I have an. 03 e 350 super duty with a v 10 engine 3:73 rear, 66,300 miles all stock. the touque converter valve pooped the bed and after many trials and 1800.00 dollars the problem was repaired. I think the tranny was bad cause to me thats a too soon problem to have. any comments here.

I also pull a 7000 lb trailer but ford says I can pull up to 15,000 lbs and I am at 14,300. comments please

 

have you had it serviced regularly as specified. remember towing a heavy trailer on a regular basis requires more than usual service.

every 30k recommend trans. flush.
every 60k recommend trans. svc - filter/fluid replace.

although I tow a much lighter trailer with less weight (2,400-3,000lbs) and in the desert on dusty roads often, I opted to follow this schedule.

you might also consider a trans. shift improvement kit.

 

Sub- Sorry to hear about yer troubles. Now I'm no tranny expert (maybe Clubwagon will chime in here) but, your 4r100 is not the most bulletproof trans that Ford has ever produced. First off, you're pushing it with that powerful BSEG V10, then thru that (relitivly) low 1:3.73 diff. Though a very common combo on these rigs, not the best for towing IMHO, and about as hard on your trans as you can get. Pushing 14,300 lbs is no easy task.
Over heating the trasn fluid even once can ruin or diminish the fluid's lubricating properties, and once this has happened (even 20K Mi ago) will grately reduce the life of the transmision.
Best mod you can do to a tow vehicle is get a trans temp gauge and watch it. If it ever gets overly warmish you could consider other mods that would help. If it ever overheats, replace the fluid and service the tranny pronto.
Do you have the trailer tow package on your van?
Do you have stock size tires?

 

I follow the maint. book to the letter, I have the tow pkg. and stock tires. The dealer says the prob. is the tranny and not me. whats a trans shift kit ?? There is also a 450 tranny pan on the van which is bigger than the stock 350 pan. The ford tow guide says my max tow vehicle and rig is 15,000lbs I am under that.

 

if I remember correctly the E-series SD max tow rating for the 4.10 axle is 10,000, and the 3.73 is 8600 or so. According to my manual at least. I too tow with a V10 and 3.73's. I added a tranny cooler in addition to the factory unit and change the fluid frequently. With 126,000 hard miles and lots of towing in the summer I've never had a problem. If I had to do it over again I'd definitely go to 4.10 gears. I did go to a 225/75 tire, effectively giving me a 3.91 gear ratio in comparison to the stock tires.

 

66,000 isn't out of the ordinary for a trans failure. Remember, Ford has transmission failures within the warranty period too. The industry standard for the life of the typical automatic transmission is about 100,000 miles. How its used and maintained will either shorten or lengthen its expected life.

7000 lbs isn't an overly high weight to be towing with your van. You didn't say how much of that mileage was towing. Regularly towing a heavy load (and that trailer would be considered pretty heavy) is much harder on the transmission and _can_ shorten its life. How much effect has a lot to do with how you drive and where you drive. Big mountains, hot weather and cross winds all have an effect. But so does how you drive. Some people are more sympathetic with the vehicle than others. Forcing it to run at a higher speed or climb a mountain too fast works the trans very hard. Allowing the van to find a comfortable cruise speed and also when climbing, is much easier on it. Downshifting out of OD before you loose speed and lug the motor is another benefit.

Proper gearing is also important. The van should be geared so you cruise at a speed and rpm where the engine makes good torque. If you are geared too tall you will be below the torque peak and force the torque converter to unlock too often. This runs the transmission too hot and will cause a premature failure. This is a very common cause of towing transmission failures.

As already noted, service is important. I tow regularly with mine and I change the trans fluid every year or every 25K miles, whichever comes first. The deep pan helps but I would recommend a trans temp gauge. This will tell you what temperature you are running and if you need an additional trans cooler or not. Heat kills transmissions faster than anything else.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

Thanks for the info and I have a few more questions since I am new at towing. I baby the van and lock out OD on hills. I usually run between 55 and 60 on the flats,on steep mountains the van will drop down to 40 and we don't push it since whats the hurry. whats a good tow speed to cruse and tow at to get peake torque ? we have 3:73 rear. ken 04 suggested a smaller tire size 225/75 to get a lower rear but I would think Ford might find exception to that since they reccommend a 245 tire only. how do you hookup a trans temp gauge and what temp should the tranny operate at. thanks for all the help you guys are providing, its nice to be a member of this group. Tom Quinn

 

While we're on the subject of trans temp gauges... Where is a good place to mount one if you don't want to use pods on the A-pillar? I think this would be a good addition but I don't want to mess up the dash on an 04 van. The triailer brake controller was bad enough, the wife would have a fit if I screwed a chrome bracket to the dash like we all use to do with our work trucks and hot rods.

 

Well, my van likes to tow at about 2200 to 2400 rpm. In OD this works out to about 70 to 80 mph with a 3.55 gear and a 235/75-15 tire. Towing at 55 at that speed in OD would have me lugging the motor and anything other than level groud would force a downshift. When I have to tow at that speed I like to cancel OD and tow in 3rd gear. I would expect that the V10 would probably be OK at that speed in OD.

The important thing to figure out is if it will hold OD and torque converter lockup at that speed. If it does, you're fine. As an alternative, you could switch to the 4.10 gear.

Buy a trans temp gauge kit from a catalog (kits available online) and it will come with installation instructions. Most place the sensor in the trans cooler line running from the trans to the cooler. Some aftermarket trans pans have a place to mount a sensor.

Ideally you want your transmission to run pretty close to engine operating temperature. 175 is ideal but hard to do towing. 190 is where you should be.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT

 

I don't know. I have wanted to mount an auxilliarly tach and can't decide where to put it either.

Steve
'95 Clubwagon XLT