top speed

[bitrootvz]

So I drove the ram 50 (1990 2.4) to work today down the freeway and it took a mile to get it up to 70 mph. seems to not be very peppy. what is the expected cruzing speed? should I expect 0 to 60 in 2 minutes?

[tortron]

That sounds about right for my grandads 90

[geezer101]

Yep, that's in the ball park for a stock tune. A good opportunity to re-tune your truck and report back. All this will take is your time -

http://www.mightyram50.net/vbulletin/showthread.php/5368-How-to-set-the-timing-on-your-2nd-gen-Mighty-Max-with-ECM-control?p=59777&viewfull=1#post59777

[Chargerx3]

I’ve got a 1990 3.8l MIVEC and it takes a short blip of the throttle.

[geezer101]

I’ve got a 1990 3.8l MIVEC and it takes a short blip of the throttle.

And if you were driving LSRMike's truck you'd be overtaking the space shuttle... apples and oranges dude. 70mph is about what the stock 4G64 powered truck will make but the factory tune is definitely holding it back. Still doing better than the Gen1/ non injected trucks manage from factory but these trucks are work horses and not freeway bullets.

[Yoshiwarrior]

Apparently mine isn't stock then. Ive gotten up to 80 with mine the day i bought it. Once I realized how fast I was going I let up. The guy I bought it from told me it didn't have a rev limiter and I didnt want to blow it up.

[tortron]

original diff ratio?
mine was reading 100kph at 80kph haha

[geezer101]

Apparently mine isn't stock then. Ive gotten up to 80 with mine the day i bought it. Once I realized how fast I was going I let up. The guy I bought it from told me it didn't have a rev limiter and I didnt want to blow it up.

Hmm. Maybe 70 is a bit of a low-ball but I'd be sweating a bit at that kind of speed in one of these trucks (no jokes about going downhill and being pushed by a logging truck at the same time etc). It would feel like somewhere between a hovercraft and a skateboard. As tortron pointed out the speedometers can be 'optimistic' in a lot of vehicles, but when a member says their Gen 1's top speed is 55mph you know there's something wrong with it...

[Chargerx3]

And if you were driving LSRMike's truck you'd be overtaking the space shuttle... apples and oranges dude. 70mph is about what the stock 4G64 powered truck will make but the factory tune is definitely holding it back. Still doing better than the Gen1/ non injected trucks manage from factory but these trucks are work horses and not freeway bullets.
Salty I see. Very well.

[geezer101]

Salty I see. Very well.

Salty? I can make the Dead Sea taste like lemonade lol. Still the point is the original starter on this thread (bitrootvz) was interested to find out what the top speed of their truck in stock trim should be. I ran into a review site that has got it's wires crossed somewhere and stated that the 2.4 could pull 100mph top speed but referred to the engine as a V6(?) on it's spec sheet, but the rest of the article seemed to be correct (100mph is scootin' man!) So, what is the correct top speed for the 2.4?

[bitrootvz]

I tried this this weekend and wasn't successful. As I rotated the distributor it raised and lowered the rpm's smoothly so I never saw a jump.

[geezer101]

There will be a transition spot where the rpm has reached a peak. That's where you want to aim for. Once you nail it, lock the distributor in place and road test it. The hardest part is trying to keep the actual throttle position steady and not move around while feeling for the rpm change, but you will notice the difference when you have got it right.

[pennyman1]

one of the things that seem to hold all these trucks back is the way they were broken in and driven all their life. If driven normally(below 5k rpm) them it is good to 70 or so. Beat it like you stole it and shift at the rev limiter(7200 rpm) and it will top over 100. Knew a mechanic that has an 1980 spring special that drove his that way - broke the crank in it and the pieces spun around, locked together, and he drove it home! He finally totaled it at night on a freshly tar and chipped road with oil on top of the chips, took out 50 feet of guardrail backward, then went over an embankment backward. Tried to drive out until he realized there was a steep hill in the way - alcohol was involved. AFAIK he is still into these trucks in the 'burgh...

[geezer101]

one of the things that seem to hold all these trucks back is the way they were broken in and driven all their life. If driven normally(below 5k rpm) them it is good to 70 or so. Beat it like you stole it and shift at the rev limiter(7200 rpm) and it will top over 100. Knew a mechanic that has an 1980 spring special that drove his that way - broke the crank in it and the pieces spun around, locked together, and he drove it home! He finally totaled it at night on a freshly tar and chipped road with oil on top of the chips, took out 50 feet of guardrail backward, then went over an embankment backward. Tried to drive out until he realized there was a steep hill in the way - alcohol was involved. AFAIK he is still into these trucks in the 'burgh...

I hope he is nowhere near these trucks (or any other vehicle unless he's got a bus ticket/someone else is driving) The kind of monkey that gets 'that' truck (you know - straight, clean, low mileage, one owner). They always seem to be the same guy that crushes them into the size of a beer can :shakehead:

[pennyman1]

he has mellowed a lot since then - he went from Mechanic to insurance adjustor...

[maxdsm]

Mine will top at 80-90 haven't taken it over that. I just hate how everyone that has a V6 or v8 races around me like they have something to prove. My truck is not a drag or racing truck I built it so it wouldn't be underpowered not to race everyone from the line at every green light. The ones with the big f150s and diesel trucks are the ones I see that try to fly around me like there special.

[dash]

this thread is depressing - lol.... not that a flyin coffin is appealing in any way either
Same 2.4 sohc been used in some OZ/NZ starions, that would kick those big-motor-pickups' arse all over the place
So the potential is there = turbo + header + fmic/piping + cam/springs + pump/injectors + tuning

[tortron]

Amazing what another 100hp will do for these little trucks.

Mines only 170hp but i think a stock one would be nearly too slow on the roads here

[geezer101]

They do what they do. They're about as agricultural as you can get. Depending on what generation truck you have, the engine model could be 40 years old (4G52) - and they keep going. The Gen 1's still had all the aces over other similar light trucks of the same era. As dash pointed out you don't want to play crash test dummy in one (front or rear you'll be spared up to doing freeway speeds but side on, it ain't gonna be pretty). It isn't a race, somebody is always going to be faster (finger points in LSRMikes' general direction). So Gen 2's max out @ 100mph (2.4 L and RWD) and Gen 1's about 70 in similar trim (?). Jeez, imagine if the US market only got 4G32's! You'd really have something to bitch about then (the little 1.6 was a SLUG but it did run on fumes and was reliable as)

[bitrootvz]

So my question is, can the computer have anything to do with the lack of power/speed. every electronic ignition part has been replaced except the computer which I replaced the capacitors in and it worked. Do you think the circuitry (transistors /integrated circuits/resistors) could be a factor. While i'm on the topic of computers, when I first got the truck and was getting it back together I bought a rebuilt computer on ebay. As everyone knows it took me 5 months to get it running so even thought I didn't have 3 hrs on running time on it the rebuilt computer stopped working. The truck won't run in run position of the key but would in start. I contacted the person and explained the issue hoping he would be able to fix it. His responce was "send it back and I will refund 50% of the purchase cost". So he gets to fix the computer and sell it again for full price and in essence I get to pay him 1/2 price + shipping to receive nothing, what a deal. Buyers beware!!!

[tortron]

I would first check that the truck is reaching full advance

[bitrootvz]

how do you do that on a fuel injected engine.

[geezer101]

I think the only way to know is break out a timing light and run the engine through it's paces. Open up the throttle and see how much advance you're getting (it will only be a guess but you'll see if it's not advancing in a way that's predictable - the overall advance can be as high as 40 degrees BTDC). No luck with trying my tuning method? As far as I can tell the only time an ECU can cause a fault that would nerf ignition advance is getting readings from a bad sensor or something in the hardwiring into/out of the ECU. Other question - what is the exhaust system like? Is it stock etc?

[dash]

u have a cat converter? Hold revs ~1200rpm, should feel a strong flow out of tailpipe
Cam belt timing spot on ? Ez to check. Is distributor centered (and also not a tooth off) ?
Fuel starvation could b holding u back.... dunno how to verify without an air/fuel gauge tho
fuel pressure can be monitored by gauge. Fresh filter? what about pickup screen in the tank ? Air filter ?

[bitrootvz]

Great questions, I try to explain. I tried the rpm method again last night and as I turned the distributor to speed up RPM's it just kept going up until I ran out of slot. yest the distributor is centered with the timing set at 5 BTDC, new fuel filter, pulled and cleaned all injectors, all sensors replaced with new. I due have a valve tick and have diesel in the crank case as we speak with 35 miles on it. When I ground the timing wire on the passenger fender nothing happens now. Before it would slow the engine down and change the timing a little. This stopped when I put the old computer in. Yes on the CAT, no on stock muffler. The one in it looks like a cherry bomb but is not loud. I do have an issue with #3 cylinder. all cyl. compression was 150 but 3 it was 130 and not often but sometimes when I'm trying to adjust engine in driveway it blows blue exhaust then it stops. Got her up to 77 yesterday but took 10 miles to get there.

[geezer101]

Infinite advance? Something not mentioned so far - O2 sensor. No error codes?

[bitrootvz]

new o2 sensor no error cods now.

[Nevertk]

The fastest iv been in my junker 1990mm is 105

[B-Line]

Does the inaccurate spedo even read that far?

[tortron]

cable driven? Pretty funny in my morris, the needle swings wildly from 40mph upwards by about 20 each way

[xboxrox]

I’ve got a 1990 3.8l MIVEC and it takes a short blip of the throttle.

:apu: I'm telling..!

[xboxrox]

one of the things that seem to hold all these trucks back is the way they were broken in and driven all their life. If driven normally(below 5k rpm) them it is good to 70 or so. Beat it like you stole it and shift at the rev limiter(7200 rpm) and it will top over 100

EXACTLY what I have experienced with the 2 new cars & 2 new motorcycles I owned :thumbup:

[claych]

The fastest iv been in my junker 1990mm is 105
??? Kilometers Per Hour ???

[xboxrox]

??? Kilometers Per Hour ???

:bang:

[claych]

^ yeah ,a poor attempt at humor, following the CONTEXT of the top speed topic.
Very sorry to have upset you, here's an extra :)

[Nevertk]

Thats just what my spedo said. definitely seemed that way aswell, I started getting nervous hahaha