85DolphInColorado Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I am a new owner of an 85 Toyota RV. It has the 4 cylinder FI engine and the auto-trans with over drive. I have some concerns regarding it power or torque, not sure which and I am wondering if someone can help with determining what the actual problem is. Here is the symptom: when I slowly pull into my uphill driveway and am careful about bottoming out and my rear wheels are up against the curb stopped, I cannot get the RV over the curb and continue uphill. I can floor it and the engine will rev some, but seems to bog down. It revs fine in neutral, but when I put it in drive and give it gas it goes no where. If I back away from the curb and get it rolling forward I can manage to get beyond the curb and up the driveway OK. I had the same problem camping, I needed to turn around, I was on a dirt road, and headed into a field with a moderate down hill grade, gave it gas in reverse for the turn around, and it did not deliver the power needed to back up the grade, took three people to push her uphill for the turn around. Highway travel here in Colorado has been OK, I have managed to maintain speeds on mountain passed, although not the most severe, managed Monument pass at speeds of near 45 MPH. So if I have momentum everything seems fine. It is all about the ability to manage grades from a stopped position. Any feed back would be greatly appreciated ............. thanks ............. Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WME Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 What your experiencing is known as converter stall. It is NOT a failure of anything. You just don't have enough power to get things moving under a heavy load condition. All the cures are $$$. They are...... 1. Bigger engine, reduces MPG 2. A high stall torque converter, reduces MPG 3. A higher rear axle ratio I.E. instead of your 4.1 install a 4.88, reduces MPG 4 Fix your driveway, same mpg The first thing to due is a complete tuneup on your engine to make sure its giving you the most power it can. Increasing MPG Your starting with 108 hp and loose 3% for every 1000ft of altitude density. In the summer in Denver at 90 degrees your down about 28% so your working with about 75hp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dalbery Posted May 19, 2012 Share Posted May 19, 2012 I lost no mpg when I switched to 4.88 gears, but I have a V6 auto. I don't know if the 22r is the same. I would recommend the 4.88's. It does make a big improvement in driveability. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85DolphInColorado Posted May 19, 2012 Author Share Posted May 19, 2012 What your experiencing is known as converter stall. It is NOT a failure of anything. You just don't have enough power to get things moving under a heavy load condition. All the cures are $. They are...... 1. Bigger engine, reduces MPG 2. A high stall torque converter, reduces MPG 3. A higher rear axle ratio I.E. instead of your 4.1 install a 4.88, reduces MPG 4 Fix your driveway, same mpg The first thing to due is a complete tuneup on your engine to make sure its giving you the most power it can. Increasing MPG Your starting with 108 hp and loose 3% for every 1000ft of altitude density. In the summer in Denver at 90 degrees your down about 28% so your working with about 75hp. Very interesting post, thanks for the thoughtful reply. I have already done most all that I can do with a comprehensive tuneup. Adjusted the valves, new valve cover gasket,end plugs, PCV & gasket, cap, rotor, spark plugs and plug wires, timing and idle speed adjustment. Replaced all of the vacuum lines and hoses, oil filter, synthetic oil, trans filter, gasket, synthetic trans fluid, differential fluid change too. I still have the fuel filter to change out, brake lines to flush,, and coolant flush to complete. The other thing I want to do is the throttle body reconditioning that I was reading about on this forum. I am glad to hear there is nothing unusual about this condition, as I was worried there was something catastrophic going on. I drive and do my own work on an Audi allroad which is a great more difficult to get things done on. I love working on this thing, it is my first Toyota ever, and it really is nice to be able to get at everything. Again thanks for the feedback ............ Brian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dank Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Hey 85DolphinColorado, Have you done a compression check? Sounds like you know your way around an engine, but I don't think you're getting as much torque out of that engine as what you should be getting. I assume your engine is a 22RE. I'd check [warm] compression first, and if it's not pretty even across all 4 and at least 140 in each, then I'd do a leakdown test to see whether problems are in the head (valves) or in the block (rings or cylinders). You could also have injector / fuel issues that cause a lean condition. A lean engine will rev nicely with no load but stall more easily under load. If the compression checks out good, and your spark plugs look like you're getting the appropriate fuel mixture, then I'd start thinking about WME's suggestions... You could pick up a bit of extra torque and horsepower with an aftermarket camshaft and exhaust system, but it wouldn't be a night-and-day change. Just my 2 cents, Dan Dan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
waiter Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 Sounds normal - Monument pass at 45 mph sounds like your doing very good. I made the climb up east bound I-70 to the Eisenhower Johnson tunnel (elevation 11,200 ft) in first gear at 25 mph. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maineah Posted June 21, 2012 Share Posted June 21, 2012 What your experiencing is known as converter stall. It is NOT a failure of anything. You just don't have enough power to get things moving under a heavy load condition. All the cures are $$$. They are...... 1. Bigger engine, reduces MPG 2. A high stall torque converter, reduces MPG 3. A higher rear axle ratio I.E. instead of your 4.1 install a 4.88, reduces MPG 4 Fix your driveway, same mpg The first thing to due is a complete tuneup on your engine to make sure its giving you the most power it can. Increasing MPG Your starting with 108 hp and loose 3% for every 1000ft of altitude density. In the summer in Denver at 90 degrees your down about 28% so your working with about 75hp. This^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
86rader Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 Sounds normal - Monument pass at 45 mph sounds like your doing very good. I made the climb up east bound I-70 to the Eisenhower Johnson tunnel (elevation 11,200 ft) in first gear at 25 mph. John Mc 88 Dolphin 4 Auto What ^^^^^ said. Sounds to me like you got a good runner. 45 mph uphill on any decent grade is pretty good. I've done my fair share of 1st gear slogs on our trip out west to know this is true. You just need to be aware of your toyhouse's limitations and not put it in a position where you get stuck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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