Towing with OverDrive "ON" - Do it!

[kert0307]

Replacement, I think he recommended it because it could have been letting your engine get a little hotter than normal if it is sticking. It's pretty cheap, probably less than $15, but it may be hard to get to depending on your model of ex.

 

[turboexplorer]

Not an up grade for the Thermostat just cheap insurance, but wouldn't hurt. A good cooler in line with the stock one and the trip should go just fine Just no need to have it pinned to the floor, up all the hills, slowing down some is fine Yes that's a fair amount of weight for 288 ft-lbs of torque but it will pull it fine

 

[Badspell68]

Just changed tranny fluid and installed temp gadge. Will be installing B&G cooler with fan tomorrow. It seems the tranny temp without the trailer is around 160.

What would be a tamp to look for when towing and what is the danger point?

 

[BrooklynBay]

Check the links in # 8 in my list of useful threads.

 

[Badspell68]

Added 13" B&G cooler with fan, (FYI = If you order this be sure to also order 1/2" thread nipples as the thing come with nothing but two huge gaping holes where you attach tranny hose)

Had to remove stock, small cooler to fit then and time and modification to the front was required to fit it all in. Will be driving today...hope it salves the problem.

The temp without trailer seems to hover around 158.

 

[Badspell68]

In North Dakota now, from NJ. All is working well and the cooler is keeping the temp down, it can spike up to 200 going up-hill or in a strong head wind. Also installed a toggle switch to manually flip on the cooler when needed. My top speed seems to hover around 50 to 60mph with an RPM consistently close to 3000 or just over. 2000+ miles to go till AK


Is 200 considered a dangerous tranny temp?
Is 3000 RPM for long term durations high for my tranny?

 

[turboexplorer]

No that shouldn't be way to hot, and engine and tranny are plenty fine at 3,000

 

[gavin]

if the transmission temp starts to rise above ~220*F, that's when you need to give it a rest.

 

[CDW6212R]

Ive towed 5k with the same truck, 5.0 96 model. Time is the problem. 30 minutes hauling 5k is no big deal- 2 hours is pushing it hard. You need to change all the fluid (either flush or some other method) and get a bigger cooler.

5k lbs is alot of weight behind a 5 liter explorer. The tranny slowly makes more heat than it can shed through the cooler... each pass of the coolant through the system gets a degree or so hotter every cycle... after 30 mins- 1 hour the tranny cooling system becomes overloaded and it cant shed heat as fast as the transmission makes it. A good big plate and fin style cooler helps alot. I added a giant B&M plate/fin cooler to mine after the stock cooler, switched to synthetic, and never saw over 200 degrees trans temps pulling 5k lbs in 3rd NOT od. It would cruise with that load in the summer here at 160.

Honestly, i think your tranny expert is trying to dupe you into burning your **** up so you will become a customer. Just IMHO.

This was the best advice, well said James.

The stock V8 truck is probably good to some speed like 45mph with that kind of load. As the load increases, the speed goes up where the trans makes more heat than the coolers remove. With a trans gauge you can monitor that and adjust your speed to keep the temps down.

For future users, consider more items. Add an external filter, the extra capacity helps to slightly cool the fluid. Use two coolers plus the radiator, and run them in parallel(use two "Y" fittings). Change the engine thermostat to a 180 rating, the cooler water will help the trans run a little cooler.

Check the fan clutch, if it isn't working properly then the coolant runs much hotter than the thermostat, and then the trans fluid jumps in temperature.

The overdrive in Fords is a band, not clutches which are stronger. Imagine that while towing the OD band may begin to slip with more than half throttle, or 40% etc. Doing that, try to always keep off the throttle if you ever tow in OD. If you can run it in OD, and never use more than 30-40% throttle, then the OD band will not be slipping. If you have to use more throttle, then don't, take it out of OD until you can keep off the gas.