Eco mode
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Cross-Country
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 87
Likes: 40
Eco mode
Hello everyone! Put a 1000 km on my 350 dually. 3.73 gears 7.3 .So far so good. I found eco mode in cruise much better . Less unneeded downshifts on hills. In regular mode 10th to 8th on small hills. I hate that. My 6.2 with 4.30 gears is horrible in cruise. I hate the the unneeded down shifts. I learned early on to shift manually on highway trips. Now I can leave in eco mode and torque right up like a diesel.
Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 1,735
Likes: 1,116
Ive noticed I can lug down the 7.3L in higher gears on hills without downshift, but if its anything along the lines of my 6.2L it will prove to get less mpg that downshifting and running the hill in a lower gear.
My 6.2L gets better mpg pulling hills in 5th or even 4th depending on load. Rather than lugging in a higher gear.
My 6.2L gets better mpg pulling hills in 5th or even 4th depending on load. Rather than lugging in a higher gear.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 697
From: Minnesota
Hello everyone! Put a 1000 km on my 350 dually. 3.73 gears 7.3 .So far so good. I found eco mode in cruise much better . Less unneeded downshifts on hills. In regular mode 10th to 8th on small hills. I hate that. My 6.2 with 4.30 gears is horrible in cruise. I hate the the unneeded down shifts. I learned early on to shift manually on highway trips. Now I can leave in eco mode and torque right up like a diesel.
Ford's cruise programming sucks when towing. It waits too late to downshift, then it "panics" and goes down 2 gears. Horrible with a 6 speed.
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 697
From: Minnesota
Yeah, it's like taking a torch to the tops of your pistons.
Laughing Gas
Joined: Dec 2021
Posts: 1,091
Likes: 343
From: PG, BC, Canada
Hello everyone! Put a 1000 km on my 350 dually. 3.73 gears 7.3 .So far so good. I found eco mode in cruise much better . Less unneeded downshifts on hills. In regular mode 10th to 8th on small hills. I hate that. My 6.2 with 4.30 gears is horrible in cruise. I hate the the unneeded down shifts. I learned early on to shift manually on highway trips. Now I can leave in eco mode and torque right up like a diesel.
and not loos any speed... 
Mountain Pass
Joined: Dec 2020
Posts: 207
Likes: 171
I prefer the ECO mode for running w/ cruise control, when you hit "resume" it doesn't drop 5 gears and accelerate like you stole it, just a gentle resume to speed.
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Fleet Mechanic
Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 1,937
Likes: 1,221
From: Southern Crescent
I like everything about "eco" mode except the truck will not stay in eco mode. Once I put it in eco, I'd like it to stay there through multiple restarts until I manually change it.
Thanks tor the discussion. It's nice to know all of the benefits of what these trucks can do.
Thanks tor the discussion. It's nice to know all of the benefits of what these trucks can do.
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 899
Likes: 328
For sure. My Ford 6.2 was like that and my Chevy with the new 6.6 gas engine was the same. Letting them rev higher in the torque range actually leads to less strain on the engine and more efficiency. You wouldn't think so by looking at the tach, but the raw numbers sure do like the RPMs up there, especially when towing.
Tuned
Joined: Feb 2017
Posts: 394
Likes: 75
From: Alaska
Anyway, you don't know terrible cruise logic until you've driven a Toyota. Even my newest Toyota (a 2015) had the same logic as my 2002 and 1997 and so on... Climb a hill, lose speed, downshift one or two gears, accelerate like a bat out of hell, hit 5mph over the set speed, cut all power until speed drops 5 mph below set speed, then rinse and repeat. I only use cruise in my Toyota's on absolutely flat ground.
Mountain Pass
Joined: Oct 2021
Posts: 152
Likes: 57
This may work. I'm not willing to try as I am in Canada and shipping and return shipping would be too costly if it doesn't. But I did look at the connector in my truck and it seems to match. If someone else confirms it works I would definately get one.
2017 - 2019 Ford F150 Drive Mode Memory Module
2017 - 2019 Ford F150 Drive Mode Memory Module
Cargo Master
Joined: Nov 2020
Posts: 2,073
Likes: 1,027
From: Michigan
Cargo Master
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 2,424
Likes: 697
From: Minnesota
I too noticed that when I manually downshifted, my MPG improves noticeably, loaded... Empty maybe... The 10 speed just waits too long to downshift and then shifts from 10 to 8, and buy that time, looses too much speed than needs to downshift 2 more gears at once to 6th, to make try and make it up a hill at the speed it was set to, When it can easily make it up the same hill when I manually **** it 1 gear at a time down to 7th. and not loos any speed...
and not loos any speed... 
New User
Joined: Feb 2022
Posts: 10
Likes: 5
I run in eco mode a lot. I like how much smoother it shifts. Most of the time my truck will ask me on startup if I want to stay in eco. I just have to press the “ok” button. If I shut it down for a quick stop and restart, it will stay in eco automatically.
