Lacking Power

Maybe it's just me, but my 73 cj5 (6 cylinder) has barely any power going up a hill in third gear. You can have the thing floored and you go no where. Is this ordinary, or is something wrong with my jeep?

 

i wouldnt think that its **normal** other than the usual uphill lugging that any vehicle will exhibit...

maybe check your fuel filter..

my dad always told me to check the easiest and cheapest things to fix first...

good luck... some things are just mysterious to figure out...

like where i put my 1/2 empty last nite

keep us posted!

 

The 258 with 3.73s and tall tires is not a powerhouse. Plus the 2nd gear downshift of the 258 isn't very useful.

If you have good compression, and the engine is in tune, that's pretty much what you get. What speeds, which axle ratio, how tall are your tires, and how much of a hill?

 

It depends on how steep a hill you're talkig about. My 80 Cj-5 came with 258, 3.54's and I ran 31's for a long time and was never dissapointed. It was never a power house by any means but the highway performance was very acceptable. The terrain our highways are built on is not exactly flat and includes some pretty decent grades and I've never had to downshift going up the grades..

 

Y'all are assuming a 258, could be a 232, right? My 75 232 didn't like hills very much, but I'd just drop a gear and go along for the ride and it always got me to the top

 

Well, it certainly has a 258 in it. When I notice having the most trouble is going down the highway. When I go up a moderate incline it'll drop from 65 to about 55 floored in 3rd gear. I'm not sure of what the axle ratio is (how do you tell?) but I've got 31's on it now. I know my jeep isn't a powerhouse, but it seems to me that there should be a little more than what it's putting out?

 

There still may be small steel tags bolted to the diff cover with the diff cover bolts. Is the engine stock? How many miles on the engine?