Just got back from a delightful 4th of July camping trip. The camping was great, the getting there, not so much. I was pulling my 6100 GVWR trailer up to a mountain lake. I had 3 small kids in the back and me and my wife up front. In the bed, 2 paddle boards, a small generator and some life jackets. The trailer was fully loaded including water in the tank, so lets just say 6100 pounds. I've got 3.55 gears in the truck. the climb up to the summit is 4 miles of 25mph switchbacks and rises some 2k feet in those 4 miles. I chickened out and pulled off the road when my transmission temp hit 230 as indicated by the digital dash gauge. I got a little scared when the "analog" dial on the dash began to move up to half (which I had always thought was just a dummy light of sorts since I've never seen it move even when towing before).













It was about 90 degrees outside and I had the AC running. The truck literally ran out of steam, I was in 2nd gear and it was struggling to maintain 25-30mph. After letting it idle for 10 minutes or so, the temp returned to a more manageable 204 and I continued up and over the summit at 6600 feet. I had been driving for 2 hours through the mountains (mostly in 4th gear with occasional short stints in 3rd) just prior to hitting this last stretch of road and the temp never went over 206.


In two weeks, I'm camping at an elevation of 7800 feet and really dreading the drive up. It is roughly a 3500ft change in elevation over 11 miles of pavement.


So now I'm scouring the internet for an ecoboost with max-tow again and at the same time really not wanting a bigger payment. I didn't get any warning lights or anything when the transmission got to 230, manual gauge only got to half way when I stopped. Should I get the fluid swapped out? Anything I can do to make it remain cooler? No way to inspect it on these trucks, but its $200 for the dealer to swap it out with a filter. I had it done a year ago so I'm positive on the price.


The engine temp. never deviated from normal, it was just the transmission that got hot. Would I have had the same issue with an EcoBoost truck pulling this load, or would the lower engine RPMs have kept the tranny cooler?

 

Just get an external transmission cooler. And load on the transmission is what caused the temp to go up. I've not had much difference in turbo trucks (diesel) or NA trucks when pulling trailers. I've found that transmissions will get hot when putting them under that much strain for that long. That much change in elevation in a short distance is a lot of stress on any transmission. If you are that worried about it, get the fluid changed and have them install a factory transmission cooler on your ride.

If you already have one, look at getting one from a SD. There's some write ups on here as far as the benefits gained. Also, look at going full synthetic if you're not already. That might help as well.

 

I've got the factory tow package with cooler and brake controller. I'd love a larger cooler but since I can't add fluid myself, am hesitant to cut into the existing lines. I'm also worried about blocking more of the condenser since these trucks have lousy AC as it is....

 

Edit

 

Why can't you add fluid? The Dipstick is right on the transmission.

 

At 90* and that elevation, I think you'd need a bigger factory intercooler to keep the fluid from possibly boiling. Just because it may boil, doesn't mean it's burnt. Higher elevations do some screwy things to fluids compared to us down here closer to sea level. I'm sure you already knew that.

I'll look for a couple threads where people have done the swap. I think so long as it's a Ford part, a dealership might be willing to do it for you. Just depends on how "mod friendly" your dealer is and how much they want the work.

 

Yes, it has a seperate dedicated transmission cooler, as part of the factory tow package.

 

You need a fluid pump and have to be under the truck with it running right next to the exhaust pipe to add fluid and check it. Why Ford couldn't have bothered to have a real up top accessible dip stick is beyond me. I'd have swapped the Trans pan for one with a drain plug and be doing my own fluid changes like I did in my 05 if that were the case.

I saw where you can buy a 6 row Dorman replacement cooler and swap it out for the factory 4 row cooler to get 50% more cooling capacity. Might have to look into that.

 

Sounds like something might be wrong? I tow my boat that is about 7500ish recently drive from my place in Colorado (about 6500 ft) up to steamboat springs and back and the trams temp never went that high even with a few pretty long stints in 2nd gear at 60 or so mph, I was able to maintain 75-80 mph all the way up i70 to Dillon without issue.

My truck is a 2014 screw 5.0 with factory tow package

 

There's only so much you can do with a truck. Towing and hauling specifications are tested under optimum conditions. These trucks aren't engineered to handle every hill and road condition. I personally would be hard pressed to put one to the extreme test.