High altitude effects

[midasxl]

Has anyone experienced any interesting things that have happened to their vehicles while driving from a sea level altitude into the 5-7,000 feet above sea level range? I have a friend who recently drove from Long Island to Santa Fe, New Mexico and has been experiencing some strange happening with her vehicle. It stalls a lot and basically seems to be running a little rough, and it happened as soon as she arrived in Santa Fe. Just wondering! Thanks!!

[bluevp00]

The air is less dense at high altitudes than at sea level. Thinner air means less oxygen for the car to use, thus it can't produce as much power.

The gasoline sold in these locations have special additives that compensate for the lower oxygen. Tell your friend that she should fill up with a full tank of the local gasoline and she should be fine.

[UncleBob]

we need an emote that says "this thread is useless without car discription"

If its a 63 dodge dart, then yes, this is perfectly normal.

Most newish EFI cars self compensate for elevation changes.

[drdisque]

she might also want to disconnect and reconnect her battery to reset the computer.

[curtis73]

If its a carbed car, it will most likely have a much lower idle, run a bit richer, make much less power, and even stall. My 454 didn't like Flagstaff one bit without some tuning. I was only there three days so I put up with it.

If its EFI, the only thing you should notice is a loss of power. The computer will sense less air, less oxygen, less ambient air pressure, and inject less fuel to keep a proper mixture. Idle should stay the same, but less air and fuel means less power.

[Igovert500]

Just also to add a tiny thing to what Curtis said. It should be noted that these effects (lose of power) are alot more noticeable on naturally aspired cars. Cars with forced induction, such as turbocharged vehicles, do not suffer nearly as much.