Why wont my vehicle accelerate up hills?

(2012-02-01 15:20:25)

1. Christopher Says: I have a 84 Chevy s10 2.8 carb, 2 wheel drive with a 4 speed transmission. I can maintain a speed of 55 on most hills with more than half pedal travel left but if I press the pedal to the floor there is no change in speed or rpm. Carb has small leaks between the float bowl and throttle body. It passed smog as is 3 months ago.

2. gee-man Says: try changing the fuel filter out on it,also do a full tune up and that will help it tremendously.

3. PMack Says: Based on your wording, I'm guessing it's a manual, have you tried downshifting to 3rd? That's what it would do if it were an automatic.

Your carb leaks are certainly compromising your performance too

EDIT - redline in 3rd at 55 (or anything close to it)? No way, not unless your clutch is slipping.

It takes more power to go up hills. If you aren't making enough power to accelerate up a hill in 4th, you have to downshift. Fix your carb probs and you will gain a little power back (how old are the plugs/wires/filters?), but lets face it, that truck wasn't fast 28 years ago, and now it's 28 years old.

4. bandit_60 Says: if you get down too slow then you have to go to a lower gear to pick up speed.