Uphill at 50mph and 3600 RPMs

[AnotherCO4Runner]

When I drive up to the mountains I have a hard time maintaining highway speed (55-60) without the automatic transmission downshifting to accelerate then upshifting only to lose speed and downshift again. On the slight inclines I can turn of overdrive to avoid the up/downshift game, but on the big ones like Floyd Hill, Eisenhower Tunnel, Vail Pass I end up driving in the right lane in 2nd gear doing 50 @ 3600 RPMs. The truck just hit 250K miles so I did a full timing belt/water pump job and a valve cover gasket job with all the trimmings. Along the way I replaced the radiator hoses, drive belts and some cracking vacuum hoses, cleaned the MAF sensor and TB, and replaced the fuel filter. I have 285/75/16s. The only added weight is an Outdoor Logic bumper up front and me in the driver’s seat.

Is it possible I did something during the round of maintenance that is causing the truck to lack power on these climbs? Tires too big? Tranny? Is it just a function of the engine’s age?

Can I fix this issue or should I learn to live with it?

 

[jgue467]

You mean I-70 west of Denver right? If so, my 01 performed about the same climbing that mountain. Keep in mind, our engines are naturally aspirated. So they loose 3% power per thousand feet. So at over 11,000ft that's a loss of over 33% !!! No wonder it take 2nd gear and 3500+ rpms.

I wouldn't worry about it, all 3.4 (without turbos or superchargers) will perform like this on this stretch. Luck and enjoy. :cowboy:

 

[Rallysport]

When I drive up to the mountains I have a hard time maintaining highway speed (55-60) without the automatic transmission downshifting to accelerate then upshifting only to lose speed and downshift again. On the slight inclines I can turn of overdrive to avoid the up/downshift game, but on the big ones like Floyd Hill, Eisenhower Tunnel, Vail Pass I end up driving in the right lane in 2nd gear doing 50 @ 3600 RPMs. The truck just hit 250K miles so I did a full timing belt/water pump job and a valve cover gasket job with all the trimmings. Along the way I replaced the radiator hoses, drive belts and some cracking vacuum hoses, cleaned the MAF sensor and TB, and replaced the fuel filter. I have 285/75/16s. The only added weight is an Outdoor Logic bumper up front and me in the driver’s seat.

Is it possible I did something during the round of maintenance that is causing the truck to lack power on these climbs? Tires too big? Tranny? Is it just a function of the engine’s age?

Can I fix this issue or should I learn to live with it?

Not sure off this helps but I find it helps to switch out of overdrive in those situations. With it on the truck feels like it's stuck in low rpm, or needs to be floored to downshift leaving the engine screaming. With O/D disabled it's like downshifting a gear in a manual transmission car.

 

[JZiggy]

You mean I-70 west of Denver right? If so, my 01 performed about the same climbing that mountain. Keep in mind, our engines are naturally aspirated. So they loose 3% power per thousand feet. So at over 11,000ft that's a loss of over 33% !!! No wonder it take 2nd gear and 3500+ rpms.

I wouldn't worry about it, all 3.4 (without turbos or superchargers) will perform like this on this stretch. Luck and enjoy. :cowboy:

I had never heard the 3% per 1000' thing before, that makes sense!

I certainly noticed that above 5000', running that weird 84 Octane gas ya'll have out West, loaded to the gills with camping gear, that my 3RZ felt sluggish. I guess the elevation was why :flypig:

 

[thenightman]

The pass by the Eisenhower tunnel is probably the worse grade I have driven. I bet most vehicles with larger tires without a regear have trouble on that hill. Do you know what your trans temps are in these situations? Manually downshifting the auto makes it build less heat, or build heat slower in those situations.

 

[gamefreakgc]

When I drive up to the mountains I have a hard time maintaining highway speed (55-60) without the automatic transmission downshifting to accelerate then upshifting only to lose speed and downshift again. On the slight inclines I can turn of overdrive to avoid the up/downshift game, but on the big ones like Floyd Hill, Eisenhower Tunnel, Vail Pass I end up driving in the right lane in 2nd gear doing 50 @ 3600 RPMs. The truck just hit 250K miles so I did a full timing belt/water pump job and a valve cover gasket job with all the trimmings. Along the way I replaced the radiator hoses, drive belts and some cracking vacuum hoses, cleaned the MAF sensor and TB, and replaced the fuel filter. I have 285/75/16s. The only added weight is an Outdoor Logic bumper up front and me in the driver’s seat.

Is it possible I did something during the round of maintenance that is causing the truck to lack power on these climbs? Tires too big? Tranny? Is it just a function of the engine’s age?

Can I fix this issue or should I learn to live with it?

No, that's normal for a 183 HP engine on a 4000 lb vehicle. If you have a 96-00 with the transmission kick-down cable that connects to the throttle body, make sure that cable is tight and has no play, can be adjusted by the two 14 mm nuts on the bracket by moving them up or down the threads. You can also slightly over tighten it for it to kick down a gear a bit quicker (I do this to eliminate ping from the supercharger).

Other idea is to turn off OD on the shifter like others suggested.

 

[AnotherCO4Runner]

I can learn to live with it!

You mean I-70 west of Denver right? If so, my 01 performed about the same climbing that mountain. Keep in mind, our engines are naturally aspirated. So they loose 3% power per thousand feet. So at over 11,000ft that's a loss of over 33% !!! No wonder it take 2nd gear and 3500+ rpms.

I wouldn't worry about it, all 3.4 (without turbos or superchargers) will perform like this on this stretch. Luck and enjoy. :cowboy:

Yes, I-70 west of Denver!

Not sure off this helps but I find it helps to switch out of overdrive in those situations. With it on the truck feels like it's stuck in low rpm, or needs to be floored to downshift leaving the engine screaming. With O/D disabled it's like downshifting a gear in a manual transmission car.

I basically drive with overdrive off from Denver until I am descending into the Western Slope.

The pass by the Eisenhower tunnel is probably the worse grade I have driven. I bet most vehicles with larger tires without a regear have trouble on that hill. Do you know what your trans temps are in these situations? Manually downshifting the auto makes it build less heat, or build heat slower in those situations.

Not aware of my trans temps, the OBD scanner I have doesn't let me know. I manually shift the auto so much it is like a stick.

No, that's normal for a 183 HP engine on a 4000 lb vehicle. If you have a 96-00 with the transmission kick-down cable that connects to the throttle body, make sure that cable is tight and has no play, can be adjusted by the two 14 mm nuts on the bracket by moving them up or down the threads. You can also slightly over tighten it for it to kick down a gear a bit quicker (I do this to eliminate ping from the supercharger).

Other idea is to turn off OD on the shifter like others suggested.

I have a 2001, so only one cable.

 

[Hepar]

Big tires and a bit of added front weight is definitely going to effect how your rig drives up hills. It's one of the things that drove me mad too. For me, putting a SC on it solved the issue and then some. No more gear searching when driving up over a pass as well as I have all access to power within the first third of the pedal and not the bottom of the pedal as in the past.

 

[Horsethief]

Yes, I-70 west of Denver!



I basically drive with overdrive off from Denver until I am descending into the Western Slope.



Not aware of my trans temps, the OBD scanner I have doesn't let me know. I manually shift the auto so much it is like a stick.



I have a 2001, so only one cable.

I did this last May in a '01 Taco with a 3.4/Auto. It performed pretty much the same. I had OD off, and it may have even downshifted to 2nd. We couldn't do more than around 50, and were getting passed by pretty much everything else on the road, including semis. That poor truck, I was trying not to flog it too hard. On some of those grades getting into Utah, despite the 80mph speed limit we were doing 65-70.

That Ike grade though...godDAMN! Coming from the east coast, I was just amazed. That's damn near 3x the elevation of anything we have out here!

TFL Truck uses it to test towing, if I recall correctly they had to flat foot the new Tacoma with the 3.5 over it at about 5k rpm the whole way.

 

[00Spork]

I have full armor and 33s with a supercharger on stock gears and can do a comfortable 65-70 with overdrive off up the steep hills without downshifting to hold the speed. If I want to I can hold 75 or 80 but that's downshifting to get there.. Is your truck stock? Seems like you shouldn't have to go that slow.

 

[AnotherCO4Runner]

I have full armor and 33s with a supercharger on stock gears and can do a comfortable 65-70 with overdrive off up the steep hills without downshifting to hold the speed. If I want to I can hold 75 or 80 but that's downshifting to get there.. Is your truck stock? Seems like you shouldn't have to go that slow.

I have a steel front bumper, 3" of lift and 285/75/16s, other than that it is stock.

 

[SpidermanGeek]

The pass by the Eisenhower tunnel is probably the worse grade I have driven.

Roadtripped out West a couple of times with my 2010 Matrix.

It has the 2.4L/5-speed MT combo in it and with it being loaded with a couple of weeks worth of luggage and 2 adults, I had to have the throttle floored in 2nd gear and the car barely wants to hold 5,000 rpm just before hitting the Eisenhower.

The first time it happened (I had never driven "in the mountains" before) it freaked me right out. I was also short of breath when trying to talk. Me and the wife started to wonder what the hell was happening until I saw the elevation sign. Then everything made sense.

 

[AnotherCO4Runner]

Roadtripped out West a couple of times with my 2010 Matrix.

It has the 2.4L/5-speed MT combo in it and with it being loaded with a couple of weeks worth of luggage and 2 adults, I had to have the throttle floored in 2nd gear and the car barely wants to hold 5,000 rpm just before hitting the Eisenhower.

The first time it happened (I had never driven "in the mountains" before) it freaked me right out. I was also short of breath when trying to talk. Me and the wife started to wonder what the hell was happening until I saw the elevation sign. Then everything made sense.

I usually drive my 2001 Audi A4 Avant 2.8L/5 Speed MT when I am heading up to the mountains and have no plans to off-road, but she is in a fight with me and won't start when I ask her to. The Audi will do 70+ in 5th up to the tunnel. I hope she and I can be friends again.

 

[cocoablini]

The audi has a intercooler turbo, which can compress the air and normalize the altitude. These 4Runners need a supercharger to do the same

I usually drive my 2001 Audi A4 Avant 2.8L/5 Speed MT when I am heading up to the mountains and have no plans to off-road, but she is in a fight with me and won't start when I ask her to. The Audi will do 70+ in 5th up to the tunnel. I hope she and I can be friends again.

 

[sportscarfan]

The audi has a intercooler turbo, which can compress the air and normalize the altitude. These 4Runners need a supercharger to do the same

Sorry to report that the B5 A4 (likely the vintage we are talking about here with 2.8 v6) is naturally aspirated. The S4 has a 2.7 twin turbo.

The 4runner's 3.4 is truly pathetic in it's power delivery. The manual transmission is about it's only saving grace unless you invest in the supercharger, which these days is more than most 4runners are worth.

 

[Volcom]

The 4runner's 3.4 is truly pathetic in it's power delivery.

3.4 feels like a rock ship compared to my 22RE with 39.5's :spit::spit:

I've driven up I-70 several times in my 4Runner and up Vail Pass I'm in 2nd gear, pinned and holding 5K the entire time.

 

[pluton]

I've had my 3.4/5-speed up to about 12,000 feet in the White Mountains in CA, and it's basically 1st and 2nd gear only(stock tires/gearing). You begin to notice the loss of power at about 6000 feet.