3FE Power, or Lack There Of??? (1 Viewer)

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Joined
Mar 13, 2003
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Location
North Front Range, CO
I took the 62 out to CO and when going up Vail Pass and climbing up to Eisenhower Tunnel the stock 62 would drop down to 40 mph.
Is this normal for the 3FE?
 
My parents made the same comment when they borrowed my 62 to drive out to Vegas. I think my Dad's comment was that "We were doing about 40mph up this long hill and were passed by a little old lady in a Camry who had one hand on the horn and one finger out the window". :flipoff2:
I have since driven to Prescott (about 5,000ft elevation) and had no problem staying at 65 - 70 mph. Did ya give it plenty of right boot?
 
What tire size were you turning? Hauling anything?

You think it's bad in a 62? Try it in a FJ80.
 
landtoy80 said:
I took the 62 out to CO and when going up Vail Pass and climbing up to Eisenhower Tunnel the stock 62 would drop down to 40 mph.
Is this normal for the 3FE?

I have the same experience. I think it is normal. However, I find climbing up to the tunnel quite a bit more difficult for my 62 than Vail Pass.
 
It has stock size tires and the vehicle was unloaded.
If I had more foot in it, I would of pushed my foot through the rusty floor boards :D

I now have to make the trip back out there with the 62 towing a Uhaul trailer full of my crap as I am moving out to Rifle CO.
 
40 might be low, I usually drop down to about 50-55 in my 89 going up Eisenhower
 
Similar experience in a '88 on I-17 on the climb from Black Canyon City, AZ to Sunset point. This experience lead me to post a thread with my compression numbers. I am running 32 BFGs muds on stock rims, no lift. I hope some new ignition parts help the beast.
 
AZLC said:
Similar experience in a '88 on I-17 on the climb from Black Canyon City, AZ to Sunset point. This experience lead me to post a thread with my compression numbers. I am running 32 BFGs muds on stock rims, no lift. I hope some new ignition parts help the beast.


AZLC, As I have mentioned before I am no mechanic but I adjusted my kick down cable making sure that there is 1/8 to 1/4 of an inch gap between the tip of the outer cable and the bottom of the small crushed crimp that is on the inner cable per the instructions of Rodney from Wholesale Automatic Transmissions in South Australia. I started at the 1/8 inch gap and went up to the 1/4 inch gap. With the 1/4 inch gap the revs I experienced between 2nd and 3rd is gone and the truck dowshifts much better and will hold 60mph up that climb up from Black Canyon City. This kickdown cable adjustment is very different than what the FSM states but it worked for me.
 
You can try manually downshifting at the bottom of the hill.
If that works to keep the speed up, then try the kickdown cable fix.
If not, then you know there's something else up you need to take care of first.
Older torque converters can can wear out from repeated hillclimbs. The outer tips of the turbine vanes erode, and fluid starts to bypass the turbine, thus decreasing the amount of engine torque that makes it to the transmission. Only real fix is a new TC.
More likely, though, is the trans is slipping just enough to slow you down. Dealership will flush for around $50- 75, and 9 times out of ten, no more slip for another 80k miles. You should do this every 36k - 50k miles anyway, as preventative maintenance.
 

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