2009 H3 in the UAE

[JHelzer]

Hi there,

I've been trolling through the forums for a while and recently picked up a 2009 H3 (3.7l). I live in Al Ain in the UAE so the chances of meeting any of you in person is slim.

There is a good chance however that I'll be picking your collective brains regarding a few modifications to make the girl desert ready. For example, the rev limiter seems to kill engine power when I'm half way up reasonably steep dunes. I'm thinking a PCM re-tune might solve that.

Anyways, thanks for the invite and I'll talk to you later.

John

 

[3Hummers]

Welcome to H4O.

 

[RazorbackH3]

Welcome from Michigan!

 

[amrg]

A pcm tune can take care of that easily. But IIRC you can keep the truck in gear and that allows you to rev to any rpm you want.

Those limiters are there for a reason, the trans doesnt like revving at high rpms alot as internal parts will easily break (and its easy to get rpms up fast with lose sand)

 

[Bigunit]

Welcome.

 

[Renagade132]

Welcome from New Jersey!!!

 

[JHelzer]

Thanks for the info.

I don't necessarily want to remove the rev limiter. I kept the truck in gear and then part way up the hills, it seemed to lose power. I didn't think I was hitting the redline and I wasn't getting much wheel spin. It almost felt like the engine stopped getting fuel when I asked for it. People watching were asking why I was letting off the gas.

Anyways, I'll take it back out and play some more. I might have been mishandling the truck and just need to figure out how she wants to run.

John

A pcm tune can take care of that easily. But IIRC you can keep the truck in gear and that allows you to rev to any rpm you want.

Those limiters are there for a reason, the trans doesnt like revving at high rpms alot as internal parts will easily break (and its easy to get rpms up fast with lose sand)

 

[amrg]

Thats your traction control kicking in. I ysed to get the same symptoms as I experemented with different modes on/off. At the top of the hill the rpms would drop as you stated.
If you hold the TC button for 2-3 seconds you remove only the first part of it and you get exactly the symptoms you just described! Powering down as if you are a jet plane after landing.
You need to hold the Traction control button for longer (+5 seconds) until you get a second msg (stabyl sys off). Then you're fine.

 

[JHelzer]

Thanks a ton! I thought I had turned it off, but if that is true, I will be a very happy camper. It's embarrassing being the only car that can't make it up a hill

John

 

[cory9oh4]

Welcome!

 

[Big2dabank]

I agree thats its the traction control trying to kick in and disabling it will certainly help. I override traction control in my H2 by just lightly riding/tapping the brake with my left foot, not enough to engage the brake, just enough to keep the TC from kicking in, not sure if that works on the H3 or not, but I would think so. I can also engage my front and rear locker which will fool TC, since all four wheels are spinning around the same speed, but thats not ideal to be spinning all four wheels at high speed when both diffs are locked, especially if there is any chance one wheel could get binded or grab traction all of a sudden.

 

[cbetts]

Thanks for the info.

I don't necessarily want to remove the rev limiter. I kept the truck in gear and then part way up the hills, it seemed to lose power. I didn't think I was hitting the redline and I wasn't getting much wheel spin. It almost felt like the engine stopped getting fuel when I asked for it. People watching were asking why I was letting off the gas.

Anyways, I'll take it back out and play some more. I might have been mishandling the truck and just need to figure out how she wants to run.

John

Almost sounds like the traction control (engine, not brake) kicking in. Have you tried disengaging T/C? Are you running Hi-Lock?

 

[Stoic Bluejay]

Welcome and good luck with the dunes!

 

[JHelzer]

Almost sounds like the traction control (engine, not brake) kicking in. Have you tried disengaging T/C? Are you running Hi-Lock?

Thanks for the responses everyone.

I fiddled a bit and I am pretty sure I had the traction control fully off. I was getting the system off message on my display. It definitely felt like the engine was lugging out. If I remember, I had the truck in locked high but I did have it manually in first which probably led me to hitting the rev limiter earlier than if I had left it alone.

Other vehicles I have driven have needed me to manually select the gears. I think the Hummer's transmission is going to want me to leave it alone.

I hope to get out into the desert again over the coming weeks and play some more.

Take care,

John