Think I found my duallys limit..

[chumwon]

Well over the last year and 25,000mi I've done nothing but love what my thick hip ole girl can do. For buying it out of a farmer's field for 1,000 and fixing some minor things that were neglected it's been a brute! It's very quick unloaded to 60 with the 4.11s in my own opinion! It's almost the same age as me and probably in better shape. It's immaculate for here in Michigan. The first gen banks turbo needs love but some boost is better then none.

I purchased a 36ft wedge gooseneck trailer shortly after getting her running right. I don't know the exact weight but it's gotta be around 4500lbs, she knows it's back there even unloaded...it wasn't going to win races but she'll do it. Vacuum brakes suck but trailer brakes make a huge difference. I mainly haul just a single vehicle on it.

My truck hates hills and runs hot (212+)anywhere past 60ish. The e4od overdrive doesn't like the load around 55, especially with slight grades. Today I loaded up a couple crappy mud boggers to go play at a mud bog 30mi away. By dumb luck my route is very hilly and trying to do 55ish I was running 230. The tranny was very unhappy with me aswell not wanting to grab OD after down shifting..

It's a ball park of 13,000lbs load. I hear people talk of hauling much more(hearsay).It's done nothing but surpass my expectations everyday but did I finally find the limit to what my poor ole girl can do safely? Or is there some attention/ maintenance I need to do to get ole Betty White back to her prime! Thanks everyone for your input an two cents!

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[pelky350]

Your saying truck didn't want to use od with that load on it? It shouldn't want to if that's the case I think even the owners manual says do not use od while towing this Is because it will exert to much load on the transmission and other drive components, it should be staying pretty high in the rpm range with that much in tow. It is safe to stay at the higher rpms fully loaded like that and easier on motor and transmission as well

 

[jwalterus]

Or is there some attention/ maintenance I need to do to get ole Betty White back to her prime!

Yeah, you need a new trans now..........


Realistically, with the hills and load, your selector should have been in 2, you just severely shortened the life of your trans most likely, check the fluid, does it smell burnt?
On the engine, 212 is nothing, and 230 for a half hour doesn't even make me concerned.
Most of us who tow heavy have a stick, I'd much rather fry a clutch than a trans.
Stay out of overdrive towing.
I don't even use O/D with an empty pickup box trailer behind an auto.

 

[franklin2]

Are you hearing the fan lock up? You should be hearing it and there is no missing it when it happens, it sounds like a jet engine under the hood. If it's working, most people report it will not lock up until around 230F which makes some people uncomfortable but that is what the factory set the clutch at. Some people modify the little curly spring on the clutch to make the fan kick in at a lower temp.

I just towed for the first time a camper with my Tahoe with a 350. I have the factory manual, it recommends towing in OD. They are crazy. I tried it, it would keep shifting up and down constantly, and the temp would start climbing also. I pulled it down into 3rd and it was much happier, and you could watch the temp gauge start to fall.

When you keep the rpms up, the cooling fan turns faster, the waterpump turns faster, the engine oil pump turns faster, and in your case, the turbo stays spooled up, blowing more air through the engine keeping it cooler blowing less black smoke.

 

[chumwon]

I felt like it was dying not using over drive and tilling a little less then 3000rpms. I don't know this motor well enough to let them run that kid of rpms for an extended period of time. It would finally shift after I completely let off the throttle but then I lost all momentum... the tranny has been getting weak as when I'm barely on it it'll break you neck shifting but you put it to the floor and it'll wind out like a rubber band and it's too smooth. It starts off hauling it fine but nearing the end of my trip it didn't wanna hold OD or grab it without letting off the gas

And no there is zero cooling fam turning on then..it's never gotten that warm to test it but yesterday was the day.

 

[chumwon]

My only complaint on my hauler is that yes I wanted the zf5. Can't agree more there sir! I'll check to see if she smells burnt aswell

Yeah, you need a new trans now..........


Realistically, with the hills and load, your selector should have been in 2, you just severely shortened the life of your trans most likely, check the fluid, does it smell burnt?
On the engine, 212 is nothing, and 230 for a half hour doesn't even make me concerned.
Most of us who tow heavy have a stick, I'd much rather fry a clutch than a trans.
Stay out of overdrive towing.
I don't even use O/D with an empty pickup box trailer behind an auto.

 

[chumwon]

Unfortunately farmer Johns goat got the manual before I did....

Your saying truck didn't want to use od with that load on it? It shouldn't want to if that's the case I think even the owners manual says do not use od while towing this Is because it will exert to much load on the transmission and other drive components, it should be staying pretty high in the rpm range with that much in tow. It is safe to stay at the higher rpms fully loaded like that and easier on motor and transmission as well

 

[Hydro-idi]

Looks like you found the prob with that fan clutch.
Also, no overdrive while towing. That's not a modern diesel where you can get away with towing in OD because it has 800ft/lbs torque. It probably doesn't even have half that.
Having said that, it'll get you wherever you need to go, as they are good dependable trucks. But I can tell you that E40D is on borrowed time with loads that size.
Also, you can redline these engines all day long. You won't hurt it with high rpms.

 

[chumwon]

Alrighty well I'll see about getting the fan clutch off. And yeah I didn't want to run those kind of rpms but my motor seems much more stout an sound then my tranny. I wanna make it 4x4 eventually so maybe I'll keep my eye out for a rebuildable 4x4 trans to swap out once this does bite the bullet

Looks like you found the prob with that fan clutch.
Also, no overdrive while towing. That's not a modern diesel where you can get away with towing in OD because it has 800ft/lbs torque. It probably doesn't even have half that.
Having said that, it'll get you wherever you need to go, as they are good dependable trucks. But I can tell you that E40D is on borrowed time with loads that size.
Also, you can redline these engines all day long. You won't hurt it with high rpms.

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

I've been dealing with my truck getting hot under load, I redid all the cooling system as the radiator was shot but the single biggest thing was the fan clutch. Even cleaned out I would still get 230, now with a working fan I don't get over 200, even when it was 95 yesterday! You can buy a new one or do what I did and simply re fill yours. All you do is rent the fan wrench from autozone, remove your fan (left hand thread) and drill a small hole in the face right outside of the spring circumference.



Once you have the hole you need to fill it with 10,000 wt silicone fluid. If you have a hobby shop around it's call diff fluid for rc cars. One bottle will be plenty. Use a syringe or something small to fill it as it's so thick you can't just pour it in, I used a plastic syringe from an old ear dropper kit.
Once it's full just find a 1/4 long wood screw same diameter and coat it with sealant and just forcefully thread it in. No need do drill and tap it it's super thin anyways. After that just re install the fan and mine works perfect now for less than 10 bucks.




And lastly definitely don't use overdrive when towing heavy! I know it's a diesel so you don't want to rev it but you have to talk to owners with the c6 trans and 4:10's , you can read that their gearing will run them over 3k rpm all day at 70, these motors will do it no problem

 

[chillman88]

You'll definitely notice the difference when you get the fan clutch fixed. When mine comes on not only is it loud, my truck feels the power loss as well. Of course, mine is tired and non-turbo as well.

The most I regularly haul is my buddy's Dakota on my 1500# flatbed trailer and I can definitely feel it. Probably weighs as much as your trailer does empty lol!

I don't have any problem with the vacuum brakes... When they work... My booster is leaking and if I run her at low RPMs I suddenly have no power brakes I'm hoping to make it through the year until I get my winter truck registered and do a hydroboost upgrade in the spring. I did it to my Chevy and now that truck has the best brakes I've ever driven! Definitely worth looking into when you get some spare coin!

 

[chumwon]

I'm loving that idea and hearing you had issues like mine! I'll be checking my fan out today! And yes the c6 perspective duhhh! I can't believe I didn't think about these things running before OD came around! Thank you very much for your input sir!!!

I've been dealing with my truck getting hot under load, I redid all the cooling system as the radiator was shot but the single biggest thing was the fan clutch. Even cleaned out I would still get 230, now with a working fan I don't get over 200, even when it was 95 yesterday! You can buy a new one or do what I did and simply re fill yours. All you do is rent the fan wrench from autozone, remove your fan (left hand thread) and drill a small hole in the face right outside of the spring circumference.



Once you have the hole you need to fill it with 10,000 wt silicone fluid. If you have a hobby shop around it's call diff fluid for rc cars. One bottle will be plenty. Use a syringe or something small to fill it as it's so thick you can't just pour it in, I used a plastic syringe from an old ear dropper kit.
Once it's full just find a 1/4 long wood screw same diameter and coat it with sealant and just forcefully thread it in. No need do drill and tap it it's super thin anyways. After that just re install the fan and mine works perfect now for less than 10 bucks.




And lastly definitely don't use overdrive when towing heavy! I know it's a diesel so you don't want to rev it but you have to talk to owners with the c6 trans and 4:10's , you can read that their gearing will run them over 3k rpm all day at 70, these motors will do it no problem

 

[chumwon]

Yeah I went over kill on the trailer that's for sure but I couldn't pass the deal. Guess I should be happy I didn't buy the 53footer instead or the ole girl word really kill me!

If I have faith in that truck lasting a while if be more then happy to spend the money on hydros!. I've never driven something where I literally said "I need better brakes".. hell both trucks on the trailer don't even have brakes! Haha if I can wrap my head around how to do it an get it done right I'd love to have the hydros!

You'll definitely notice the difference when you get the fan clutch fixed. When mine comes on not only is it loud, my truck feels the power loss as well. Of course, mine is tired and non-turbo as well.

The most I regularly haul is my buddy's Dakota on my 1500# flatbed trailer and I can definitely feel it. Probably weighs as much as your trailer does empty lol!

I don't have any problem with the vacuum brakes... When they work... My booster is leaking and if I run her at low RPMs I suddenly have no power brakes I'm hoping to make it through the year until I get my winter truck registered and do a hydroboost upgrade in the spring. I did it to my Chevy and now that truck has the best brakes I've ever driven! Definitely worth looking into when you get some spare coin!

 

[Sidewinded_idi]

I'm loving that idea and hearing you had issues like mine! I'll be checking my fan out today! And yes the c6 perspective duhhh! I can't believe I didn't think about these things running before OD came around! Thank you very much for your input sir!!!

No problem! I read about it from another member who found an old TSB from Toyota telling dealer techs how to do it to fix the fan on the new trucks back in the day! I'll link the thread with pics so you can see.



Only thing I did different is I didn't remove the clutch from the fan, I just pulled the shroud back, and removed the whole fan clutch/blades as an assembly and left it like that. Message me if you have any questions it's super simple! I just had a good idea maybe go to a hardware store and but one of those small bottles of oil with the needle like metal tip. That would help to fill. That was my only issue was my plastic syringe wasn't that small so I made a mess getting it full. With a small oiler botttle or the like it would be a piece of cake.

https://www.oilburners.net/threads/the-4-fan-clutch-fix.64852/

 

[Hydro-idi]

Like mentioned before, filling the fan clutch with oil is a good temporary fix. Not a long term fix. If your clutch doesn't have any oil in it, where did it go? Answer to that is the seals are shot and it will eventually all leak out again. Engine cooling systems aren't an area to go cheap on imo.