Engine/Transmission (1998.5 - 2002) power in lockup

[Tractorat]

I think Im noticing a little loss of power, at least in lockup. It is definitely locking up. But, before, it seems like I could feel extra power in lockup when going up a hill. I dont think I feel that anymore.

I have a EZ box that I installed in 03. If the EZ box fails, will the truck still run, but with less power ? Or will it just quit ?

I dont have a fuel gauge. But, I do have the led that is supposed to lite up if the fuel pressure goes below 5. Also, using the 3 key clicks, I dont have any codes

Thanks for any suggestions.

TRat

 

[Tractorat]

I guess nobody knows.

 

[RIT]

The torque converter could be getting weak and need replacement. A worn out converter will still lock up but will not be able to handle the power input and cause a loss of fuel mileage.

 

[KKlingbeil]

That really does seem strange to have less power in lockup. I have never had an edge product fail, but would think the truck would still run, but dont quote me on that. One easy thing to try would be disconnect the EZ and see if it feels exactly the same. Does the motor sound ok? Meaning no strange miss or vibrations or anything??

 

[Tractorat]

Motor sounds the same, no strange noises. Im not sure if my mileage has changed any. But, maybe I will have the torque converter taken a look at.



Thanks,

 

[KKlingbeil]

If the convertor is slipping while locked up, you can almost always feel some "shuddering. " Another way to check its not slipping is to find a back road, lock it out of OD and get the RPMS to around 1600-1700. Now put the go pedal to the floor and watch the tach. If it jumps up in rpm really fast without the speed to match, then its slipping.



How many miles on the truck/transmission? Do you pull a large load often?

 

[Tractorat]

About 85k on the truck. I have a 19 foot tt (I think its about 3500-4000l lbs when loaded) that I've been pulling for the last 9 years. Pulled it over the Cascades many times, up to Alaska, thru Utah (some steep hills there), Arizona, etc.

 

[Tractorat]

I should also mention what actually brought this to my attention.



A week ago, I was going up a pretty steep hill, one that I can usually handle in lockup, (OD turned off). I hit the hill at about 50 or 55 as usual. I dont remember how far up the hill I was. But, I started to slow down rather quickly, so I started trying to give it more gas. It took some to downshift into 2nd, but it go there and I was able to get up the rest of the hill no problem. (It seemed like an awful hard shift when it backed down into 2nd)



Coming home the next day, I had to go back over the hill from the other side. Although I couldn't make it in lockup, it did shift much more smoothly and easily down to 2nd when I needed it.



So, my wild guess is that the torque converter is probably OK. But, that I have an actual loss of power which is why I wonder about the EZ box.



Mike

 

[John - K5AWO]

When I sense the truck speed dropping off, I manually downshift my auto-transmission so that it won't be jumping back and forth.


Then I either allow the speed to drop off and maintain the correct RPMs, or I swallow the loss of mpg and up the RPMs to keep the same speed.


Worst thing you can do to your transmission is to have it in the zone where it don't want to stay in the same gear. Then it starts shifting back/forth. good way to ruin an auto transmission.


Check your turbo boost pressure. If there is a leak and you are not getting enough boost, what you describe is a likely result.


I have gauges and watch them like a hawk.

 

[Tractorat]

John,

Thanks for the advice on the turbo boost. Ill get someone to take a look at that.





When I was going up the hill, it just started the rapid deceleration and I tried to get it to downshift the way it is supposed to.



Yes, I will normally downshift manually to 2nd as well. This time, I just wanted to see what would happen. It really should have been able to not only stay in lockup, but accerate.



Mike

 

[KKlingbeil]

I would agree that it does seem more like a power issue and not so much a transmission issue. As John said, check to make sure you dont have a boost leak, as that will cause a big loss in power. Have you noticed it smoking at all/more than normal?? Also, do you have enough fuel pressure to the injection pump? If that is low, it may seem fine while empty, but once you put a trailer on it and climb some hills you may be starving for fuel. You may also want to replace the fuel filter, which again could cause loss of flow to the injection pump. I would highly recommend installing a boost gauge, fuel pressure gauge, and a pyrometer, so you can keep an eye on everything. Good luck!!

 

[Tractorat]

You've given me some good ideas of where to check. I was trying to find when the last time I changed the fuel filter, and I will probably change it anyway this weekend. (although I thought that if I couldnt lite the LED, that fuel pressure was probably allright).



I can hear the turbo spin up, so I didnt think to look there (but I guess that, just because I can hear it, it doesnt necessarily mean that it doesnt have a leak)



Thanks again

 

[Tractorat]

Oh yeh. And I haven't noticed any smoking at all.

 

[cerberusiam]

Take it out and drive it hard as possible on hills and such, use all the throttle as many times as possible. When it pops a code I suspect you will see a P0216.

 

[ChrisOlson]

Tractor rat
edge boxes fail and from my experience with my edge comp the box does all kind of weird stuff when it happens the truck will run but if you remove the box the truck runs worse.

in my case it threw a code something about to much turbo air or something. it was a irrelevant code.

only thru trial and error did i figure out it was the edge comp. EDGE was great to deal with replaced it for free... .

I say this and cannot stress this enough get a FP gauge from genoes.

I personally know 2 people who have had the little red light system NOT work and had to replace their injection pump

and finally while in portland OR working for the last month my LP pump started acting up this was in addition to a loss of power. So I went to napa purchased another pump swapped it out power back truck ran great.

Vulcan performance in vancouver WA sells the LP pump for about 111 dollars i think much cheaper than napa ..... of course i figured this out after i purchased the napa pump.

I observe my Fuel pressure like a hawk and i use Howes additive I routinely run my truck and trailer at 18600 GVW and take all passes on i 90 or i 5 at 65 plus miles per hour in OD and lock at 2000 rpm never down shifts trans temp stays at about 140 degrees I have a AUTO. and have never had gelled fuel since i started using Howes

Boost, fuel, Pyro, and Trans temp gauges will tell you just about everything you need to know when driving the truck

my 2 cents worth

good luck