Lack of power on hills

1945 - 196*, Willys CJ series, questions, discussions, regarding anything related to the post war jeep.®
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Uglybloke17
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Lack of power on hills

Post by Uglybloke17 » Sat Mar 25, 2023 2:22 pm

My cj3a seems to pull ok on the fllat, 40 mph with no issue, but loses power as soon as I hit an incline, struggles to stay above 20 mph, is this normal, if not what could be the issue, its got a new carb, new plugs, idles and runs great until the dreaded hill


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Rebel Walker
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Rebel Walker » Sat Mar 25, 2023 7:08 pm

First check the distributor cam dwell 42* or point gap 0.020" has not closed up.

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Scoutpilot
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Scoutpilot » Sat Mar 25, 2023 11:10 pm

You say it runs "great". What is your timing set at? Fuel? Ethanol or not? What is the Octane rating? Did you perform a tuneup, or just replace parts? Tire pressure? Are brakes set properly?
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Uglybloke17
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Uglybloke17 » Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:09 am

Thanks, I will check all these things out

Wolfman
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Wolfman » Sun Mar 26, 2023 4:33 am

Is the carb. linkage adjusted so with the gas pedal on the floor, is the carb. at full throttle or only partly open ?
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Bruce W
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Bruce W » Sun Mar 26, 2023 9:58 am

What kind of air cleaner are you running? If stock, has it been serviced lately? Are the oil level and dirt level correct? The cute little paper “hot rod” filters can be terribly restrictive.
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Uglybloke17
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Uglybloke17 » Sun Mar 26, 2023 12:40 pm

Running oil bath cleaner, all serviced recently, will check everything again

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Rebel Walker
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Re: Lack of power on hills

Post by Rebel Walker » Mon Mar 27, 2023 3:46 pm

Follow on from Bruce's comment - too much oil or too heavy grade in oil bath air cleaner will do it. What did you find with points?


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