UPDATE

Picked up truck from the radiator shop today, $460 and a brand new radiator later. Hooked the trailer back up and went for a test drive. At one point on a flat two lane hwy I set the cruise on 65 and this is what gauages read, 7psi boost, 2000 rpms, 1050 egt, 200 trans temp, engine temp was perfectly halfway.

However, once i got on interstate and tried to get to 75 and maintain 75 truck struggled its *** off. Took awhile to get to 75 but once there couldnt maintain not even on small hills with the pedal to the floor. Egt's didnt get quite as high as they did on the trip but still got to 1300. The engine also started to get warm again too, maybe because I was keeping it to the floor to see what it would do. didnt get quite as hott as last time but was to about the A in normal. Once i exited and headed back I turned the chip down to stock settings (was on 75hp before). Truck definately had NO power at all on stock settings. Didnt think I would ever get to 70mph and there was no hope of even thinking about maintaining speed. But on a good not egt's ran about 200 degrees cooler.

One thing I did notice was that almost the entire time pulling the trailer there is a faint cloud of black smoke. I mean almost transparent, not like rolling coal but there is definate black smoke coming out. When it downshifts it puts a little bigger cloud out but still not much.

Two other issues that are probably unrelated are that the trans stays hot even empty. Was 190 today before trailer and ranged from 205-215 with trailer and I have a big trans cooler according to my mechanics. What can I do to cool this thing down?? Mechanic says the fluid smells like its already burnt and its only 2 months old. Second issue is the AC. It blows kinda cold when you drive it and not under a load, idling or under a load it blows cool at best...I know these trucks arent known for their ac but is there anything to help it??

Any advice or suggestions please let me know...headed to diesel mechanic tommorrow with the trailer so he can see it first hand on interstate

 

Check the ebpv valve....

 

yea im leaning towards that

 

You have a problem. Since we aren't there all we can do is suggest what to look for. Always before adding a tuning device the truck has to be in correct running condition. Your truck is not! That is why adding the chip makes it run hot .
A hot radiator will heat the trans fluid up rather than cool down. Fix the ill running engine first.
My Ac works great..have a reputable shop look at it and see what it needs.
Most consumers should not experiment in Ac work.it can be very dangerous.

 

What does it do with the chip, tuner, programmer, whatever it is, REMOVED? Not just "set to stock", but PHYSICALLY out of the picture.

 

well we found a couple issues today. number one and probably the main lack of power causing issue was my fuel pressure...at idle its only about 40-45lbs, he said it should be 50-60, and under a load pulling my trailer it got all the way down to 10lbs. Fuel filter and filter housing was super clean, regulatar looked good so guess its time for a new fuel pump. Other issue we found is the fan clutch, its not terrible but not as good as it should be so im gonna go ahead and fix that too. Also gonna go ahead and throw in a new thermostat while we got it in the shop and go from there

 

10 lbs is pretty low. Hopefully it helps. I went to e-fuel and am glad that I did. But I had the means to do it cheap. The a/c in my truck gets cold enough you could cut glass with your nipples. I'd say you have an issue there as well. Do you know if the rad shop washed out the coil in front of the rad. If not that would be the first place I looked.

 

X2, these trucks actually are known for their exceptional a/c.
Also, I agree with checking the EBPV, or just gut it and be done with it.

 

I am just going to throw this out there..

You are used to the truck with NO trailer and the chip turned all the way up.
Now you hook a trailer to it and it eggs the EGT gauge. it will do that every time when going on a higher setting.

Then you turn the chip off and have no power. These trucks are ONLY 215hp stock and are Gutless compared to have the chip set on high.

I think you ARE expecting too much from a stock OBS with the chip turned on high

 

Ive pulled lots of trailers with this truck...prior to even having gauges and a chip and exhaust i hauled a car hauler loaded down with a winch and an expedition with a big motor in jt no problems....90+mph the whole way down south....then the day after chip i hauled a 52ft 3 car wedge trailer loaded down, about 20,000 lb load on the truck 8 hours no problems, it struggled some but near like it is now. Ive found a couple of issues im addressing but if a bone stock obs 7.3 cant run up a hill with a 5000lb 20' enclosed trailer then something is wrong.

Oh and ive only ever turned the chip up to 100 a couple times, never to 150 and have always left it on 75hp setting because thats what everybody on here said to do. I think once i get all the other issues worked out itll be in good shape

 

Then WHY is the title of this thread "are my expectations too high", If you have already had such pleasant towing experiences

And just a heads up... your stock injected OBS will NOT make more than about 65hp more than stock no matter what you have the chip set to so "75hp", "100hp" and "140HP" makes no different

 

well finally got the truck back today, my power issue seems to be solved with the new fuel pump. feels like it has double the power previously and doesnt bog down when it shifts gears like before. also replaced the fan clutch and the thermostat. the other thermostat was bad plus it wasnt even the right one. will be headed to biloxi this weekend with the trailer so we will see how it does.

on a side note, he did find a leaking axle seal i need to address and it looks like im gonna have to replace some of the old ac stuff, freon was good, pressures were good but still wont blow very cold....

maybe ill eventually get the truck back up in tip top shape

 

Pull the blower motor and look at the evaporator. I bet its clogged

 

i will check into that

 

well took a test drive today with the trailer...took a road that had a couple hills on it and the truck is either still having problems or im am just expecting to much.

Truck has way more power than before and maintains speed way better than before. So i decided to just set the cruise at 70 and see what happened. Going up the hills the truck did lose speed, down to around 64, but got back to 70 pretty quick afterwards. I left the cruise on the whole time just to see what it did and i got to about 1350 egt's ad like last time the engine temp started to climb. i drove down the road about 15 miles running 70 and the temp got about 3/4 of the way towards hot but never got hot. Keep in mind, truck has brand new radiator, brand new thermostat, brand new hoses, brand new fan clutch. Overall the truck did better but not as good as i expected.

On the way back I set the cruise at 65mph just to see. Egt's stayed below, 1200, truck maintained speed better, and engine temp never got above halfway.

so once again, am i expecting to much? am i trying to drive to fast? what should i look at or address next? could the wind drag on the enclosed be causing the problems. i mean it feels like im pulling triple the weight of what the trailer actually weighs