H3 Incline touble in my in line 5 H3

[joekicksit]

So i have noticed that any time I am driving up on a constant incline on my way up to a mountain ( I am a rock climber and love the outdoors) my h3 really struggles to maintain speed.
On Friday night I was on my way up to Mt. High for my first time snowboarding and my buddy told me to take a short cut on a side road. He said it was only a short cut if I drove like 70 or 80 mph and I could barely maintain 55 mph. If I wanted to hit 60 mph I would hit about 4,000 to 4,500 RPM.
Is this simply because of the engine size or could there be another reason for the struggle up hill?
There were only 4 people in the car two guys and two girls both girls under 130 lbs and both us guys weigh less than 160 lbs each and just our snowboard gear no extra stuff in the H3.

 

[Highatop]

I guess, my first question is. what size tires are you runnin and how steep was the mtn?

 

[joekicksit]

265/75R16 and I think I remember seeing a sign saying 10 % grade or something like that on my way down that same road
This also happens going up the 60 E and 10 E to Mt San Jacinto ( I know your not from socal but I know other users on here are)
Also on other freeways that are going slightly uphill when I have been in other vehicles that do not struggle at all to maintain speed or go faster on these same high ways.
So I was wondering if this was a sign of something being wrong with my H3 or if there is anything I could do to fix this problem.

 

[chaos254]

Your driving a heavy box on wheels. I would say its normal especially with 4 people in the vehicle.

Sent from my TouchPad using Tapatalk

 

[06 H3]

Welcome to the world of a 5 banger. I've driven to mtn high for snowboarding before and when the weather is fine they nag on me for driving slow but they are much more grateful when we drive up while it's snowing. So many cars are wrapped around trees and stuck and we zipped on through.

My recommendation is switch to an alpha before your mods get to heavy or supercharge it. Air intake exhaust and tune is not going to do make a 20 mph difference up hill

 

[alrock]

Normal, unfortunately.

 

[Mr_Rich]

If you have an auto shift out of OD once the hill gets steep. That's what I do with my K1500 when I'm climbing grades and it has a 350. That's a start. I've hauled engines in the back of my 3T. Once I hit the steep grade I downshift to fourth (5M) and rev out to 3500 rpms. I think it does rather well considering the size and weight of my truck and I can maintain the speed limit or slightly higher. Don't bog it! That engine loves to rev!

 

[06 H3]

I drop mine into 3rd on climbs it helps and rich is right. These motors love to rev up.

 

[Kyle]

what year is your h3 because in 2006 they had the 3.5 liter and 2007 they switched to a 3.7 liter which had 242hp instead of the 220hp of the 3.5. it makes a little difference in power but not much.

 

[rascole]

I have driven that incline many times. Your problem seems worse than normal. I have an 06 and do not have that kind of trouble and I have 35"s. You may need a good tune up. Never hurts to do some spring cleaning to your motor before the upgrades. I bought mine with 106,000 miles and it made a noticeable difference. Here is what i did.
1. Full fluid change and inspection. Engine, TC, diff's, power steering, brakes, & coolant. Cheap insurance.
2. Clean MAF sensor and throttle body. Good how to threads here.
3. New spark plugs. Stick with AC Delco.
4. Clean the fuel injectors. If you have some skills you can do it your self.
After that then you can move on to the upgrades. But this is a great place to start.

 

[Kyle]

I have driven that incline many times. Your problem seems worse than normal. I have an 06 and do not have that kind of trouble and I have 35"s. You may need a good tune up. Never hurts to do some spring cleaning to your motor before the upgrades. I bought mine with 106,000 miles and it made a noticeable difference. Here is what i did.
1. Full fluid change and inspection. Engine, TC, diff's, power steering, brakes, & coolant. Cheap insurance.
2. Clean MAF sensor and throttle body. Good how to threads here.
3. New spark plugs. Stick with AC Delco.
4. Clean the fuel injectors. If you have some skills you can do it your self.
After that then you can move on to the upgrades. But this is a great place to start.

have you had the chance to take your h3 up the grapevine? how did it perform?

 

[06 H3]

Rascole is right, especially seeing you dont have 35s I missed that the first time I read this. You have the stock 32s and I only have that issue with 35s, a roof rack, and a ton of weight in skids and extra off road stuff even then my issue may not be as bad.

 

[rascole]

That is a WHOLE new ball game. Did it once going to Paso Robles. Had to stay in the right lanes, I can hit 75 but motor was screaming. Patience is a virtue with these, they are not Reaper's.

 

[Pappibri]

As others have said, that is the sad fact of the I5.... These trucks are geared more to the offroad, and not the higher speeds... Give and take... I deal with that every time I go thru Virginia, Tennessee, or Southern Ohio...:roll:

 

[Kyle]

can anyone with an alpha chime in on freeway driving and going up grades? i can bet my next paycheck that its 100x better. its gotta be.

 

[rascole]

I don't know about 100, maybe 90 at best. lol I have no regrets getting the 3.5 though. I'm wise enough now to keep my foot off the redline....well almost.

 

[Kyle]

I don't know about 100, maybe 90 at best. lol I have no regrets getting the 3.5 though. I'm wise enough now to keep my foot off the redline....well almost.

you would be wise to stay away from redline as much as possible. :giggle: ive learned that.

 

[joekicksit]

I have driven that incline many times. Your problem seems worse than normal. I have an 06 and do not have that kind of trouble and I have 35"s. You may need a good tune up. Never hurts to do some spring cleaning to your motor before the upgrades. I bought mine with 106,000 miles and it made a noticeable difference. Here is what i did.
1. Full fluid change and inspection. Engine, TC, diff's, power steering, brakes, & coolant. Cheap insurance.
2. Clean MAF sensor and throttle body. Good how to threads here.
3. New spark plugs. Stick with AC Delco.
4. Clean the fuel injectors. If you have some skills you can do it your self.
After that then you can move on to the upgrades. But this is a great place to start.

I'll have to do this hopefully it helps a bit!
I'm not very mechanically inclined but alot of my friends are so hopefully they can teach me!
Yea its an 06
and no I really in all honesty haven't taken it out to too many places I just recently started taking it into the dirt and that's when I decided I needed to start working on it!

 

[joekicksit]

Welcome to the world of a 5 banger. I've driven to mtn high for snowboarding before and when the weather is fine they nag on me for driving slow but they are much more grateful when we drive up while it's snowing. So many cars are wrapped around trees and stuck and we zipped on through.

My recommendation is switch to an alpha before your mods get to heavy or supercharge it. Air intake exhaust and tune is not going to do make a 20 mph difference up hill

Yea very true the same truck my buddy told me that was going up 80 on that back street during good conditions slid down that road during bad conditions!
Getting an alpha is probably a bit out of the question for me financially speaking but how would I go about supercharging it? Are there specific brands you would recommend?

 

[rascole]

My recommendation is for the TC and diffs is to take to a recommended shop who knows what to look at and give an honest report. The only issue is you will more than likely have a plastic shift fork that will need to be replaced in the future. If you can afford it, do the service and fork at the same time so you can save some $$.
Everything else can be done in your driveway with an extra pair of hands and an afternoon to relax and have a beer. You can run some fuel injector cleaner in your tank but I prefer using the right tools and use a kit.
I am actually going to replace my O2 sensors this weekend, need to get it smoged soon and doing some preemptive repairs. $110 on Amazon for 2 sensors and a socket.

 

[joekicksit]

I'll have to have it checked out!
You have been extremely help full!!

 

[06 H3]

if you need help with anything I am in santa clarita.

 

[Kyle]

im sure you could bring it over to the Santa Clarita hummer shop AKA 06H3's driveway if you needed help! :giggle::giggle:

 

[Best4x4]

I've now driven my Alpha and my wife's 07 Adventure and yes the Alpha has more guts, but with the cruise control on she'll shift like mad on normal overpasses (I just drive with cruise control off anyways). I do have a rather weighted down Alpha with an ARB Bumper, Winch, Roof Rack, and 33.5/34.0 inch tires (crazy 295's previous owner installed), so it's not a stock Alpha by any means.

My driving impressions are the Alpha 5.3L gets up to speed faster vs the 3.7L, but the HP seems to be the main factor. The Adventure has 4.56 gears vs the Alpha's 4.10's so that helps a little, but nothing will change 300HP vs 242HP. I know it's not a huge increase in HP, but with our stock rigs weighing in at 4,700LB every bit of HP helps.

My 5.3L runs a lot hotter than the 3.7L. Normal range with with the PCM of NC electric fan is around 195-210 (going to try some Royal Purple coolant additive to see if it'll lower it a bit). The 3.7L runs 176-195 (it's currently running 195-206 thanks to Auto Zone's 190 Thermostat vs the OEM rated 180..... Already have an OEM/Stant Replacement and will be installing it this weekend). The faster the 3.7L goes the cooler it runs vs the Alpha which runs hotter the faster u go. I know my Alpha runs warmer due to less airflow thanks to the the bumper and winch, but I really wish it ran cooler like the 3.7L.

On the trip to FL in the Alpha I averaged 13.5 to 15MPG fully loaded with 4 adults, my 19month old daughter, and all the vacation gear for a week at Disney World. I stayed around 70-75MPH the entire 14.5HR trip and the cruise control was good until I got to a long over pass or long grade and it would down shift and then upshift kinda quickly. I ended up taking the cruise control off and I was able to get it to cruise over the same terrain without downshifting by just using my foot lol. I almost got 300 miles to a tank, but I didn't wanna pass a gas station and then run dry so I was filling up when I still had 3 gallons in the tank.

The 3.7L is bone stock and already my wife is getting 15.5MPG minimum to and from work. We went to a baby shower a couple of weekends ago, and it was probably close to 19MPG because unlike the Alpha the gas gauge barely moved and after 180 miles round trip I still had almost half a tank of gas. It's a bit of a snail to get up to speed vs the Alpha (not as much fun sound wise for sure), but it'll get ya there. I've had no trouble hitting the speed governor of 99MPH in the Adventure. We do live in the flat lands of SE Texas, but I think it would handle the TX Hill Country much better than my 05 TJ/LJ's which had the 4.0L straight six. I wanted another Alpha, but since it was going to be my wife's D/D and family car I wanted something a little more efficient.

I also find the 3.7L a breeze to change the oil vs the Alpha!!! With the 3.7L the filter is in a tight spot, but they put a nice little drip tray to help ya. On the 5.3L the oil filter is in a silly tight location, and once you unscrew it and let it drain out grabbing it, and trying to make it into the box or on a rag is a joke. Twice I've changed it, and twice the silly filter goes flying out of my hands and right into the oil pan making a lovely wave of oil go all over the place..... I also haven't found a single filter wrench that fits the filter properly. I am now just using K&N oil filters with the nut on the bottom so I just use an adjustable to install/remove it. The plugs were easy to change on the 3.7L vs the 5.3L which thank goodness I have small hands or the once plug by the power steering pump on the 5.3L would still be there lol.

Each setup has it's up's and down's. I prefer the Alpha since I love a V8 engines rumble/HP, but I also like how the 3.7L runs cooler, and gets better MPG. Only thing I wish my Alpha had was a rear locker. (59.00 switch pack might just make me feel better with a fake locker button haha). I also prefer the rubber steering wheel and cloth seats of my wife's Adventure. My leather steering wheel is starting to show some age and I am seriously thinking of buying a rubber one to swap it out with.

I'm happy with having one of each and I think they both suit my family perfect. Mine will be modified as much as possible, while my wife's will remain stock, but still being able to tackle some fun off road trips.

I test drove an 09 H3 X that was for sale in Beaumont, TX before I ever thought about buying my wife her own H3 and it was a total POS!! It couldn't shift to save it's life, it had a lovely oil burning smell, sounded like a diesel, and it had no power at all. They wanted 23K for it and I walked away going OMG what a POS vs my Alpha. Then I drove another 3.7L and it drove close to my Alpha. Then I found my H3 Adventure and it rides great with plenty of power. After my tune up it idled smoother, and my wife has no complaints coming from a 4.7L Grand Cherokee.

I am kinda curious what a magnaflow muffler would sound like on the 3.7L in place of the resonator and running straight pipe out the rear (like my Alpha which sounds quiet when you want it to be and loud when you want it to be, but I don't wanna take a chance and turn into a rice burner sounding H3.

 

[Kyle]

I am kinda curious what a magnaflow muffler would sound like on the 3.7L in place of the resonator and running straight pipe out the rear (like my Alpha which sounds quiet when you want it to be and loud when you want it to be, but I don't wanna take a chance and turn into a rice burner sounding H3.

actually you dont need a muffler at all on the 5 cylinder, i cut mine off and loved loved loved the sound, i was super worried about it sounding like a ricer, but damn it sounds nice, when you start it up and let it idle its got a nice deep rumble to it! i took a video of it when i had my hummer, here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2wm90TDHrZA when i get my next hummer the first day i have it the muffler is coming off!