V-10 problems

OP, Turtle and Peeps is correct. You have a 7,000 pound truck pulling a 7,000 pound trailer. Check to see if your mass air flow sensor is dirty. I routinely pull a car on my car hauling trailer. weight is between 6,500 to almost 7,000 pounds with both trucks in my signature. Both will do 65 up any hill I encounter in southern California, though I seldom go over 6,000 feet elevation, and do not have the wind resistance of your travel trailer. Like others have said, don't be afraid to let the V-10 rev to 3,500 or even 4,000+ rpm. That is the power peak for the engine. I don't have a tuner on mine, but have heard they are worth having for the improved shift points.

Maybe I should be looking at a diesel. What kind of mileage will a diesel get doing 65 up a grade? What kind of mileage do they get while not towing? I an not pulling 14,000 lbs I am pulling a little under 7,000. Which diesel truck will get me up the hill at 65 and deliver the best mileage?

Thanks,
John

dodge guy wrote:
I have an 02 Excursion with the V-10 and 4.30 gears. I tow a 9200lb TT with no problems. Combined I'm about 17,500lbs. It'll do 60 with no problem up a mountain! It needs to rev! 4500 all day long!

The 4.10's are OK, but the 4.30's are the best, part of me wishes I would've went with 4.56's.

As far as the 5star tune, best money you can spend at this point. The biggest change is the shift programming. It makes a big difference in towing. No more short shifting and going into O/D too early. Worth every penny!


The diesel guys hate this but it will hang with a stock diesel of similar vintage all day long!

I was going to say something about the diesel comment until I finished the sentence. lol

I have an 02 Excursion with the V-10 and 4.30 gears. I tow a 9200lb TT with no problems. Combined I'm about 17,500lbs. It'll do 60 with no problem up a mountain! It needs to rev! 4500 all day long!

The 4.10's are OK, but the 4.30's are the best, part of me wishes I would've went with 4.56's.

As far as the 5star tune, best money you can spend at this point. The biggest change is the shift programming. It makes a big difference in towing. No more short shifting and going into O/D too early. Worth every penny!


The diesel guys hate this but it will hang with a stock diesel of similar vintage all day long!

jmacpolo wrote:
I started out years ago towing our 7,000 lb trailer with my old chevy 2500 with the 350. I tow mostly in the Sierra and Rocky Mts. I hated the way I had to slow down to 45 mph going up the grades. So after reading what others had said about them, I bought a 2007 Ford 3500 V-10. I have been very disappointed with the power of the V-10. Now I can hold 50-55 mph while going up grades. I thought the v-10 would give better performance than that. Am I expecting too much from this motor, or is there a problem with my V-10?

Thanks,
John

John, you have several problems.

#1. Pulling 14 thousands up a hill at 50 to 55 MPH is jamming! It really is pretty fast.

#2. If you don't wind that V10 up to 4,750 you're not making max HP and you need to make the most HP possible to make it up that hill faster. (The 572 CI engine I drive every other weekend I wind up to 7 grand on every shift so I think your little V10 will live just fine at 4,700 RPM.) (BTW, Ford says that, not just me.)

#3. I don't know where you pull but lets say you're going over Donner pass. You have about 360 HP to start with. By the time you get to the top of Donner pass you're down to about 280 HP. That's not a bunch when you're trying to pull 14K up a hill.

#4. HP takes fuel. Lots of HP takes lots of fuel. You want to go fast or get good mileage? Pick "one." Sorry, but you only get to pick one. 750 HP for me uses about 1.25 gallons of gasoline in about 10 seconds. Now you only have about half that HP but you get the drift of what kind of fuel you're going to burn if you want to make all of your HP and go fast up the hill.

#5. I don't have a HP chart for the V10 but if your winding that engine up to less than 4 grand you're "probably" making less than 300 HP. Couple that with altitude and now you're making somewhere around mid 200 HP.

Bottom line. You want to go fast up a hill. Plant your right foot to the floor and hold it there. The only bad thing that is going to happen is you're going to burn a lot of fuel. I can't help you with that. Remember the pick one I told you about earlier? :B

harley-dave wrote:
You might check out the 5 Star tuner for the V-10.

This is a terrible post......because it might force me to spend some money !! ;)

I assume that if fixes the problem of downshifting just as you get to the top of a gentle hill ??

If it really does make a slight improvement in the fuel mileage....or doesn't make it worse.....I'm all over it.

jmacpolo wrote:
I had been told that letting diesel engines sit for long periods of time w/o being driven was not OK. The truck sits sometimes for several weeks at a time.

Several weeks is NOT a long time.

And that is just another example of bad information "I have been told".

You might check out the 5 Star tuner for the V-10. Really helped my 14K lb. class C. Climbs much better at lower RPM plus I get a coupe of MPG better on the flats. I wouldn't leave home without it.

Dave

If you don't let the V10 sing (rpm's) you aren't giving it a fair chance to show you its capability. I towed my TT in sig all through the south east mountains with mines and the steepest passes required full throttle and all 10 cylinders singing but it kept up pace. It isn't quiet by no means but even diesel make some noise when pushed hard.

If you are towing at elevation, I think you are expecting too much from the engine.

As far as it being bad to let a diesel sit, that has not been my experience. My truck sits pretty much all winter. So did the one before it. No issues here.