I have a 28 foot Catalina with about 7000 lbs loaded pulled with a 2002 Ford f-250 v10 6.8. Recently we went to a trailer park up past Connellsville, Pa and took Route 711 It's an 1100 ft climb for about 2 miles. I just about overheated my transmission, but the engine temp never went up.
When I started climbing the hill I has in 3rd gear at about 2500 RPM and 35 MPH and as I climbed the RPMs dropped and I slowed down. I shifted down to 2nd and started giving it gas, I was at about 25 MPH the RPMs went up then slowly dropped along with my speed. The transmission temp climbed, but the engine temp didn't even move. When I took the second hill after a short flat spot. I shifted down to first gear and the RPMs went up again and at the top I was going 15MPH and my foot was to the floor I thought I was gonna stall the engine. During the climb the engine temp never really moved, but in the end I dropped some transmission fluid out the overfill and reached the yellow mark of the transmission...
I wasn't the only one that had problems going up the hill, but what did I do wrong? I keep replaying it over and over again in my head... Should I have had the engine screaming?
This is my second year towing a tag a long and never towed before.
Sounds like you did everything right as far as reading RPM's. Couple things come to mind. Your TV is a 2002. Does it have a towing package? When was the last time your tranny fluid was changed? When was the last time your coolant was flushed and changed? Time of day and outside temp? Ford's factory tranny temp gauge (green, yellow, red) is weak, but you did dump fluid. Consider installing a more accurate "to the degree" aftermarket tranny temp gauge. Check into an option of adding a larger pan to your transmission that holds more fluid. Keep in mind, that once you have overheated your tranny oil, its integrity has broken down and will heat up faster next time. I would advise a transmission oil change before next climb. Good luck.
I assume you have pushed out all of the old ATF (bucket flush) with new AFT that meets specs unless you had just done it with synthetic ATF. Transmissions and other gear boxes do better with synthetic lubes.
Never let your RPM's get below 3500.
If you have a four speed transmission then never have it in fourth gear (if could be called OD or 4th or D). If you have a five speed, etc I again assume you know what I mean. IF not then ask.
Per another poster who asked the Ford shop a standard V-10 in a truck should not be ran over 5100 RPM. If you are manually down shifting at 3500 then you should be seeing jump to about 4500 on the manual down shift.
I have a GM transmission and I force the downshift with the gas pedal by going to WOT conditions by putting the gas pedal on the floor THEN I manually down shift the transmission shifter to insure if I get on a flat or down hill section in the climb that it will NOT upshift.
You have damaged the transmission and will take out the engine if you keep going over the top at 15 MPH. There just is not enough air flow for the transmission cooler.
If you will keep your RPM's no less that 3500 (below that RPM you soon start to loose both HP and torque which is a no no with most any gas engine especially a small block engine. Keep in mind this engine turns 7K-8K in some cars but you should limit it to about 5000 RPM in a working truck.
And in your vehicles owners manual it probally has a service schedule. I follow the more restrictive schedule,
* This post was
edited 03/10/13 10:53pm by path1 *
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1990 37 ft 5th wheel that hasn't moved since 1996 (our best home)
1997 33 ft trailer (winter home in much warmer climate)
2005 25 ft M/H (our "stand up B" for traveling)
Hi, you are lugging it down with the wrong gear at the wrong speed. At 35 MPH I would be in first gear at about 4,000 RPM, not third gear. And don't wait until you are almost at a stop (25MPH) to down shift into second gear. You should be in first gear at that speed. Better yet, put the pedal to the floor, and let the trans pick the correct gear for you instead of manually shifting it.
Bob
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It's a 10 yo vehicle. What is the maintenance history on it? Has the tranny fluid been changed at the specified interval? Has the coolant been changed when required and tranny cooler been flushed? I too think you were over taxing that 4 sp tranny. That engine needs to be at least in the 3500 RPM range to get maximum torque and above 4k for max HP. BTW, that temp gauge is really just an idiot light, that engine was heating up too
That V10 will run all day long at high rpms. Let her rev! As previously stated you should have started the hill in second gear with the rpms in the 4,000 range. Let that motor sing to you. It loves to rev!
Now as to what to do now. I would flush the tranny, get a Scan guage II to monitor the tranny temps and change the tranny cooler to one from a 6.0L diesel. As also stated before the factory guages are little more than idiot lights. You have plenty of truck and motor to pull that trailer. Good luck, John
P.S. If you have the 3.73 rear end a good change would be to a 4.30. All so look into a SCT tuner from 5Star. JMHO
I have noticed that the factory trans coolers work on flat to slight inclines. I tow a TT with a Suburban and have a loaded Ford e250 work van. Going over a mountain with either makes trans temp raise. This 90 degree weather we've been having has caused tons of problems with overheating and blown out tires. Any kind of towing over 5k I think needs a larger cooler
2008 30ft Aerolite, white interior, 2003 Suburban 6.0L 3.73 gears
marcus6701 wrote: I have noticed that the factory trans coolers work on flat to slight inclines. I tow a TT with a Suburban and have a loaded Ford e250 work van. Going over a mountain with either makes trans temp raise. This 90 degree weather we've been having has caused tons of problems with overheating and blown out tires. Any kind of towing over 5k I think needs a larger cooler
X2 for sure. Jb
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Best thing to do is get yourself a Scangauge II to monitor your trans temp. Next would be to replace the trans cooler with a cooler from 6.0 diesel as mentioned earlier.
I had a similar thing happened to me a couple of years back (before getting my Scangauge). Saw the idiot trans temp gauge started to climb, just below the yellow mark (100 degrees outside). I pulled over as soon as I could and let it idle for 15 min. or so. Meanwhile, took a spray bottle, filled it with water from the ice cooler and sprayed through the AC condenser to help cool it. Afterwards, continued on my trip. I would pull over as soon as I saw the needle on that gauge starting to move.
Got to my campsite and started leaking ATF, but eventually stopped leaking once the tranny cooled.
From that experience, I learned that the transmission heats up really fast if it's constantly shifting. Best to leave it locked in one gear and steadily move up a hill. So what if you're going 35 MPH in the right lane. Put your hazard lights on and be prepared to pull over and let it cool down if needed.
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Hi, you are lugging it down with the wrong gear at the wrong speed. At 35 MPH I would be in first gear at about 4,000 RPM, not third gear. And don't wait until you are almost at a stop (25MPH) to down shift into second gear. You should be in first gear at that speed. Better yet, put the pedal to the floor, and let the trans pick the correct gear for you instead of manually shifting it.
