05 freelander 1.8 petrol need help, bad misfire loss of power and overheating exhaust

1. Hi guys, got a freelander 1.8 petrol 2005 that's developed some weird symptoms I'm struggling to diagnose. A week ago it got a slight intermittent misfire so I plugged it in and got p0340 cam sensor code and p0420 catalyst system efficiency below threshold bank 1. I reset codes to double check and got the cam sensor code again so I thought not much of it and carried on using it only on short journeys as the misfire came and went, mainly only there under heavy load. Then today had no choice but to use it for a 25 mile round trip. It started fine and the first 10 mile was fine, then the misfire got a lot worse so I pulled over and plugged it and got cylinder 3 misfire. I check the coils by unplugging the sensor while running and they both equally dropped the power so I figured no issue there and decided to finish my journey. So ten mile later (20 mile in) it lost power dramatically and I could smell burning metal so I pulled over turned it off and popped the bonnet. The whole exhaust was glowing red from manifold all the way down and under the car. Water levels fine and engine not overheating so I let the exhaust cool for half hour then set off again, only this time it struggled to even pull off and barely reached 40mph. Where do I start to look now? Ive been told Spark plugs? Could they even cause this? Clogged cat? I've never heard of that, is it fixable I only know bare minimum really. Do I bother trying to fix or is it scrap. It's only done 90,000 but its 16 year old and keeps costing more than I want to spend. Any help really appreciated because if it's a cheap fix I'll be all over it but I'd rather just get rid now if not. Thanks in advance
   
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   2005Freelander money pitNew Member
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Nodge68 said:

A misfire will cause exhaust heating, as the fuel that should burning in the cylinder, will burn in the exhaust instead.
Other causes are late ignition timing (theoretically impossible on this engine) or a very lean mixture, which is possible if the fuel filter is clogged up.

Also if you've been driving the engine absolutely flat out for a while, when the exhaust can also glow red hot.

I'd eliminate the misfire, and see how it goes.

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