hey there everyone been a huge fan of the forum and always go here first if I needed any ideas or help so i made am account! But to get down to business I have a 1988 runner sr5 that is supposed to have 3.slow but instead has a rebuilt 22r with about 60kish, and I'm haveing some problems with power. I'm On 31x10.50 with a 4inch and first through third are golden on flat ground and 4th gets pretty rough and can barley maintain 60ish with my foot to the floor and I've never even seen 5th gear since I bought it a year ago and yes I know its a 4cyl and a 22r but I feel like I should still be able to cruise 75 on the highway and be able to pull a hill without downshifting to second what are some things I could do for some simple power gains or what could my problem be? THANKS!!!

 

Yes you should be able to do 75+ mph without issues in 5th gear. Sounds like something else is the culprit and you need to get it running on-par with a stock unit, not a need for power upgrades.

 

If your truck did have a 3.0 in it and they put a 22r (carb) in it makes me wonder how good of a job they did and if it was done right. The 22r seems to have a little more difficulty getting to 75 in my experience over the fuel injected.

I have two fuel injected trucks with 31s and get to 75 on a daily basis with no problems.

 

Well it does have a Webber carb and I'm not entirely sure if it is a 32/36 or a 38 and I do know that Webber's are a bit better performance wise then the stock, I just cleaned out the carb inside and out and replaced the fuel filter and have seen a bit of a gain but nothing substantial, is it possible the carb isn't tuned right or that there is a secondary valve shut stuck? It does also make a very faint hiss when you rev it.

 

Wow here I was happy to be able to hit 60mph going down a long hill.

I needed to come up the hill to my place in second gear in every vehicle I had the 22R series engines in but the Celica`s

You flat landers could be misleading the OP

Then I ran 235/75/15 tires in the 4x4 vehicles.

When was your last good tune up /fuel filter change??

I am curious maybe your pulling fuel through the old fuel pump ??

Do you have the mechanical fuel pump on the right side of the engine??

Did you rebuild the engine ?? Some peoples idea of rebuilding engines can be strange at best.

One considered a tune up to be rebuilding the engine!!!!

How much extra weight do you lug around??

Tire pressure and tire compound tread design can effect performance

Then it is a 4 cylinder

 

I bought the truck with all receipts of the rebuilt and it is a rebuilt motor fresh block new pistons , rings gaskets and all, and I just did a tune up with new wires, plugs , both gear boxes were serviced along with the tranny and fuel filter was done along with a good carb cleanjng , but I do have an after market trail gear bumper in the front and a roof rack so that could be about 500lbs in extra weight, so that could be it, I would like to run some 33s but I'm worried I won't have enough to push them, any ideas for a gain in power to push 33s?

 

Hissing? Check for vacuum leaks.
Make sure you've got the initial timing set for the correct distributor type.

Does the distributor have a vacuum advance unit on it?
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong here but I think the R and RE-'s use different distributors with different advance curves.
Make sure you're running the correct amount of initial timing for a carbed distributor Vs. a FI distributor.

If it does have a vacuum advance on the distributor make sure it's hooked to the right port, the diaphragm isn't blown, and there are no leaks in the line. If the diaphragm is blown you have a vacuum leak.

 

It does have a vacuum advance and the lines seem to be in good shape, if the diaphragm is blown am I gonna need to reset the vacuum advance if I replace it?

 

This was from a one way converstion with the State Trooper that I had in my 88 22re 5 speed. He got me at 83 mph. They will do 90 mph with a strong motor and everything in tip top shape. After that they start loosing speed. The carbed motors I dont think will do it. Just to keep up with the flow of traffic the other day I was doing 85 in my 86 runner. It was getting wound up at that speed and flat land.

 

It would be a good idea to check the initial timing NOW, before or after any distributor work.
Follow the factory service manual directions to be sure it's correct.

If the timing mark is bouncing around when you're checking it you've got more problems.

 

I was talking about the terrain not the speed you can get up to.

I don`t have a long enough straight flat stretch to get going that fast.

Added wind resistance will effect performance.

Thinking about this more seldom did I get into 5th gear unless going down hill. Gotta say the 3.4 has me spoiled!!

**** I also tend to forget my vehicles pretty much are always used for work so it is easy that mine will weigh in much heavier then most others on here. Tools plus another box of welding gear 200 feet of 01 welding cable the weight adds up fast.

 

Ive got an 81 DLX longbed 4x4 with 31s, a rebuilt 21RU, 32/36 Weber and a try y header And I can gain speed pulling a hill in 5th. The trick is in the tune

 

First thing to check is timing chain marks are correct, then move to ignition timing and check if mechanical advance is doing its job,foeget about vacuum advance doesnt do nothing when your flooring it.next your exhaust doesnt have any restriction and finally your weber A/F "airfuel" is not to lean