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No power on hills


2trux

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Hi all, on my 89 2.9l I have a serious lack of power while going up a grade.
This weekend we went up to the mountains to get a tree. On every upgrade the truck seriously slowed down. As we got near our destination and the road got steeper I could barely maintain 20MPH in second gear. When we got to the top the truck died and was hard to restart. I started and with the throttle applied would run up to 2000RPM then slowly die. After this it would not restart until it sat for 5 min. It would then start and run for 15 sec then die away. (At this point I depressed the valve on the fuel rail and gas sprayed out)
After letting it sit for 1 hr while looking for a tree it started back up and seemed to be running OK again. The next problem was as we were coming down the hill the idle speed in neutral was 2100RPM, this makes for poor engine braking.
When I got back to town there is a 4 mile 2-3% upgrade, by the top I was at 35 MPH in third gear.
The truck runs great on the flats and downhill.
This seems to me to be a fuel supply issue and I have ordered a new filter.
This was on a full tank of gas and total round trip mileage was about 150.

Any other ideas on what might be the issue?

Thanks.
 
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RonD

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Couple of things come to mind.
Fuel filter is a good guess, but the no start issue wouldn't fit that.
Excessive negative pressure in the fuel tank, EVAP system sucks air from fuel tank using engine vacuum, if too much pressure is created fuel flow slows down, loosen gas cap to test for this.
Clogged exhaust, but I would expect that to also show up at highway speeds on flat ground, and wouldn't cause a no start

Spark advance isn't working as it should
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/TFI_Diagnostic.shtml
But no start thing wouldn't fit

MAP(manifold absolute pressure) sensor isn't working as it should, since you are also going up in altitude the outside air pressure is changing so MAP sensor could effect power and maybe cause a no start .
MAP is on the firewall passenger side toward the middle, it has an electrical connector and a vacuum hose, check that vacuum hose carefully.
MAP sensor is the big kahuna sensor that tells computer how much fuel it needs to add to the air coming in to the engine.

Was there any pinging while going up the hills?

EGR system adds exhaust gases to the intake when engine is under a load, to little exhaust causes pinging to much causes loss of power, but the no start thing wouldn't fit unless EGR valve was stuck wide open.

Elephant in the room is your piston's rings, low compression = low power under load
Vacuum gauges are cheap, $25, and can tell you alot about engine condition
Good read here on tests you can do: http://www.gregsengine.com/using-a-vacuum-gauge.html
2.9l should be 150+ psi on a compression test
 
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2trux

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Thanks for the input.
The filter is supposed to come on Wed. After it is installed I will throw the vac gauge on it and see what it is doing.
I am considering rebuilding this engine before I sell my spare car, but it might be handy to know the compression of each cylinder before I start.
The engine leaks oil and probably has a bajillion miles on it, which is a good enough reason to refresh it.
There was no pinging under load, and all the vac hoses look good.
The engine temp seems very low on the guage, perhaps it needs a new thermostat also.
 

RonD

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No pinging would mean it was running rich or spark was not advanced enough for best power.
Make sure SPOUT connector hasn't fallen out or is loose.
Disconnecting SPOUT connector allows you to set base spark timing without TFI module advancing the spark timing, so if it was accidentally disconnected there would be limited spark advance.
 

2trux

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I will take a look at it.
 

cavedweller

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If you have two ....Are BOTH fuel pumps working?.....Mine displayed the same symptoms ...The high pressure fuel pump was NOT working ....
 

2trux

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I don't know if it has 2 pumps. Where would the out of tank pump be located.
I did have proper fuel pressure when the truck was running on the driveway, but it is hard to test while on the highway.
 

RonD

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I think '87 was the last year of dual pumps.
Second pump would be next to the fuel filter, under drivers seat area
 

2trux

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When I got back to town there is a 4 mile 2-3% upgrade, by the top I was at 35 MPH in third gear.
I replaced the fuel filter and was able to make it up a hill with twice the grade and didn't go below 55 in 4th gear.
This still seems under powered for a V6, what do you think?
I still am planning to check compression when I get a tester & time. I am also planning to pull the engine at the end of the month since it leaks oil and has LOUD lifter noise. I guess I'll see at that point if it needs a total rebuild or just some valvetrain parts.
 

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