I went on my first big trip towing last week. I installed my mods over the winter. So here is what i saw.. tranny temps went to 190 but not any higher (outside air temp was approx 75 deggrees) EGT hovered around 900 sometimes going into the yellow zone on 1200 for a very brief time on some hills. I was able to use cruise also without and upshifting. Boost stayed about 5 unless I manually took it out of overdrive to reduce the EGT's. So my major concern is the tranny temps. Does that sound within the ok limits? This trip would have been the worst case scenerio. 33 ft Raptor toy hauler loaded with 3 harleys in the back. So I guess approx 12k lbs max. Overall truck pulled with no problem just was wondering about the tranny temps? thanks Jeff

 

Tranny temps sound good, just watch those egt's and make sure you don't run them at 1200 for very long. JMO

 

Jeff...do you know what kind of mileage you got pulling your big trailer? I pull a 37.5' 13K Montana and get around 9MPG.

 

Tranny temps could be lowered with a bigger trans fluid cooler.

Cowboy Steve

 

Wheatina I get 9mpg as well. 8 if I go over 70.

 

first off... i would reccomend a BIG tranny cooler... IMO, those tranny temps are a little high for my taste, even pulling that load... your ambient air temp is not that high, i would be worried if you pulled that load on a day when the ambient temps were over 90 degrees... i pull 10k lbs worth of 5ver up through some steep mountains, and the only time i have ever seen temps over 180 was when i towed up a VERY STEEP slow windy mountain road in 90 degree heat, (that is a run i will NEVER DO AGAIN..!!!), tranny temps on that run got over 200 and that is too high for me... -as for your egt's, i don't know what you have for an exhaust, but i will simply say the bigger the exhaust is, the more fuel you can dump before the heat forces you to lift... when i replace my pipes, i am going with the 5" "stovepipe"... as for mpg... i get about 11 to 12 when i tow my 5ver, but i'm only pulling a 28 footer, and i have the tall gears... anyway, that should be a little food for thought for you...

 

I pull about the same weight. If you were on a hard pull (uphill) the 195 sounds OK. If not on a hard pull it's a little higher than mine gets. I have stock cooler and a Mag Hytec tranny pan and tow a lot in the south. I've not been above about 200 degrees even uphill in summer. So far the tranny is hanging in there with 110,000 miles. Keeping it cool and changing the fluid and filter seems to be working for me. I only use the truck for RV trips so a lot of those miles are towing.

 

I'm definitely wondering why you're only seeing 5 psi boost in 4th gear? I tow nearly a 14K high profile 5er using a wing to reduce aerodynamic drag, and on the flat with no head wind at 65 mph (2K RPM with my 4.10 diff) I routinely see at least 10 psi boost, 650 F EGT, and I'm using a DP 40/60 tow. If I pull much of a grade at the same speed in 4th the boost approaches 20 psi.

What boost do you see in 3rd when pulling hard, what's the max boost that you can make? With your DP you should easily be seeing 21-22 psi max.

 

I installed a V10 tranny cooler and it dropped my unloaded and loaded temps dramatically. You don't have to get the V10 cooler but I would recommend getting something more than the stock unit.

5psi boost does seem a little low to me also...??

Marty

 

I tow a 38' Fiver and see around 11.5 MPG lately. About 930 EGT on a grade, 8 to 15 lbs boost. Went to a Wicked Wheel and that seemed to increase EGTs a little.

 

Yes I was hanging around 5 psi only on the flatest conditions most of the time it was 5-10 then went up to 20-25 up hill. I did use cruise a lot. Sometimes i had to pull it out of OD to keep the EGT's down. I also have the overboost kit from IDP installed. I was thinking of installing the v-10 tranny cooler. I have heard that would be the most bang for the buck. BTS told me that when i was talking to them about the valve body. Thats my biggest concern is keeping the tranny cool. I have a 2 week trip planned to florida next year with this rig and i was thinking the outside temp are going to prob be in the 90's so normal conditions will put me near 180-190 without the trailer, So that prob means about 220-230 pulling it. SO any thoughts on the V-10 cooler?

 

Those numbers seem low to me.
Is your thermocouple mounted pre or post turbo?
And your boost is very low as well given that kind of weight.

 

Now I see that under similar conditions your boost #'s look similar to mine! Here are some reference #'s on my tranny temps, and the first tranny mod I'd make if I were you, namely get a torque converter lock up device, and keep it locked as much as possible. Check out this thread https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/615365-tc-lock-unleash-the-psd.html and especially read all of my posts on it concerning the way I shift the tranny while towing.

I see you've got a 2002 that has the dual in-radiator and air ATF coolers in series. I got a free TSB update to that configuration in Oct 2001, and it sure helped bring down the tranny temps in hot weather and at slow speeds where you don't get much air flow over the air cooler. Running empty, I never see more than 145-150 F at the line pressure test port on the side of the tranny. I've also got a temp sender in the return line from the air cooler, and if I'm at speed with good air flow, I see at least a 20 F lower reading on the return line.

Even when towing across Kansas a few years ago during their 105 F heat wave I never saw temps higher than about 180 F at the tranny port and 160 F on the return line. The lower radiator tank which contains the ATF cooler never gets hotter than about 190 F (I've confirmed this with my IR gauge), and the liquid to liquid heat transfer from the ATF to the coolant is so efficient, that the ATF leaving the radiator cooler should never be much hotter than 190 F, and then this goes through the air cooler.

Also check this thread https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/512209-wow-real-air-conditioning.html and do this mod. About 3 hours into my tow across KA I turned off the AC to help control tranny temps, because it produces much waste heat that reduces the cooling of both the radiator and ATF air coolers. It turns out that any time you use your AC, your AC compressor is being used to cool a lot of hot water that the Ford design allows to circulate through the heater box.

 

im also towin a 38 ft. Montana 5er, 13K loaded to the gills, last weeks tow looked like this in 40 tow.
Speed, 60 to 65 MPH.
Outside temp. 50 deg.
Altitude 20 to 650 ft. above sea level. (GPS)
Boost on flats in OD. 6 to 9 PSI.
Boost foot hills OD off, 18 to 20 PSI.
Tranny gauge sending unit not installed yet. ( sorry no info)

MPG. with 16 oz of dieselKleen, 13.8 on paper.

 

So here is my next idea, Can the V-10 tranny cooler slip right in my truck where the stock one is ? I have a 2002 f-350 7.3 Brian at BTS siad that would give me the most bang for the buck rather than bigger pan or aftermarket cooler etc.. anybody out ther have this setup and how hard was it to install? jeff