this is an email I sent to the service mgr. where I bought my truck. I just talked to him on the phone today to find out what he has heard back. he has just told me that a Ford engineer say's this is "normal" & if I planned on doing alot of towing I should have boughten a manual trans. WHAT KIND OF CRAP IS THAT!! is anyone else having this problem? the ONLY time this is a problem is while towing, the gvw is 16,000#'s.

the problems I am having with my 2003 6.0 F350 4X4 is when towing a trailer, when I go up a hill the truck will not unlock the converter automatically. what is happening is the engine will drop to about 1600 - 1700 rpm, & I am using about 90% of the accelerator pedal, then the trans will unlock the converter & down shift into 4th gear all at once raising the rpm level to 2600- 2700 rpm. the converter will not unlock on it's own. I learned how to unlock it by, when going up a hill when the rpm level reaches about 2000 I let off the accelerator "completely" then step on it again & the converter will unlock, making it up over most hills without having to down shift into 4th gear. I am certain this is one of the reasons of the extremely poor fuel economy,as in the engine is being taken out of it's power band down to 1600 rpm then reving up to 2600-2700 rpm.

 

Are you using tow/haul mode?

 

I have just the opposite experience with my '04 ('03 engine) F-250. Just as soon as I start into a grade the converter will unlock and I can pull any grade just fine as long as I don't get into the accelerator too hard. If I have to accelerate more to pass a slower moving vehicle then it will downshift. This is while using tow/haul mode, which I use always when towing.

 

either way it makes no difference.

 

IN MY OPINION

Your servive manager is a lazy know nothing bone head .....

your tranny is not working right .... unless my trasnny and OLdfarts are the ones not acting properly ...

Ford pushes the TS tranny as the hauling tranny .... keep after ihm/her ....
I doubt that person knows a Ford tranny "engineer" ..that is just a comment to wash his/her hands

 

That is not normal, I have towed anywhere from 5000-19,000 with my truck and it functions like normal.

Hits hill unlocks as nessacary and then downshift as more fuel is applied.

You service manager is feeding you BS.

 

Mine seems to work so that when starting up an incline. The converter unlocks, rpm increases slightly and will gear down as necessary. I suspect I would take it to another dealer and see if their diesel mechanic gives a different read on it.

 

I have the sam sort of problem with my tranny. I will wait and see what it does after the recall. If I have the same problem I will take it back to the dealer and say EDITED OUT BY ADMIN

 

Please read....
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/s...d.php?t=325000

 

what recall are you talking about? I haven't heard anything about this one.

 

There is a recall on TS trannies, a planatery gear has a fitting that is working out and rubbing on other parts. I saw the part and how that pressed in fitting was working it's way out. I got my recall in the mail.

 

When in tow/haul my converter does not seem to lock up. I don't get that last rpm drop at highway speed that I normally do when not in T/H mode. I thought this was normal, am I wrong?

 

Mine has the 3.73 gears and in t/h mode the tc will lock up at exactly 60 mph every time and stay locked up until I drop below 57 mph or punch the throttle. In normal mode the tc locks up at about 45- 99mph depending on throttle position :>). Honestly, I don't notice the lockup during normal driving enough to note the exact speed every time, but I do know that it varies greatly from 45 to 55 or so during normal driving, and that it unlocks under moderate accel, it does not have to be full throttle to get the tc to unlock. Mine does unlock and continue to pull, then it downshifts to 4th, these do not Normally happen at the same time, unless it's a steep hill and I push the go pedal real hard all at once. Hope the input helps. Mat

 

When starting to climb a hill my t/c will not unluck, speed and RPM go down EGT goes up all while the gas pedal gets closer to the floor. If I let off on the gas and then back on it quickly the t/c will unluck. BTW this only does it while I am towing my 35' 5er. Don't seem tohave it other than that. I did not know it was a problem until I started to read these posts.