Hi All,

Just did my first big tow with my Ecoboost and wanted to share some numbers and see how typical they are. I used to pull the same route with a F250 6.0 diesel and the same trailer so I've got a good baseline to compare.

I tow a 7.5-8k Toy Hauler (weight loaded). Bumper pull. Its very biased towards tongue weight being a toy hauler.

Part of my usual camping route involves climbing an 8-mile almost constant 6% grade. I'm typically pulling the grade in the heat of the afternoon (95-100) with the AC running full blast. This weekend it was cooler, in the 70-75 range.

I ran the hill at about 3/4 throttle and the Ecoboost easily maintained 55mph. Engine was around 3,500rpm in I believe 3rd gear. I put it the floor and we were over 60mph. The power feels very similar to the 6.0 with the exception that I can rev out the EB further so it actually feels more peppy.

My only concern is my coolant temp was running up pretty high. Before the hill it would run up to about 213-215 and then drop down as the fans kicked on/off. On this hill it climbed up to 229 and stayed between 225-229 the whole way up. A bit higher than I'm used to (the 6.0 would top out around 220), but I'm not sure it's out of spec as the "idiot" temperature gauge didn't move, telling me that I was still within Fords acceptable range.

Tranny temp ran up to about 205 the whole way up. It actually climbed higher once I slowed down at the top and started climbing a curvy 2-lane road that had the tranny shifting a lot. Tranny got up to about 218 before I noticed and locked it into a gear and then it cooled back down below 210.

I was expecting the cooling system to be a weak point on this engine vs the superduty and was pleasantly surprised to see it doing well.

My only real complaint is the lack of engine braking. Not sure if it's the small displacement, but I was on the brakes going down the 6% grade a LOT more than my 6.0. The tranny was in tow/haul and had downshifted to 3rd going 50-55mph and it wasn't holding it back very well. I contemplated forcing it into 2nd but was a bit nervous about over-revving the engine.

Curious to see others experiences. I was monitoring engine parameters with a ScanGauge and the stock display for the tranny fluid temp.

Truck has the factory tow package (not max tow) with tranny cooler, brake controller, and hitch. From what I recall from my research, the tow package includes the same upsized radiator as the max tow package. Not running any tunes, stock size 275/65/18 Nitto TerraGrapplers.

Thanks!

 

I have a 2012 fx4 ecoboost. I have 35in Trail grapplers, 5star tow tune, and full race exhuast and I pull a jayco swift 26.4bh. Total loaded weigh is in the neighborhood of 5,000lbs and is a good sail. The temp gauge I believe moves to the next stage at 232 F. On an ok hill I would hit the same numbers as you and the hottest I got mine was 235. Trans temp would hang out around 208-212 I lockout 6 and sometimes 5 to get the water pump moving. Also I was at 15PSI of boost when I hit 235. On flat land my temp would sit around 215 to 218.
I changed my thermostat to a 175F. Now my temps stay at 193-198 on flat land and 215ish on the same hills. The tuner changed my high speed fans to kick on at 188 or 190 as well.
My stock thermostat also looks like it was binding up as it tried to open. There was interesting scratch marks near the spring.

It is hard to find info on what temp is ok and what is to hot.

 

Towed the same hill again this weekend in hotter temperatures and let's just say I'm not too excited about the results.

I had mistakenly put in my original post that the ambient temperatures were 95-100. They were actually 70-75 that weekend. This past weekend they were in the 95-100 range and the results are quite a bit different.

I hit the hill in 3rd and was trying to maintain 45mph. Figured with the hotter temps I wouldn't try and push it. AC going full as it was 95F out. Temperature quickly ran up to 230 like the previous weekend, however it then slowly continued climbing up to 238-240. Once the coolant had been above 230F for a few minutes the tranny then quickly jumped from the normal 205F range up to 225 and slowly climbed up to 230F. Once I started seeing temperatures like this I decided to pull over and let the truck cool off. It did cool off pretty quickly with the engine idling. But as soon as I was off again, the temperatures quickly returned. I even tried slowing down to 35mph and 2nd gear and still the temperatures stayed up. Once I got to the top I pulled over again and let it cool off.

Peak temperature was 240F coolant and 232F tranny.

BTW the stock coolant temp gauge starts moving at 232. By 240 it was at the 3/4 mark.

The stock tranny temp gauge starts moving at 230. 232F was just a little past middle.

In hindsight I should have killed the AC, but I've never had to do that with my previous trucks so I was being stubborn.

For reference on the same hill my old 02 5.4 with the same trailer topped out at 220F in 2nd gear running 35mph. The 6.0 Superduty if I pushed it to 55 would run around 230F but would drop below 220F if I backed down to 45mph.

Pretty disasppointed. The motor is more than willing but it seems the cooling system on these trucks just isn't designed for long pulls like the superduty's or even my old 2002. I'm hoping it's something simple like a thermostat that isn't opening all the way. Will change that out soon and try again.

Looking at radiator size, radiator hoses, etc, they are substantially smaller than those on the Superduty. Also, the two small electric fans likely flow a lot less than the large mechanical fan on the Superduty.

 

Oh, the one bit of good news, I did manage to get more engine braking. You just can't be afraid to let the motor rev. I was still in diesel mode where you don't go over 3,500rpm.
Hills above 35mph I left the tranny in 2nd. This was good up to about 55mph where the motor is revving about 4,500rpm. Provides good engine braking.

There are some steep windy downhills (11%) where I wanted to run 25mph, so I dumped it down to 1st and that worked well too.

One odd part. I did a run down a steep highway (6%) at 55mph without the trailer and decided to downshift to get some engine braking. For some reason the tranny appeared to start locking/unlocking the torque convertor over and over again. Could feel it and see it on the tach. About 2-second intervals. I finally said screw it and let the tranny upshift and just ride the brakes. It didn't do this with the trailer. Tranny was cold (120F) when it was doing this, so maybe that had something to do with it?

 

Also, does anyone know if there is an oil temp sensor on these engines? That's the one component I can't monitor right now. On my 6.0 it would run about 10F above coolant so my 240F coolant would mean 250F oil!

Hoping a gas engine without the HEUI injection doesn't run that hot of oil temps.

I am running full synthetic Pennzoil, so I'm not too worried.

 

Quit worrying about the engine coolant and tranny temps as they are all monitored by the pcm and you will be put in limp mode if something happens. You need to worry about IAT2. If you intake air temp gets above 120 degrees the pcm pulls timing and you lose power. I would see 160-180 degrees when towing which had to cost me 25 hp or so.
I had an aftermarket Wagner CAC on my '13 and am installing one on my '17 today and tomorrow.
As far as engine braking goes lock out the upper gears. 2nd gives the best engine braking. Consider a tow tune as they also help with the transmission shifting and prevents lugging.

 

Back when we had the Ford Engineers playing on this forum, I asked them about the max tranny temp that the trucks can handle. They said 275 degrees and that will kick off a light. So you're approaching, but not at that temp yet.

Regarding oil temp, I'm not sure we can get that with these trucks. Have you looked at the alternate codes for your ScanGauge?

 

I would check your coolant to make sure it is good and that it is the proper coolant for your truck. I don't remember the exact temperature Ford's coolant was good up to, I think it was in the 250 to 260 range.
The EcoBoost compression braking isn't as good as my 6.2L F250 was. The first couple times my truck down shifted I was startled with the high RPMs. The 2.7L revs even higher than the 3.5L.

 

Over in the 6.0 forums we had a Ford Transmission Engineer whom helped develop the 5R110 Torqshift for the 6.0/6.4 (Mark Kovalesky). He said anything above 230F the tranny fluid starts breaking down. Granted that was the old Mercon SP, for which LV is backwards compatible, but I'm definitely getting nervous above 230.

The 6.0 had an awesome tranny cooling system. It wouldn't even get over 200F on this hill when my ECT was approaching 230F. Usually ran 160F unless I was towing grades. Probably why the 5R110s are known for lasting over 300k miles!

On the coolant, I know water at 16psi boils just a bit over 250F. The glycol adds another 20-25F so I'm probably still way good on that.

 

I think you may have misinterpreted what mark was saying about transmission fluid temps.

230 is were the "cautionary" zone starts and 250 is where the "danger" zone starts. Trying to remember exact times, but you can run at 230 for quite a long time before any damage happens. You a run up 250 for uo to 30 min at a time. Dont shut the engine off if it is over 230. Let it cool down before shutting down.

You are being cautious, as would I, but your temps were OK.

If you ever see your trans temp gauge above the normal mark, it is on its way to the yellow, it is programmed for a slow sweep.

 

"I put it the floor and we were over 60mph..." --> Yikes. You are braver than I. I'm scared to go near 100% throttle when I'm towing. Perhaps I'm being too timid but I feel like I'm abusing my baby.

 

When ever I do some heavy towing I will at least let my truck cool down until the fans kick off high speed. Sometimes it takes 30 seconds and some times it takes a couple of minutes.


I have no problem going 100% throttle to get up to speed. I have not hit a hill steep enough to need 100% throttle though.

 

Thanks for the replies guys. I'll just have to grow a bigger pair.

Already had to do that towing as the trailer pushes the little half ton around a quite a bit more than the Superduty. First time I got on the freeway with it there was a decent crosswind and just lets just say it was a little exciting! Not unsafe by any means, just not the rock solid experience with the bigger truck. Airbags will probably help that as the truck is squatting quite a lot with the high tongue weight of the toy hauler.

 

I know how you feel on those crosswinds.
I upgraded to bilstien 5100 shocks and added RAS active suspension. I also have D rated tires but will be going to E soon. I made sure my weight distribution hitch was set up perfect and I have friction sway control on the hitch. The friction sway control was a major improvement for cross winds.