passing gear/transmission problem

[silver cobra]

Alright, this has been happening for a while but now it is starting to get bad. I have a 95 Toyota 4Runner, drop tailgate, 137, 959 miles. Sometimes when I put the peddle to the floor and the overdrive or passing gear kicks in, but I don't go any faster. It kicks up to higher rpms, but I still run like I am in lower rpms. Tonight was really bad. When I went to work I could barely get it up to 50 mph to get on the interstate. That makes it really hard to get onto a 65 mph interstate. The whole way I was having
trouble keeping it at 70 mph. I would try to pass a car and it would kick up to 4500 rpms but it would run just like 3000 rpms. It even makes the sound like it is running harder, but it doesn't go any faster. I thought maybe it was just me but it really got me on the way home. A hill by my house is kind of steep. I can normally take it at 45 mph easily, but tonight I couldn't get past 30 mph going up it. Then I knew something was wrong. If anyone has any ideas of what is wrong, thanks for any help. Also if I said anything wrong just try to figure out what I am trying to say,
sorry but I am a newb at this automotive stuff. Thanks again.

 

[Techenigma]

Check your oil... a friend of mine practically welded his piston's onto the cylinder wall because he was bad with car maintenance and never changed his oil. Apparently there was an oil leak and all his oil went bye-bye. He described similar type of thing before his car decided it was quittin time and gave the notorious check engine light and seized.... of course it probably could be a host of other things but thats what came to my mind.

 

[seancgn68]

I hope this isn't the case for you, but my wife had a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee that had similiar behavior about 2 weeks before the transmission went. High RPMs and low power when you step on the gas, (in my experience this also happened on my Acura TL) usually means transmission probelms. Both had to be replaced.

Good luck!

 

[KMX3060]

Change the fuel filter!

 

[00328]

Change the fuel filter!

:iagree:

When the engine requires more gas, such as passing or going uphill, a dirty fuel filter will restrict the flow!

That's the first thing I would check.

 

[Hank]

Have the cap and sparkplug wires ever been changed before? If not, it's time. On my older vehicle, the engine would misfire due to this and there is very noticable loss of power when going up any steep grade or even mild slopes. The Check Engine Light will come on intermittently when it happens. It would also occasionally occur on flat roads under moderate to heavy acceleration. I remember a couple times when I was going slower than the 18 wheelers up a steep grade. If it's not the cap+wires, then it may be the tranny (slipping). Good luck

 

[greasefingers]

No it sounds like the tranny is slipping or the torque converter is acting up. A tune up, oil, or fuel filter probably will not help here since the rpms increase as you give it more gas. You could check that the AFT fluid is at the correct level, but I suspect that it is.