New here! Please help dianose sluggishness

[Krystle]

New here! Please help diagnose sluggishness

Hello everyone, my name is Krystle and I've enjoyed reading all the helpful tips, advice, etc from a lot of knowledgeable people on here.

Wondering if someone might be able to help diagnose some sluggishness my vehicle has been having before I spend mechanic fees for them to do it for me.

Here are the specs on the car:

1994 4Runner, V6 3.0L, 4WD, 168,000, Auto-trans.

New motor about 20k ago :sobbing:

There's a pretty good 8 mile incline on the way back from a city I go to sometimes that the car used to be able to do about 65-70 up with overdrive off if I got a good running start at the bottom of hill, floored it to about 80 or 85. Now the car struggles to stay at 50mph. Embarassing.

I've also noticed that the hill I must drive up to get to my work is a struggle as well when previously it hadn't been. I have to shift into second just to keep the RPMs up.

What's interesting about the symptoms is if the car has a half tank or more of gas the performance increases dramatically. I filled it up halfway the other day at the bottom of that hill and managed 65 all the way up.

The mechanic thinks a new cat. converter is in order. From what I've read on here I'm starting to agree.

It's upshifting on minor hills and has no get up and go. I know 4Runners of this era were never towers of power but this is very noticeable.

The only recent thing the car has received is new tires. 31x10.50x15 but the car has always had those. Would the larger diameter of the added new tread cause gear box issues?

What are everyone's thoughts? :shrug:

 

[96Blacklimited]

Dam sorry 2 hear about your rig. while reading it sound off the back like the cat. converter, but you already got that from Mech. Also check your throdel body. Maybe need a good cleaning. Hope you get some better advice.

 

[4runnerkucool]

[

New motor about 20k ago :sobbing:

There's a pretty good 8 mile incline on the way back from a city I go to sometimes that the car used to be able to do about 65-70 up with overdrive off

keep the RPMs up.

What's interesting about the symptoms is if the car has a half tank or more of

What are everyone's thoughts? :shrug:[/QUOTE]


Hi, can you more specific, what's mean with overdrive OFF?
Do u be able to get the O/D on?

 

[Brand X]

Try this, check your vaccum from your fuel pressure regulator If you aren't getting a good vaccum when you rev it up then you might wanna think about replacing the regulator. I had a bad regulator last year and I couldn't go up an incline for crap. I put a new one on and it works great now. Another thing you can try is pulling the top off of your mass air sensor and clean all the points and circuit board with some mass air sensor cleaner and the actual sensor inside the MAF where the air flows through. It comes in a can and costs about $7 at an auto parts store.

 

[Brand X]

Oh, and overdrive off just means it won't shift into your final gear. Its useful for pulling a trailer and driving up inclines. It keeps the motor in higher rpms for more power.

 

[88T4RE]

sounds to me like there might be some cloggage in the injectors and or fuel pump otherwise why would the tank level have any effect, I dont see how it could be the cat. if it is better with more fuel in the tank, the two are unrelated. is it possible the tank is filled with rust and when it is less full more rust floating on the surface makes its way into the pump and thusly the injectors? if the truck has sat for extended periods of time with no gas in the tank humidity forms and the inside rusts. just a guess...good luck!

 

[88T4RE]

also when on an incline if the tank is low rust would flow into the pump more easily...