I am going to try to make this quick and easy with a list in hopes of more responses:

Vehicle: '93 F250 IDI N/A, 2WD, E4OD, 4:10 Sterling.

Task: Towing a ball hitch pipetop trailer with 8000# tractor and brush hog through Texas coastal plains and hill country during summer months.

Condition of Vehicle: 197,000mi with a transmission replacement sometime before I purchased it, rumored about 25,000mi ago.

Entire cooling system was replaced by me 3,000mi back w/ exception of heater core. New WP, Radiator, hoses, Tstat, proper SCA levels (as tested), and new tranny cooler hoses too.

New injectors and the truck has a rebuilt IP on it from before I bought it. The truck runs well with no real drivability problems.

Concerns: After the truck sits for a while, the brake light on the dash comes on for a few seconds after start up and flickers a little and goes out. Occasionally it will light up again w/in the first mile or so and the go back out for the remaining duration of the trip. Torque converter functions properly as far as I can tell. Trans likes to thump into 2nd pretty good when cold and will sometimes flare a little into OD but only under very light throttle. Sometimes at low speed in OD, under load of acceleration the trans will moan or hum a little.

Questions: Is there anything I should do to prevent problems? I plan on rebuilding the brakes and some steering components and having a new trailer brake controller installed.

Are there any tips or tricks to towing with these trucks?

Can I tow in OD if it will hold the gear? I won't be hot rodding it but would like to maintain 65mph in OD if possible w/o tearing it up.

Thanks

 

Good luck, and lock out overdrive...

Be damn sure the trailer brakes work.

 

Youre welcome

 

Sounds like your in good shape! What's your brake fluid condition and level? If the light flickers sometimes, could mean a problem...or bad sensor. How far does the pedal travel before brakes fully apply?



X2, be damn sure you have trailer brakes!

 

Sounds like what john said!!

 

You will want to put a trans temp gauge in, When the Torque converter is not locked up they heat up fast, My truck with the stock computer I had to go 35mph in 3rd gear to lock up the converter. If I went slower than that with a load I had trouble with the trans heating.
I went to an after maket controler that I could program, it will lock the converter in in second gear now. Aslong as you are on the open road you should be fine with the stock stuff
The owner's manuel says that you can tow in overdrive on flat ground

 

Alright, thanks for all the replies.

Hairy: I will replace the vacuum pump to see. It looks like it's past its time anyway. CDR operates fine but but looks original. It is painted gray like it's been there since new. I may switch that out too.

John: The truck has a new master cylinder and the fluid levels and switch are fine. That was the first thing I checked. The most impressive thing about the truck when I first drove it was how good the brakes are.

Red: I've noticed the 35mph thing too. Most times in long 30mph zones I jump up to 35 to let it shift and I slow back down to 30. How do you have your trans temp gauge run? This truck has the cooler in the radiator and an external one. Not sure which one the fluid is routed through first though. I just ran the new hoses like the old ones came off.
Most of the trips will be all highway. Luckily I won't be pulling it through Houston's traffic. I imagine that would play hell on trans temps.

 

nothing vacuum related operates the E40D actually.she's all electrically controlled.i think Hairy was just thinking C6 is all.easy mistake.
so if you have good brakes and the heater dials are working,there's no need to just replace the vac pump.they're not exactly a dime a dozen.same thing with the CDR.just inspect and clean it.if you don't see black chunks washing out of it,she's just as good as a new one still.they're very basic.

it's a good idea to flush the E40D every 20k miles when towing heavy like this.
when you do your flush,if it's been awhile (if you think she was rebuilt 25k ago,and you haven;t flushed it yet) use mercon 5 (in fact,you really shouldn't be using anything else in the e40d now imho.) that might clean up your shifts just getting some fresh fluid back in her.

you only need to lock out OD if you notice she starts to hunt back and forth between 3rd and 4th.out on the flat,just let her roll in OD.if she hunts on the grades,or at certain speeds w/ head winds etc.etc.then lock it out on them so she doesn't do that is all.

trans cooler routing =
trans line out (front) of trans - into radiator cooler - out of rad into aux cooler - out of aux cooler/line in (rear) of trans.

trans gauge sensor location =
test port.
caution: some (autometer for example) include temp sending units that are too long with the gauge.make sure to use a short sending unit if installing here.


temps seen on gauge w/ temp sensor at the test port would be ideally 170-180 at all times (it reflects the pan temps extremely close.) but it wont be perfect all the time.
150 (once up to operating temp) to 225 (towing heavy uphill) is safe (for 20k mile flush intervals.)
of course adding a larger cooler to keep temps down around 175 at all times would be ideal,but then with a cooler this large comes a con.she won't want to come up to ideal 175 temps either.you want 150 min.so then one would need to install a 180 t-stat to help it out.of course a Texas truck is going to be different than a Alaskan truck,so a t-stat "may" not even be required.i always say temp gauge first and run it how you do for a bit,then you can figure out what to do for aux cooler size and t-stat better,to help get closer to 175F perfection.

the biggest tip for towing with these trucks is to remember they can pull a house like a modern diesel but with just a little over 100 hp out back with an N/A (like around 120-130 in good tune) you need to give her all she's got pre-hill to help with keeping momentum up.don't be afraid of 2nd gear and 3k plus rpms.you'll be seeing them regularly.
a turbo kit will likely soon be on your list.just bumping that 130 to closer to 190hp out back,is like setting another half an n/a idi engine under there and makes all the difference.

if you find yourself wishing for some more,but don't have time or funds for a turbo or even a rear gear swap,and just so happen to need a set of new tires anyway,though it won't look the best,but putting on a set of 225/75/16's in place of your oem sized 235/85/16 with your 4.10's would be like swapping in a set of 4.44 gearing.
that will cheaply (all things relative lol) help move things along if needed/desired.

 

Maybe I'm wrong here but towing 65 mph with an n/a idi is a little optimistic, let alone 8k plus. That E4OD should have a tugger shift kit and the largest cooler you can find in it.

 

An NA IDI will tow 10k fine on flat land at 65mph. It's in hills that you'll be in the slow lane

 

I've towed close to 14,000 lbs. with mine, on several occasions. And the only differences between yours and mine is; mine has 5 spd ZF, electric fuel pump,gooseneck ball , and add a leaf up front. I live in southwest Virginia, hills around here are much more... demanding, to say the least, as compared to Texas. Given I do have to drop to first gear time to time, and it really pisses me off when those Cummins pass me, but I get there. With no monthly payment!

 

IdK what your taking about 65 being optimistic.... I did it all the time... I live in Montana.... Would tow 2-8k regularly.

 

Looks like I'm going to install the temp gauge and take the trip to diagnose any issues. I'm not scared to run it flat out up hills if needed. Hills here are mostly gently rolling and amount to anthills in other parts of the country. After seeing the abuse the 6.5L chevy's took in HMMWV's I have no doubt about the durability of N/A diesels. Total slugs, yeah. But those damn things would not quit. Of course they were not overdrive transmissions either. TH400's I think. Anyway, thanks for all the help.

 

something else, is that i like to have a spare serptine belt, altnator, and starter on long hard pulls, you can find those in a junkyard they just have to work untill you can put new parts in.
the 7.3 can trun 3 grand all day long, but the altnaters that I have had don't to seem to like it. I don't know how old they where or if they had been replaced before they came in the trucks.
If you do go to the junkyard I would rob anything that you could easily chage on the side of the road, you have a good reliable truck, but it is only getting older it's going to throw fits occaissaly