ethantylerrice Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I have a question for the more experienced pathy owners. I have a 1995 xe with the 3.0 a 5 speed and 4.375:1 lsd on both ends. It has the calmini 3" lift with all the goodies minus the beefy tie rod ends (soon). I am running 32x11.5x15 tires. This truck has no good acceleration, doggy up hills in 5th and 4th, and god forbid I put a trailer behind it. I have had my share of mini trucks with 4 bangers and a couple 6 cylinder trucks. I realize they are under powered, but when I hit a hill with a buddy in the truck doing 65+ mph and I have to shift down when in 5th gear its running over 2k rpm already I start to wonder if there is something wrong. Ive already went through the exhaust, no plugged cats and it has a 28" glass pack on it now. All new iridium plugs and 8mm plug wires. Im at a loss now, and hope somebody else has had this issue and figured it out. "winter is coming" and I will be pulling a 5x8 trailer to get wood soon. Hope i can make it up the hills going faster than 25mph.. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated. Yes that was a game of thrones reference..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalbaron Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Um yeah, you got a little over 150 hp, better get a good run at those hills! Lol! Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethantylerrice Posted August 15, 2015 Author Share Posted August 15, 2015 oh come on i'm hoping for a miracle cure! lol It needs a 4bt swap I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalbaron Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 oh come on i'm hoping for a miracle cure! lol It needs a 4bt swap I guess.VQ40 swap? That would be a sleeper! Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slartibartfast Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Best thing I ever did to the motor in my '95 was cleaning out the throttle body. It's still not particularly quick but it's quicker than it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Yep, I agree with Slart. Seafoam through the throttle body...as well as the upper intake via brake booster...then watch the cloud of smoke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 2k pulling a hill is not okay for these motors. They aren't V8s. Most of us here can't pull a hill in top gear and keep speed. 4th or 3rd is pretty typical. That being said... along with the ignition tune-up stuff have you checked/replaced the fuel filter, O2 sensor, and checked the timing? Also a good throttle body and intake clean usually helps as was said above. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 Geez why didnt I think of that! Haha, Kingman is right...you may wanna read the FSM section regarding checking stored engine codes which may shed some light on the issue as well...I know that the first time my O2 sensor went out it did not throw the CEL on the dash...but due to the terrible fuel mileage and poor running conditions I opted to check the codes and there it was...Replaced and I am back up to the 153 HP that I am so fond of lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 2k pulling a hill is not okay for these motors. They aren't V8s. Most of us here can't pull a hill in top gear and keep speed. 4th or 3rd is pretty typical. That being said... along with the ignition tune-up stuff have you checked/replaced the fuel filter, O2 sensor, and checked the timing? Also a good throttle body and intake clean usually helps as was said above. X2 Certainly clean the throttle body (can't hurt) but my first thought was timing, followed by compression check. How many miles on it? 2k in 5th is dogging it for sure! the 32" tires don't help, but swap in some stock 4.63 gears as well... Kansas has hills? B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 15, 2015 Share Posted August 15, 2015 I just re read the OP... Timing is a huge thought...one that OF COURSE Precise would mention...But... Definitely scavenge a 463 set of gears or even a 490 set from an X.I have 463 gears in my 95 WD21 and 35's, it does great. Small loss in power but it is hardly noticeable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethantylerrice Posted August 15, 2015 Author Share Posted August 15, 2015 I did a full ignition tune up plugs wires cap and rotor, and the cat is brand new with a glasspack behind it as of last week. surprised me when I found two cats staged under there... have not checked the o2 sensor I have no codes so didn't even think about it. It has around 230k planning on checking the fuel filter tomorrow; aswell as taking the intake off and doing a little cleaning/ gasket matching. If I swap some lower gears in the axles i'm nervous about loosing my top end speed on the highway. Right now it will do 70 at 250 rpm under 3k... not the most comfortable engine speed to me, but it is only half before red line. Lines up with where my american trucks run at. and yes Kansas has hills... its FAR from flat plains out here (unless your in western Kansas).. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalbaron Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 How long have you owned it? If you've recently bought it and are not familiar with a 3.0l then it's probably normal. Mine tacs out at 3250 rpm at 70 mph, bigger hills I have downshift to 4th gear. Mines a 90 se with 31x10.50 tires (stock size). Just want to make sure your not trying to fix "normal". All the other guys are right on the money with there recommendations. I would be inclined to check compression and leak down percentage if you truly feel there is a lack of power and the o2 and mass airflow sensor are ok. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mechanicalbaron Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Yeah, forgot fuel filter. Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 16, 2015 Share Posted August 16, 2015 Come to think of it...the glasspack may not present enough exhaust back pressure...But then again if you have both cats still in place it should create some... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ethantylerrice Posted August 16, 2015 Author Share Posted August 16, 2015 pressure is good in all cylinders. and yeah iv'e had it for like 5 months.. probably overthinking a normal running engine. I'm used to mopar they get ****** with it. even the straight 6. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmoore4512 Posted August 17, 2015 Share Posted August 17, 2015 It is possible that it is running just as intended. Unfortunately these things were underpowered from the factory...And yes...the slant six was a solid motor...Then again so was the 300 inline Ford had... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkyonbass Posted August 28, 2015 Share Posted August 28, 2015 My 94 se auto with 4.63 gears was struggling a bit in the low rev range (and towing a trailer recently really showed it)... Come to find out that my intake boot was leaking from a few hairline splits in it... And the tubes going to it were cracking... I did do many of the mentioned things here... Clean the throttle body, maf, new air filter, changed my coolant temperature sensor, and throttle position sensor, and cleaned a bunch of connectors... That all made a huge difference... But the icing on the cake was the intake boot (tube that goes from the maf to the throttle body)... Definite increase in power and response... No lugging either... It hasn't run this good in years... Mine has 235k on it and still drives like a champ... So all this to say... check to make sure you don't have a leak somewhere in your intake system... Any air that the maf doesn't see will make the engine run less than its potential and rob you of power and efficiency... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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