V10 engine temp towing heavy
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Joined: Dec 2017
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From: Dalton, Ga
V10 engine temp towing heavy
I finally took the Excursion up to Ft Mountain State Park this weekend. This is the first time I feel like its towing ability has been tested. It's a 2100' change in elevation spread out over about 8 miles but the grade isn't constant so there's a few flat spots interspersed between some pretty steep grades. I was pulling my Cherokee 304BH which scales just over 10k and a small trailer loaded with canoes and kayaks. I found that I could easily go faster than I could take the curves and was able to accelerate at any point during the climb so those 4.88 gears are paying off. The transmission finally leveled off at about 215° and the engine temp reached 228° a couple of times. I'm wondering what kind of temps others have seen in similar situations? 90° ambient temp, 25-40 mph, RPM ranging from 2500-4000. She did put some oil out from somewhere...guessing either rear main or trans front seal because it dripped some down onto the exhaust from out of the bottom of the bell housing...wasn't much but it only takes a few drops on a hot exhaust to make a bunch of smoke.
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Joined: Jul 2010
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From: Media PA
Is that allowed in GA? Most states require a fifth wheel for double towing.
I'm towing our TT at 11,300+lbs and in similar situations the engine coolant temp has gotten up to a max of about 212*
Is that trans temp with the stock V-10 cooler or have you upgraded to the 6.0 cooler? The highest temp I ever saw with my stock cooler was 207* briefly. Haven't really pulled in the hills much with the new 6.0 cooler but so far it seems to be keeping the ATF about 10-15* cooler than the stocker would have been for the flatter routes that we have towed.
Could have been a little overflow from the hot trans, it dribbles down in the same place most times from what I have seen and read.
I'm towing our TT at 11,300+lbs and in similar situations the engine coolant temp has gotten up to a max of about 212*
Is that trans temp with the stock V-10 cooler or have you upgraded to the 6.0 cooler? The highest temp I ever saw with my stock cooler was 207* briefly. Haven't really pulled in the hills much with the new 6.0 cooler but so far it seems to be keeping the ATF about 10-15* cooler than the stocker would have been for the flatter routes that we have towed.
Could have been a little overflow from the hot trans, it dribbles down in the same place most times from what I have seen and read.
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From: Dalton, Ga
Lol...maybe? I didn't check into it because I've seen some other folks doing it. I passed a bunch of cops and none of them even gave me a second look for whatever that's worth.
So if your engine coolant temp is only going to around 212° in a hard pull, that makes me wonder if I need to check out the radiator on mine? The highest I saw was 228° on a particularly steep section. It usually runs about 202° under normal driving and around 212°-214° towing on the interstate if I remember correctly. I think the thermostat is supposed to be a 185° in these engines? I'm pretty sure mine has had a hotter one swapped in at some point.
I have the stock V10 cooler with a TruCool in series. It may not be getting great airflow at low speeds. It might benefit from some foam or rubber to seal it off against the front of the radiator such that the fan is forced to pull air through it instead of around it. When I came back from Tuscaloosa last month, with 90°+ ambient temps, I never saw the trans go over 200° and it was usually around 185°. I know I was running with the converter unlocked on most of this curvy road too. I think Mark said it would unlock at anything under 35 mph?
So if your engine coolant temp is only going to around 212° in a hard pull, that makes me wonder if I need to check out the radiator on mine? The highest I saw was 228° on a particularly steep section. It usually runs about 202° under normal driving and around 212°-214° towing on the interstate if I remember correctly. I think the thermostat is supposed to be a 185° in these engines? I'm pretty sure mine has had a hotter one swapped in at some point.
I have the stock V10 cooler with a TruCool in series. It may not be getting great airflow at low speeds. It might benefit from some foam or rubber to seal it off against the front of the radiator such that the fan is forced to pull air through it instead of around it. When I came back from Tuscaloosa last month, with 90°+ ambient temps, I never saw the trans go over 200° and it was usually around 185°. I know I was running with the converter unlocked on most of this curvy road too. I think Mark said it would unlock at anything under 35 mph?
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Joined: Oct 2006
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From: chicago northwest suburbs
Yep, I would look into the radiator and possibly the fan clutch (did you hear it kick on?). My X towing a 9200lb trailer only gets as high as 210 in the mountains, and the trans temp is right around 200 this is in upper 90’s in the mountains. Otherwise on flat roads I run at 190 engine and 190 trans.
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From: Dalton, Ga
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 2,097
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From: chicago northwest suburbs
Yes, you should’ve heard the fan clutch kick in. It’s also possible the front of the radiator is covered with debris not allowing the air to flow through which actuates the fan clutch thermal feature.
As as far as the gauges yes it’s just a guess. I run Dash Command app on my tablet and I can monitor actual temp numbers on engine and trans along with anything else I care to see.
As as far as the gauges yes it’s just a guess. I run Dash Command app on my tablet and I can monitor actual temp numbers on engine and trans along with anything else I care to see.
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From: Dalton, Ga
I'm using a Livewire which lets me monitor some of the PIDs but not nearly as many as the Torque app would. I still have Torque but don't use it very often.
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Tuned
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During my haul out west pulling about 8k, I saw coolant temps go up to about 230 at which point the fan clutch locked in and dropped temps back to about 214 where they stayed until another long hill came up. Radiator is brand new and fan worked as designed. Ambient temps were in the mid 90s to low 100s.
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