No power climbing a hill from dead stop
Current Situation I have a 98 HR Imperial 40' motorhome with a Cummins mechanical 6CTA8.3 @ 325hp. My problem is no power on a hill from a dead stop. --I live in Tennessee in the hills, and do to ...
Forum Discussion
It sounds to me like this only happens in the driveway, from your description.
I know Caterpillars de-rate until they're up to operating temp. I've been in places that I'm trapped in for a while until the Cat warms up enough to "give me some power" so I can get up a slope and escape a campground. (Such as some places in Colorado) The throttle isn't 40 feet of cable hooked directly, it's a rheostat mounted to the (probably Williams Controls) gas pedal, and sends a signal to the engine. (Drive by wire) You can't tell by the sound, the engine sounds normal enough, it's just "gutless" until the computer (ECM) decides it will run at full power.
If it's only happening in the driveway, then just wait until the coolant is up to temp, and your Cummins should operate normally. If it's doing that everywhere, then it's de-rating for some other reason, and a competent truck shop should be able to hook up to diagnostics and find out what's wrong. And, by competent shop, I don't mean the nearest RV dealer, I mean places that service Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, etc.
I know Caterpillars de-rate until they're up to operating temp. I've been in places that I'm trapped in for a while until the Cat warms up enough to "give me some power" so I can get up a slope and escape a campground. (Such as some places in Colorado) The throttle isn't 40 feet of cable hooked directly, it's a rheostat mounted to the (probably Williams Controls) gas pedal, and sends a signal to the engine. (Drive by wire) You can't tell by the sound, the engine sounds normal enough, it's just "gutless" until the computer (ECM) decides it will run at full power.
If it's only happening in the driveway, then just wait until the coolant is up to temp, and your Cummins should operate normally. If it's doing that everywhere, then it's de-rating for some other reason, and a competent truck shop should be able to hook up to diagnostics and find out what's wrong. And, by competent shop, I don't mean the nearest RV dealer, I mean places that service Kenworth, Peterbilt, Freightliner, etc.
