I can't figure this one out !

We went & visited my wife's sister & her hubby in Colorado - just got back this AM.

Their house is up top of a mountain, accessible by a "road" - a steep, curvy, gravel covered semi rutted trail that is usually driven by their Broncos, although the hubby did take his Maxima up there.

No biggy - I'll go slow, and I have limited slip !

Nice thought - no workie. I started stalling going up one portion, even when I gave it the gas. The clutch was fully engaged at this point, and it did a clean stall, not the jerky "you let it out too fast" kind of deal. Note that this happened after I was moving slightly, not as I was trying to move.

After a few tries, it hit me - Traction Control is on ! It is trying to limit slip, and doing it so well it is killing the motor. Ok, turn it off.

Same deal !

It's like there was a 'wall' where no matter how much gas I gave it, it was not gonna go any faster , and died.

I guess it would be like going up a steep, wet, parking garage ramp and not being able to get up it as you can't keep the motor running.

After about 5 minutes, I said screw it, and parked it. About 3 hours later, Bob ( the hubby ) came down and gave it a whirl. I turned off the TC, he spun it a little bit, then got it up the road, where it sat until Friday when it was time to leave.

The reason I wonder clutch is that the car was hot - we had driven about 300 miles when I made my try.

Even if it is the clutch, though, why would it not take the gas I was giving it ?

And, if it was clutch, wouldn't I have noticed it slipping in 4th or 5th going up some of those steep hills ?

Really weird, and embarassing, quite frankly. Nooo, I dunno how to drive it, even though I know how to work the NLS and got it all the way here on the hills of Colorado and never stalled it once, not even in stop and go city traffic ...

Got any ideas ? I am all ears !


Thanks !

Britt

 

Give it more gas

Was the e-brake on?

 

floor it

 

You're not the only one, I had this happen in second gear trying to climb a steep gravel road. I went down a steep hill and hit the incline to go back up and the car felt like it wasn't getting any fuel, even though I was giving it a decent amount of throttle.

I ended up coming to a complete stop at the bottom of the incline, putting it in 1st, turning TC off, and gently crawled up the hill, spinning the tires just a tad.

I too was ending a 5 hour road trip with only a few stops, so the clutch was def warm. Did you have the ac on? I just don't think these cars make any power down low until it gets some boost pressure built up. The AC compressor really drains your downlow, no boost power.


Oh, and I've only ever owned manual tranny vehicles.

 

Were you low on gas? I'm not sure where the fuel pump is, but maybe if you were on a steep enough incline it was getting starved in the tank?

 

This is a very real possibility

 

Good to know that I am not the only one ! The A/C may very well have been on - I do not remember.

Koz -

No, I had at least 3/4 of a tank. Good thought, though !

yobrigidey said it right - it's like it is not getting, or won't take, the gas. Mebbe I should have tried a wee bit of a running start, but it was a rough road, and I still can't fathom why it would not take the gas and go. I guess if the issue is indeed low end torque I would have needed to slip the clutch more before full releasing it, but I sure hate revving it to over 1K unless I am really trying for a fast takeoff - which I actually almost never do. I usually wait until it's moving , then play NLS !!!

Thanks for the comments !

Britt