Uphill Struggle 2.7L

I have a '03 4 cylinder 2.7L 4wd ext cab taco. We have a hill in Nashville that is a 9% grade and when going up in 4th gear it cannot keep pace but the mph will slow down until I downshift to 3rd to get some more power. Is this normal for these trucks?

Noticeable on the highway too when going over hills that it will slow down substantially when going over big hills but once on the down slope I am home free.

Is this just the nature of having a 4 cylinder? Use to driving a v6 4runner and v8 5.9 dodge. Thoughts?

 

I just feel underpowered.

 

Depending on the speed you are trying to maintain (most people tend to short-shift anyways), tire size, and weight in the bed... yes, it's possible you'll need to drop down out of 4th to maintain speed.

 

Are you flooring it? It should downshift on its own if you floor it to keep speed up as it bogs. Wait - I thought you said automatic but I don't see that you did. Yes, if manual, you may well have to downshift to make enough power.

It's actually a pretty good 4, but yes, a 4 does have to work harder (and you may have to drive it harder) to do the "same stuff" a bigger engine does. Drinks less, though.

 

So.... 9% grade... meaning it goes up 9 feet for every 100 feet it goes forward? That doesn't seem too steep... how fast are you going? I mean, downshifting on an incline is pretty common. My v-6 downshifts all the time. Sometimes i just hit the o/d off button and do it myself since it annoys me when it just decides when it want to do it. Also, if you have ECT try turning it off. I found my truck shifts a lot more on hills with ECT on.

Speaking of that, i've always wondered. Going up hill on the highway, let's say i'm cruising at 2.2k rpm, now i hit the incline and the revs climb to 2.7k rpm. seems like i downshifted. but then i hit o/d off and it climbs to 3.1k rpm..... So if that was the down shift from 4->3 what was the jump in revs prior to that?

 

Is down shifting really that hard? A lot of 2.7 drivers seem to thing its a hit on their man card of something

 

A good tune-up could help...new wires, plugs, air filter, oil change, checking vacuum lines etc.. Do you keep top notch maintenance on your truck?

 

higher compression pistons, new cams, garrett turbo charger, 1uz-fe.... all would help too.

 

Had a 3.0 v6 auto 4Runner totally stock. Often called the 3.slow for good reason. It used to kick down and rev like crazy on even lower grades. Loose speed, dog off the line when trying to merge. Just a matter of gearing, power band, load etc.

Same with your truck possibly. Everything I've seen on the 2.7 says it is a great engine. My only actual experience with one was test driving a 4x4 2011 model at the dealer. No hills or anything just city streets. That particular truck felt underpowered. Had the same sort of feeling the old 4Runner did, but maybe slightly worse. Drove back to the dealer and test drove a v6. Worlds of difference!

Would say it is going to vary a bit by truck, but being an xtra cab 4x4 I would think that you would have to use the gears more to keep speeds and move the load needed more often than a v6 truck. Sounds pretty normal to me.

Also, if you've added tall tyres to the truck, if I'm not confused on direction this early AM, that is going to have the effect of reducing the numeric ratio of the gears. So, when your truck hits a hill it does not have the gearing multiplication it did to get you up the hill. As such you might have to shift down more often than you would have with standard tyres.

 

It's a manual. Trying to maintain 45 on the 9 percent grade. Highway maintaining 70 or 75 but in 5 th gear. Thanks for the posts. Seems normal.

 

I just sold my '99 xcab 2.7L. I absolutely loved that truck. Wish I could have kept it, but I just needed something bigger because yes, it was flat-out underpowered for the towing and hauling I've been doing. I had that truck in the central Rockies, routinely driving over 10,000 ft passes. I can't tell you how often I downshifted to "attempt" to maintain speed. Mostly it didn't even help on those sustained grades. A 9% grade is pretty steep. Even a 7% grade worked my 4-banger hard (like 50 mph max in 3rd gear), but that was a ten-mile long grade (Eisenhower Tunnel). Anyway, if you're dissatisfied with the lack of sustained speed, then get a different truck. I didn't enjoy it all the time, but it worked like a mule, never stranded me for 140,000 miles, and took me to some beautiful places all over the country.

 

what size tires?

i have to kick down to 4th, even 3rd sometimes depending on the grade here in az, with my added weight.

 

Not sure what size but I do know they are the biggest tires you can put on without doing a lift and they are BF A/Ts.

 

It's your torque converter unlocking. Normal.

 

Ya, get used to it....drop a gear and let her work. You can't kill that 2.7. I have been working on it for 218,000 miles

I have an automatic and I let it downshift on it's own and then hit the o/d button and make it work till we reach the top.

I take dam good care of her though. Synthetics down every orifice and routine cleaning of the K&N. Map sensor and throttle body cleaning as needed. She keeps on running like a top...

 

As I said, having to shift down with what you have seems normal. Those big tyres will tend to magnify the issue though as assumption is that "big" also means taller.

 

The 2.7 is peaking around 4000-4500 rpm. Shift to keep it near there if you need maximum power.

 

Agreed, synthetic lube in the orifices makes the ol girls happy

 

That seems like a pretty high RPM to maintain for a length of time, excessive wear and fuel consumption.

On steep grades I like a gear where I can maintain 2000-2500 RPM comfortably without having to push too far down on the accelerator.

On a steep grade don't let your RPMs drop below 2000. Lugging an engine is one of the worst things you can do to it.

 

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