My '87 240 wagon is abandoned on the side of the road. It had been lacking power lately, but just went kaput this afternoon. It started fine, and ran OK for a few miles, but when challenged by a couple of uphills, it lost all power.
I thought I noticed a "whining" sound just before and as it was happening, and the engine seemed hot when I turned it off (needle 2/3 the way up to red).

I'm considering having it towed to the shop tomorrow (dreams of $$$ tonight!), but wanted to check with you folks to see if maybe I can diagnose it and fix myself.

Could it be the clutch? The car is 5sp, 150K, and has not had a new one. Is there any other way I can tell?

The abruptness of the change, and the hot engine, makes me wonder if it's something else ...

Just so you know, the cat is bad, and I was just getting ready to replace it (rattles). But I can't imagine that it could have clogged the exhaust enough to cause this. I'm guessing that is just an unrelated problem.

THANKS for any help or suggestions.
-- Larry