I just drove my JK from San Antonio, TX to Great Falls, MT and the performance of the Jeep got worse and worse every day of the drive. On the 2nd day going through western KS and CO it struggled to maintain the speed limit. The third day I could barely get to the speed limit.

I'm curious if the increase in altitude and lower O2 content has something to do with this decrease in power. Any thoughts or suggestions?

 

Altitude affects every naturally aspirated engine in basically the same way, lowering performance due to the lower air density. I lost over a second in the quarter mile when I moved from Missouri to Colorado. You can find conversions online for various altitudes, but basically yes, higher altitude=lower performance.

-E

 

The altitude most certainly does play a role. In a nut shell higher altitude
=less atmospheric pressure=less oxygen per square inch=less oxygen getting into your intake=smaller explosion=less power. This can be corrected for, however, your fuel to oxygen mixture would be wrong when you return home. Wait until you get back to where you usually drive and see if everything returns to normal. I noticed this big time once in my TJ driving from AZ to CA where I had to ascend thousands of feet.

 

Yes........Every time I fly over the rail road tracks my rpm's increase until I land

 

lmao@that

 

So... is there such a thing as a HAC (high altitude compensator) for our Jeeps?

 

I live @ 7200 ft and I'm always amazed how much more power my vehicles have if I take a road trip to sea level. As for compensating for the power loss you really can't beat a supercharger.

 

Yes there will be at least a couple of supercharger options available sometime.

 

I know the ECU is supposed to make adjustments based on your driving habits and such, can it make adjustments for elevation as well?

Will it slowly get better over the next week or two?


Beel

 

I was wondering the same thing. Maybe if I disconnect the battery for a few, then reconnect and see if it will re-learn and compensate for the lower o2 levels.