I bought my 97 max with 114k miles on it, and its in pretty decent shape - but, i bought it in San Diego, CA - and I live in Albuquerque, NM - which is about a mile up there in altitude.

The performance SUCKS! compared to at sea level, i get like 3/4 the power out of it, and my fuel efficiency is hurting!

How do I compensate for the higher altitude / lower oxygen which is here in ABQ? any recommendations? I don't even know where to start but I'd love to get it performing correctly again.

Thanks in advance,
-James

 

The fuel injection system with the mass airflow sensor, by design, will compensate for altitude. Less air (as measured by the MAF), less fuel. This also means less power. Interestingly this also means the octane requirement is lowered. Lots of people think that you need higher octane at higher altitude, WRONG. As for your poorer fuel mileage, the altitude should not affect that.