I have a 04 F250 PSD with 84K and I have wrote on here before about oil changes, brands and intervals. I have always used mastercraft 15-40 and will be getting a 40ft RV weighs 11K empty, any recc's for oil or oci's? Things to watch out for or be careful of? The RV will not be empty and I will probably be close to the 12.5-13K limit for the truck. Makes me a little nervous as I purchased the truck to pull a boat and I always like to stay 70% or under of max tow for longevity sake. Any added protection you guys know of? I sure would like to have a truck in a couple years!
Any changes for heavy trailering?
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Your driving habits while towing will have a bigger impact than any fluid would. If you work the truck too hard something will overheat and/or break no matter what kind of fluids you are running.
Make sure you have tranny temp gauge, oil temp gauge, and accurate coolant temp gauge (not the stock one). Assuming the rest of the truck is in good condition (brakes, tires, steering, etc.) just take it easy while towing and keep an eye on the temps and you should be good to go.
Make sure you have tranny temp gauge, oil temp gauge, and accurate coolant temp gauge (not the stock one). Assuming the rest of the truck is in good condition (brakes, tires, steering, etc.) just take it easy while towing and keep an eye on the temps and you should be good to go.
And don't tow in OD as the trans will lock/unlock on grades causing the fluid to heat rapidly. Better to tow something that heavy in a lower gear and pay a bit extra for gas. Also make sure you have a BIG trans cooler (auxiliary) in that truck to help keep trans fluid temps down.
Brakes. Put on the beefiest, bitey-est brakes & pads you can get & flush the system with the highest quality brake fluid you can find. Transmission cooler, oil cooler, etc... all that stuff's good too, but if you can't stop the trailer when you need it to stop, everything else is pointless.
The 40 weight is fine. I'd be more worried about the tranny. I assume the trailer has electric brakes and your rig has a controller.
Get an exhaust temp pyrometer to moniter yoru exhaust temps and learn how to read it and what to do with the readings. That will be the best thing you can do for the life of your engine. Change all the drive line fluids on a regular basis and with an auto trans watch the oil temps.
Don't forget an oversized rear differential cover. I run one from ADS that holds 6.5 quarts, really cuts down on the temp in the rearend while towing. Mag-hytec makes a nice one too...and use synthetic diff fluid.
Thanks guys, the truck is stock and I just had oil change 1K ago, I changed rear diff 2mos ago and tranny fluid flush and coolant flush about 6 mos ago. Are the aftermarket gauges really that helpful over the stockers? I have heard driving habits are the key, and always take it easy. Mr.Howell This is Mr. Johnson! Southwood! Following your advice and here I am!
I have looked at the aftermarket diff covers right after I did the last change but decided to wait until the fluid got a bit more trashed as I spent more on the diff oil change than a regular oil and filter change! Last thing--Aux oil coolers and trans coolers, I have the tow package so its equipped with them, however is it really worth the extra degree of protection, as the oil could just be changed if it gets roasted, aren't the rest are tied in with vehicle cooling system to a degree, so would that matter? Should there be an extra-extra cooler? Thanks again for the responses!
I have looked at the aftermarket diff covers right after I did the last change but decided to wait until the fluid got a bit more trashed as I spent more on the diff oil change than a regular oil and filter change! Last thing--Aux oil coolers and trans coolers, I have the tow package so its equipped with them, however is it really worth the extra degree of protection, as the oil could just be changed if it gets roasted, aren't the rest are tied in with vehicle cooling system to a degree, so would that matter? Should there be an extra-extra cooler? Thanks again for the responses!
Originally Posted By: wayniac
Mr.Howell This is Mr. Johnson! Southwood! Following your advice and here I am!
Hey man, awesome you found your way here, welcome aboard. That's a big trailer you're towing, what are you up to?
Mr.Howell This is Mr. Johnson! Southwood! Following your advice and here I am!
Hey man, awesome you found your way here, welcome aboard. That's a big trailer you're towing, what are you up to?
Aftermarket gauges are primarily helpful for things like tranny and oil temp, which are typically not included stock.
Wayniac: Here are some #'s to keep in mind once you find a set of gauges and install them... My advice--> Trans Temp-Pyro-Boost gauges.
Temps for Tranny
Temps below to 200deg--->normal
Temps 200-210deg getting hot
Temps 215-230 Very Hot-->Pull over place truck in park-idle truck to 1200-1500rpms. Let the trans cool down to normal temps.
This is for the 4R100 which is in the 7.3L... Im sure your 6.0L Torqueshift is similar.
As for the turbo EGT's--->Try hard never to go over 1250deg.
Max Temps
Oil-->250deg
Coolant-->230deg
Trans-->225-230deg
EGT's-->1250deg
Remember those 6.0L are very hard on the oil, and shear the %$#* out of it fast, so keep it changed often-{Esp if towing alot.}
I sure these numbers are basically the same for both the 7.3L and 6.0L.
Temps for Tranny
Temps below to 200deg--->normal
Temps 200-210deg getting hot
Temps 215-230 Very Hot-->Pull over place truck in park-idle truck to 1200-1500rpms. Let the trans cool down to normal temps.
This is for the 4R100 which is in the 7.3L... Im sure your 6.0L Torqueshift is similar.
As for the turbo EGT's--->Try hard never to go over 1250deg.
Max Temps
Oil-->250deg
Coolant-->230deg
Trans-->225-230deg
EGT's-->1250deg
Remember those 6.0L are very hard on the oil, and shear the %$#* out of it fast, so keep it changed often-{Esp if towing alot.}
I sure these numbers are basically the same for both the 7.3L and 6.0L.
I often tow a 3500-7000 lb trailer with my (already 8500+ lb) '04 E-350 6.0, with the TorqShift-the main thing I do is run synthetic year-round (Valvoline PBX 5W40), and keep a close eye on transmission fluid condition-be SURE to run the Mercon SP-it costs more, but at 206K, this transmission has already beat any other truck auto I've had by over 50K. The rear axle is a Ford limited slip NON-full floater (!)-and it has made weird noises hot since day one, but is still hanging in there. The PSD had a lot of problems early on, mostly related to bad head gaskets & fuel injector pressure sensor problems, but has settled down pretty nicely over the last 100K or so. I hope your fuel mileage towing is better than mine!
the 6.0's are very good powerplants as long as the maintainence schedule is followed, changing oil, fuel filters, and coolant.
adding a coolant filter is a very good idea.
you can buy a scangauge II for around 150 bucks and watch everything important except fuel pressure.
the biggest problem with the earlier models was that no one could figure out why the egr coolers were failing( and in turn causing head gasket issues) the problem turned out to be debris in the cooling system plugging the oil cooler, which in turn starved the egr cooler for coolant, causing it to fail.
the best advice i can give a new 6.0 owner is to go to a ford dealer and have them load the latest pcm flash, among other things it sets a cel if the oil temp exceeds a 15` temp spread from coolant temp
adding a coolant filter is a very good idea.
you can buy a scangauge II for around 150 bucks and watch everything important except fuel pressure.
the biggest problem with the earlier models was that no one could figure out why the egr coolers were failing( and in turn causing head gasket issues) the problem turned out to be debris in the cooling system plugging the oil cooler, which in turn starved the egr cooler for coolant, causing it to fail.
the best advice i can give a new 6.0 owner is to go to a ford dealer and have them load the latest pcm flash, among other things it sets a cel if the oil temp exceeds a 15` temp spread from coolant temp
The biggest problem mine had was leaky head gaskets from day one-the Ford guys couldn't (or wouldn't) fix it until it started leaking AF on the OUTSIDE of the motor-sludged the cooling system pretty good too. It then spent 2 months at the dealer with the body jacked up 8 feet in the air while they put on the new & improved head gaskets, and EGR cooler, among other things, @ just over 50K. The dealer said that the job would have cost over EIGHT GRAND if the engine had been out of warranty, and I heard they tried to shaft my employer for "excessive labor costs"-needless to say-they didn't get it from the fleet company, & that Ford dealer (John Nolan here in Cincinnati) is now out of business. To me, the biggest problem with the 6.0, Cummins, and Duramax motors in a new truck or van is getting them serviced under warranty-if you find a decent dealer, keep sending them your business!
i have had 2 6.0's (04 & my current 07) never a major problem with either. traded the 04 on my 07 with 90,xxxmi. my current truck had a bad o-ring on an injector at 75,xxx mi., and ficm replaced at 90,xxx mi., all under warrenty and currently i have over 105,000 mi. i have heard and read of some of the horror stories from other 6.0 owners.
i can't explain why i have had such good service other than diligent service intervals and it works hauling weight up to 4,000lbs daily along with limited trailer towing.
to the op, you don't have any worries with the troqueshift trans., just chnage fluid & filter every 30,000 mi. i'm sure there have been failures, but i don't know of any. don't be afraid to use the tow/haul when towing, these trans are light years ahead of the old 4r100
i can't explain why i have had such good service other than diligent service intervals and it works hauling weight up to 4,000lbs daily along with limited trailer towing.
to the op, you don't have any worries with the troqueshift trans., just chnage fluid & filter every 30,000 mi. i'm sure there have been failures, but i don't know of any. don't be afraid to use the tow/haul when towing, these trans are light years ahead of the old 4r100
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