Well guys, I will try not to get too long-winded, but I want to give as many details as I can. Problems started on Thursday. I was driving to lunch and was in OD at about 60-65mph, I pushed the accelerator down to maintain speed and noticed that the truck didnt really seem to respond. I could feel a slight difference like the motor was trying to respond, but like it wasnt getting the fuel I was asking of it. I decided to head towards my family shop so I could put a fuel pressure gauge on. I stopped by my friends shop on the way and he ran the codes for me. They were all soft codes, I had no CEL or flashing OD light. I cant remember all of the codes, but the one that seemed to stand out the most was one about the turbine shaft speed erratic (or something like that). We wrote it off as kind of a fluke thing because I hadn't noticed any transmission shifting issues or erratic shifting. While there I also pulled my chip and ran down the road. Whatever the problem I was having went away, and the truck seemed to run fine. I stopped, put the chip back in, and all felt normal. I went on to my family shop and installed the fuel pressure gauge - no issues I could tell, pressure was fine.

Friday morning I hook up the 5th wheel and head about 40 minutes down the road to tailgate for the USC game for the weekend. During the drive the truck seemed to run really well, good power, able to pull decent sized hills in OD.

Fast forward to today - I drove to get some lunch, unloaded, and on the way back to the campsite I was accelerating through 2nd gear and the motor took off like the torque converter unlocked completely. I let out of the throttle and it seemed to lock back in. It did this at least one more time on the way back to load up the 5th wheel. Get loaded up with the 5th wheel and it really feels like the motor is spinning up but there isn't as much power as usual getting to the wheels. Trying to accelerate up an on-ramp with a slight grade was very slow-going. I could never really get the truck to speed up faster than about 65, and the rpm's and egt's are running a decent amount higher than normal - cruising at 60mph, OD off, and the egt's are 1000-1100, whereas they'd normally be around 800. And it feels like it is generally taking more power to maintain speed. And, the tranny temps are a little higher than normal, not too high, but usually they run about 70 degrees above ambient temp. Today they were more like 90 degrees above ambient. The only difference with the setup was that I had filled the fresh-water tank while at the campsite - I have never used it before so I'm sure the added weight had some impact on needing more power to pull the 5th wheel.

So, what do you guys think? I would almost disregard the extra power needed on the pull home because of the added weight of all that water, but there's no denying the issue I had while driving around unloaded. I have no CEL or flashing OD light, don't hear any clatter from the torque converter, and no other problematic indications that I can think of.

Sorry for how long this is, but I think it's important to point out all the strange issues that have been manifesting over the past few days.

Thanks for the help!

 

Not too sure what the issue is, but I'd venture to say that it sounds like your tranny might be going, or maybe the coonector at the driver side might be getting loose, check that first before you start spending money.

 

Can you give me more details about the connector on the drivers side you are talking about? Thanks.

 

Just took the truck for a test drive, unloaded, and it is running great. Still no lights and no flashing OD light. I am beginning to think the added almost 1000 lbs to the 5th wheel (the water in the fresh tank) is what was causing my truck to have more trouble than usual towing it. The tranny hunting, slipping, or whatever, may have just been a fluke thing. I am going to get scanned for codes tomorrow and try to get the transmission flushed soon - I am overdue for that.

 

Have you check the fluid level in the trans ?
Also in your signature, you have a TC lock.. maybe there is something going on with this..

 

I did wire up a tc lockup switch , but I haven't used it in years. The fluid level is good and the fluid is still very pink.

 

check for soot or oil around the intercooler boots, I had similar problems and it turned out they were the culprit and would have sworn it was the transmision.i had called Brian from Btes to get the details on getting a trans from him descibed my problems to him,actually drove it with him on the phone and he diagnosed it.he saved me a ton of money!

 

Brian's making his money the old-fashioned way, honestly!

He has PLENTY of customers lined up in advance, even in this economy, and doesn't need to entice you to spend your money needlessly.

Like so many other suppliers on this forum, honesty is his hallmark, and it has served him very, very well!

If I needed a tranny, he's be on my "short list", but I'm MUCH closer to Holtville.

Pop

 

Most campers only have about 30gallons for fresh water....thats less than 300lbs. I think the biggest fresh tank i have seen in a camper is 45 gallons. Even at that you are only talking 400lbs.

 

The electrical connector that was mentioned in an earlier post is usually located on the driver's side of the transmission. It is the main path for communication between the computer and the transmission. My former truck had a shifting problem that was caused by dirty contacts in the connector. Clean it with electrical contact cleaner, apply die-electric grease, and it might fix your problem.

 

Well, the transmission was definitely slipping bad yesterday. The truck is currently at my buddy's shop so he can drop the pan and let me know how bad things are, I will let him know to check the connector mentioned above. And, Shawn, you're right, I was getting the fresh tank confused with my other tanks. The fresh tank is 54 gal and the others are 108 gal.

 

Good news, bad news, good news....

good news, you have a lot of water capacity in your camper.

bad news, sounds like you need a new trans

good news, you can upgrade to a BTS and forget about it.

 

Yeah, you know that's what I'm thinking. Honestly though, the wife and I will have to talk about whether we're going to keep this truck for the long-haul before I spend that much on a transmission. It's kind of a tough decision, but I am definitely leaning in the BTS direction right now.

 

So if you decide not to keep it for the long haul what are you going to use for pulling the camper? Still gonna stay with a ford?

 

Decisions, decisions.......

Don't really know. Knowing my wife, I would have to go with something newer, which means no more 7.3. That being said, I don't think I would want a 6.0 or 6.4, and not sure that a brand new 6.7 would be in the budget. I would have to do some serious research and thinking about what I would go with. I would probably have to go with a cheaper rebuild for now and be looking at a new truck in the next year or so.