'95 MTX has lack of power

[bazacko]

I like to call my car the SLO... Super Low Output.
When we bought it from the previous owner, it was fine. Performance slowly decreased until we brought it to a mechanic. He replaced the camshaft position sensor and reset the cam timing, which was "@ 60 ********," according to the receipt.
Well, not long after we got it back from the shop, it started losing power again. It's hard to shift smoothly right now because it has almost no power below 3k RPM. Also, it idles roughly enough that the oil light blinks on and off. It has a little bit more power in the mornings when it's absolutely cold, but nowhere near the original amount. I've checked the codes and absolutely nothing came up.
Any ideas? Am I going to need to bring it back to the shop? I'm not that comfortable doing major work on the engine, but if I only need to replace a sensor or reset the timing I'll be fine.
Thanks in advance!

 

[jedhead]

You should have had aleast a pass code come up. Look at the secondary butterfiles when someone startes the engine for you. When the engine starts the butterflies close. Also check to make sure your cats are not clogged.

Bob

 

[bazacko]

You should have had aleast a pass code come up. Look at the secondary butterfiles when someone startes the engine for you. When the engine starts the butterflies close. Also check to make sure your cats are not clogged.

Bob

The pass code did come up. What would that tell me, if the butterflies close when the engine starts? And how can I tell if my cats are clogged?

 

[jedhead]

If the butterflies stay open = loss of power at low rpms (below 3500)
A muffler shop can check the cats.

Bob

 

[bazacko]

Update:
It appears that my cats are in my mufflers. I pulled apart the exhaust pipe just after the cats and stuck a coathanger up into the cat closest to me. It goes right through.
Also, my mufflers seem to be full of something very heavy and rattle-y.
Could this be causing my performance drop? I may go out and drive with the section of pipe completely taken out, but I'm afraid I'll get pulled over because of the noise.

 

[bazacko]

Okay, I just drove it with the mufflers bypassed. It was loud as a ****, but the performance was the same.
And as for the butterflies, I know they're closed when they're supposed to be because I can still feel them open at 4k.

 

[Sexymeatball]

bypassing the mufflers won't tell you if you have a clog in the pipes or if the cats themselves are plugged up. I had a piece of melted cat stuck about halfway back in the exhuast blocking about 90% of the airflow. Needless to say, it pulled a bit harder after i replaced teh exhaust

 

[bazacko]

bypassing the mufflers won't tell you if you have a clog in the pipes or if the cats themselves are plugged up. I had a piece of melted cat stuck about halfway back in the exhuast blocking about 90% of the airflow. Needless to say, it pulled a bit harder after i replaced teh exhaust

I had the exhaust opened up right after the cats - there's a joint only a few inches behind one of them. Like I said, it's very likely that they're stuck farther back but I don't think that's what's causing my performance issues.
Seems to me, given the car's history, that the problem would be something spark-related.

 

[masho95]

I'd be wary of the shop that did your maintanance... seeing how they said the timing was ******** 60 degrees. These cars have none adjustable timing unless you have aftermarket cam sprockets.

 

[bazacko]

I'd be wary of the shop that did your maintanance... seeing how they said the timing was ******** 60 degrees. These cars have none adjustable timing unless you have aftermarket cam sprockets.

That's what I thought. Is it not possible for the belt to jump or something?
I should just check the timing myself.