LUVTruck.com

Lately I've noticed that my LUV is REALLY lacking power. I mean it was never a highway flyer but now its just becoming ridiculous. I just can't figure out why though. Heres the breakdown:

It idles fine, doesn't miss in any range, doesn't sputter.

Going up a hill though, if I even try going into 3rd I'm finished. It acts the way most normal cars would act if you tried to go up a hill in 5th while doing like 30 MPH. So instead I have to hit the hill as fast as possible and keep it in 2nd all the way up. Almost every type of hill. I look like a total wierdo with the engine screaming murder going up a hill at 30 in 2nd.

Any ideas? I thought it might be a compression issue but I'm not sure. I know I need a new clutch sometime soon but I'm not noticing any clutch slip. The engine doesn't sound like its revving higher than it should given the speed and gear that I'm in. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated guys

Mine did the same thing, I discovered that one of the spark plug gaps had closed to a dead short. This power loss is more noticable with a 4 banger. Dropping one cylinder kills 25 % of the power!

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1980 4X4 LUV

sounds like time for a tune up....that might catch the problem. check the timing also.

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03Cobra

I would think about looking around your distrubutor...at idol..pull your vacume advance hose and see if it changes your idol any...if so...change your vacune advance.....but first make sure your getting vacume !..Like luv4me was saying" tune up". It also could be that your intake gasket is leaking....have you had your carb or intake off lately??

Thanks for the responses so far guys... nope haven't had my intake or carb off ever. I'll try squirting some carb cleaner around the intake sealing surfaces and see if I notice any leaks though. What kills me is that I did the whole ignition tune up not too long ago, including the plugs and wires and all that. Oh well, guess I'll take another look at it. Thanks again guys, and keep posting if anyone has any other ideas.

check out your fuel pumpm it maybe going south

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don`t have the luv no more but I still like em.72 el camino,
00 & 06 silverado one 4x4, turboed vw sandrail,99 banshee, 06 raptor 700, 02 polaris trailblazer.

check the fuel filter. Mine had no power at all and didnt whant to run, i changed a $3 part and its running great. Also check your air cleaner.

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1980 LUV 4x4, going under re-construction...

All sound advice. My experience with fuel delivery probs (pumps, clogged filters, etc) is that you'd have a high RPM die off after a given amount of time at high RPM. Basically it cuts out hard when you burn through all the gas in the carb bowl and stalls for a few seconds before it catches up again. I've had more major problems in that area though, so a minor clog might be a bit less obvious, but I'd think winding it out in 2nd would show more of a problem than running 50 in 4th.

Sounds more like an ignition or vacuum thing to me. Points, coil, coil wire, weak plug on one or more cylinders, dirt/crud in cap causing bridges or shorts. Plug off all the vac lines you can find to check though, especially the air cleaner stuff like the flapper for the hot air intake. Make sure you label as you go though.

Another thing that jumped into my head was if you happen to still have a catalytic converter on it, it may be plugged up. Usually this is a high RPM thing no matter what gear you're in, and it has symptoms like hot smells and such from what I've heard. My 86 trooper is the first thing I've owned that had one on it and it hasn't plugged so I don't know first hand what you'd be dealing with.

This time of year for some of us is water in the gas time too. Just another thought.