jandk2005

Ok, so ive read several threads about the 3.0 and altitude. I read them because yesterday was the Maiden voyage of my 1993 Runner up to the Mountains for a nice day of snow skiing.... and hopefully it wont be my last. But i dont know about that one.

Well, the day started out fine the Yoda ran great, i get up to about 3000 feet and it turned into a dog, by the 7000 feet mark, it just IS NOT going, runs fine, but i gotta spin 3k rpms to get up the smallest damn hill...... didnt over heat, didnt loose any water, i mean it all seemed normal to the 3.0 slow.

So being a little worried i kinda babied it back down the hill , until about 3000 feet when it came to life again, the lower i got the better it ran, got back to the valley at 100 ft of altitude, and it ran like a striped ass'd ape again. By this time im perplexed.

So i come home READ YOTATECH THREADS and come up with, something to the fact of " for every 1000 feet of elevation, you loose 3% horsepower " basically the damned 3.0 slow doesn,t have an altimeter and cant compensate for less 02 in the air????? If thats the case, what idiot designed the 3.0 slow and how do you fix it? because I DONT want this to be my last trip to the mountains, in the Yoda. I got mountain biking season this year to deal with. I DONT WANNA THROW THE BIKES ON THE HONDA!!!! HELPPPPPPP!

Funk_Runner

Mine runs great at 8150ft.

Is yours all stock? I've heard intake mods like FIPK suck at altitude.

jandk2005

yes got the K&N FIPK, with Downey Headers and 31x1050x15 BFG's , How on earth would more air flow from the FIPK cause it to run like crap? Its starving for 02 at that altitude, why would more 02 be bad??? im baffled at all of this really

Funk_Runner

More air does not necessarily mean more oxygen.
Anything more technical is beyond me.


I was considering the mod, but with frequent trips to 11K, I've reconsidered.
I wonder if the ISR mod has any negative aspects as a result of the altitude? I may have to put it to the test.

Some unrelated eye candy for you!

jandk2005

Nice eye candy, i got a 05 Trek 6500 Disc myself , guess a cool bike has to be on a cool Toyota! Hey, if the 3.0 slow fails, guess i can always ride home on the Trek

kyle_22r

it's fuel injected. the only thing the engine can do at high altitudes is lean out the mix the keep the air/fuel ratio ideal. at high altitudes, the air is thinner, and there is less oxygen. leaning it out IS the altitude compensation.

no fuel injected engine needs a compensator like some of the 22R powered trucks had, which would keep the engine from fouling the plugs at high altitudes.

in short, no matter what, you're gonna lose horsepower at higher altitudes, unless you have forced induction(which is why a lot of planes are supercharged).

91_4x4runner

So basically, go get an airplane engine and mount it on the 4Runner .

jandk2005

Boy, that would be some install! Would be a PITA to fill up at the airport every day!

tc

Do a search - there are several threads on turbocharging the 3VZE, which would be ideal for those of you who spend time at altitude **coughlysmachiacough**

ChickenLover

My 3.0 actually does pretty well where I live (5K ft). But yeah, at sea level it hauls ass.

Epic Ed

Sounds like a typical 3.0 to me. Any time I head up to Flagstaff (~7000 ft) it drops performance from "pitiful" to " Flintstones."

Ed

AH64ID

As you mentioned 3% of power is lost per thousand feet, so at 7000feet my 22RE is only pumping out 95hp. Oh well....nothing can be done about. Your O2 sensor actually does compensate for it, is leans the mixture, just like in an airplane (but its auto in the engine). Forced induction falls into the same boat, you have less O2, no matter what. But with forced induction you wont notice it as much as natural unless you are always WOT.

I have had my rig up to 9000 feet, just use one lower gear and keep the rpms up, you will be fine.

Your honda will have the same problem, it might be less noticible if the power to weight ratio is better.

Airplanes also have the same problem, the engine on the 777 produces up to 115000 pounds of thrust at sea level, and only 10% of that at altitiude..and thats a turbine engine.
The altitude compensator you are thinking of is only for carb engine, most snowmachines still have them. This leans the mixture also.

jandk2005

LOL, as i thought im probably stuck with no having no balls! well anyways, anyone wanna pipe in about any kinds of chips/programmers? thinking about a venom 400 or something along those lines??????

AH64ID

From what I have read the chips dont do much, your best bet is to open up the intake and exhaust.

motoracer47

uh, we are talking about the 3vze, correct? lol, i dont think i would ever consider this thing remotely fast, and im at almost sea level. its a good day when i can get out of my own way with the runner(bare in mind, dfw is probably the second most fast driving city behind LA, however im always passing people with cali plates here, so who knows,average highway speed here is 75-85). 4200lbs motivated by 150hp and 180tq will probably always be kinda slow guess it comes down to what your used to. not ragging on you, i just have never seen someone refer to these trucks as fast before. (unless im wrong in assuming striped ass'd ape means fast?) but seriously, this is by far the slowest, least powerfull(in relation to its weight)vehicle ive ever owned. i still like it, ill just like it alot more with a better engine in there, but im working on that

AH64ID

try one with 33's, 22RE and at 4,000 plus, trying to pull hills at 75mph....Heck, what am I saying, I couldn't even do 75 on the flats...and that was with gears, intake, exh, header, ignition, and a CAM...

jandk2005

ya i didnt mention that my other toy in the garage is my 68 Charger......... so when i compare my toyota to that and my patrol every day.......yah, no chance in being fast.........but as far as yotas go......passing someone at 80 is running like a striped ass ape!

Epic Ed

Your best bet is to suck it up, realize it's a 3.0, and deal with it. I regret nearly every engine mod I've done.

Ed

regularguy412

The 3.0 is no speed demon, especially in a heavy SUV like 2nd gen 4Runners. But I do love to drive it. It won't spin the tires, but does come off from a dead stop pretty well. It's biggest drawback seems to be that it doesn't 'have' a passing gear. Once you get up to 55-60 mph,, it just doesn't pull hard when trying to pass.

Mike in AR

91_4x4runner

Stick it in 4th gear at 55-60 and you can pass someone with ease... 5th gear is definitely powerless though...