Ford lose power while driving uphills

car lose power while driving uphills

If the engine is running on all cylinders, runs fairly good overall but loses power on inclines or hills. I really have to lean to a possible blocked cat converter or one becoming blocked. The " honeycomb" material inside will break down over time and when it does, its causes a partial blockage, engine cant breathe and normally noticed under load lik up a hill but in most cases run ok otherwise. There is a tool to check back-pressure on each side of the cat converter to confirm but without one, I can only lean to one becoming blocked. In your case one would have to remove the cat, road test and if ok, then replace the converter. Due to age and miles, this is very possible the problem. they do degrade over time.

Another possibility bad gas can cause this, Most vehicles are hard to rid of old gas but I am fairly sure yours has a drain plug on the fuel tank. I would drain it, add good gas, maybe an additive and run it for a bit. It could be bad gas, cat converter or timing adjustment but tend to rule that out if it was ok and no one was affecting the timing. Running smooth and not misfiring leads more to fuel delivery or engine breathing. easiest and cheapest to start with fresh fuel.

Also I am thinking fuel pressure test. May have enough pressure to run engine ok at times but not enough when demand is high under load. Without fuel pressure gauge makes this hard to diagnose. Its a low pressure system so pressure would regulate to around 18 psi under load. Fuel filter replace may? be a bit of a clue as there is also a filter on the end of the fuel pump. Possible is is partially blocked or the pump is getting weak

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But if you have a rattling sound under your car, you likely have a catalytic converter that has come apart and is intermittently restricting your exhaust. Otherwise a bad airflow meter or just one that has carbon on the filaments is one suspect but I would not suggest just changing it. You could have it cleaned though. If it is a bad meter, sooner or later it will 'set a code' and your check engine light will come on. At that point your mechanic will have enough information to fix your car. 

The Mass air Flow meter is between the throttle body and the air filter. It measures the amount of air going into the engine. The computer uses this measurement to calculate the amount of gas to inject into the engine. A blocked converter will stop the exhaust from leaving the engine and that feels alot like no gas. If the exhaust cannot get out, fresh air cannot get in.