Urgent request for operating instructions

We very recently bought our 1995 4WD from my wife's mechanic. It blew an engine bearing the first time we drove from LA to Bishop, CA (three weeks ago). Our mechanic paid to have it towed 260 miles back to his shop in LA. He then rebuilt the engine. It originally had 169,000 miles on it.

Driving back to Bishop on highway 395 it did fine. It is an automatic. Driving with cruise control at about 70 MPH it would down-shift on steep grades and continue at about 4000 RPM until the top of the grade where the RPM would drop again.

The road to the cabin has a 6-7% grade near our place. I lost speed there and struggled up the grade. I tried to shut off the O/D and use the ECT, that didn't help much. Later in the day I decided to go farther up the mountain, but this time I used 2nd gear. In 2nd i could maintain about 50 MPH at 4000 RPM. However, at the steepest point of the road, before South Lake - I could only manage a creep, unless I floored it to get it to downshift. Maybe I should have been in first gear at that point.

My question - is this normal? Should there be more power? What is the best technique for an automatic on a steep grade? Is running in 2nd to get up a hill at 4000-4200 RPM fine for the engine? Thanks for any and all help. I didn't find a thread on this, but maybe there is and someone can point me to it.

Thanks again,

Gary

 

If this is a 2nd gen then the power, especially with an auto trans, has never been anything to write home about with either the 22RE or the 3.0 v6. They are pretty well known to be dogs, and then you throw elevation into the mix and it's going to get even weaker.

 

Thanks so much, I was afraid of that

Gary

 

what motor are we discussing here?

in my solid axle 90' with a 22re, I routinely run in 3rd gear at 4k rpm on steeper grades like hwy 80 up to Truckee.

on hwy 108 , Sonora pass, it's easier to drop into my transfer case and cruise at 25 mph. having an auto is further robbing you of what little power these motors make....

 

3.0, I'm able to get up the grade (6%) at 50 + @ 4200 RPM in "2nd" which I think is third gear. If drive is 4th.