More power for a Chevy Pleasure Way 6.0

[DoctorPepper]

I recently bought a 2004 Pleasure Way Lexor TD with a Chevy 6.0 motor. Living in Colorado, I quickly found that it is seriously lacking power in the mountains. Has anyone found a way to get more power from the 6.0- such as maybe a Diablo inTune i3 programmer?

[Bud]

Originally Posted by DoctorPepper

I recently bought a 2004 Pleasure Way Lexor TD with a Chevy 6.0 motor. Living in Colorado, I quickly found that it is seriously lacking power in the mountains. Has anyone found a way to get more power from the 6.0- such as maybe a Diablo inTune i3 programmer?

Realistically, I have never heard of anything, much less know of anything.

[Rockwood27]

Another option to reprogramming the engine is to change out the rear axle ratio. My 2012 Roadtrek 190P has a 3.42 rear end ratio. You could go up to 3.73 gears, which would help in pulling power. Of course you would need to get the speedometer recalibrated.

[SteveJ]

Originally Posted by DoctorPepper

I recently bought a 2004 Pleasure Way Lexor TD with a Chevy 6.0 motor. Living in Colorado, I quickly found that it is seriously lacking power in the mountains. Has anyone found a way to get more power from the 6.0- such as maybe a Diablo inTune i3 programmer?

You may have a plugged fuel filter and/or catalytic converter or other engine problem. Replace the fuel filter and then get a good cat cleaner. Cataclean comes highly recommended. I used it once at about 150k miles. I bought two bottles because of the large gas tank. I was having an issue with no power when starting up, basically idle only for a few minutes but only after a quick break and also seemed to lack pulling power at altitude. The engine was also quite lethargic while just goosing the throttle in neutral. After the treatment, all good on the hot start issue and the van pulls the grades better.

[booster]

As mentioned, be sure the van is running as well as it can stock first. Plugged cats, dirty aircleaner, dirty injectors, etc can all cause power loss.

The Chevy is running at about 32# per horsepower if at full 9600# so like any vehicle with that ratio it is not going to be a dragster, especially if you get near 10K feet.

For comparison, my old Escort station wagon had only 28# per horsepower and nobody ever confused that vehicle for anything fast moving.


Hondo did have tune done to his Chevy and thought there was more power from it, and I think those posts should be on the forum somewhere.

[DoctorPepper]

thanks for the suggestions- I'll follow up on all of them...….

[Asphalt Addict]

Same engine on a 2008. I live at 6300 feet and have no problems at 116,000. I did change the upstream oxygen sensors and got better milage. Also, I would ask a performance mechanic. Mine said if I want more power, dual exhaust is the first step. But get more information. See you at the top.

[booster]

Originally Posted by Asphalt Addict

Same engine on a 2008. I live at 6300 feet and have no problems at 116,000. I did change the upstream oxygen sensors and got better milage. Also, I would ask a performance mechanic. Mine said if I want more power, dual exhaust is the first step. But get more information. See you at the top.

If you have a 2008 model year van, it likely has a different engine in it than the 2004 does. You would have the variable valve timing version that started that year, with a bump to 323 hp from 300hp. While that may sound good, in reality it is just "kinda good" IMO as the extra hp comes only at the higher rpm ranges and it actually loses a little power below 2500 rpm. The extra power would only be available once you get near 4K rpm and higher.


Both engines are very good a plenty of power IMO, and most people would likely not feel any big difference in driving them.