, coils, etc. but he broke off 2 of the plugs in the block. It took him 3 weeks get everything fixed, but it still did not start.

I had it towed to a 4th shop. This genius kept it for a week, rechecked everything, and said the only thing he could think of was a bad computer and/or factory anti-theft system not reading the key chip and only the dealer could fix those. But he said I also needed all new wiring now because the radio, lights, wipers, and almost every other electrical component in the truck was not working anymore. I found out later he had pulled all 20+ fuses but didn't put them back, some were in the wrong place, or backwards. So I finally had the truck towed to the dealer. They found and fixed the problem in less than half a day.