New Ford Owners Group

[Clifftall]

There is a new Ford Owners Group as of today.

Please join me in joining and show your loyalty to the brand.

Cliff

CLICK HERE....

Click on the "Join Group" link on the page! That's it!
.
.

[Kvtaylor]

Were Ford people. We have a 2008 Georgetown XL with the Ford V-10. Were very well pleased with the V-10 engine. Just finished a 8900 mile trip to the west coast and it performed perfect. Milage was what i expected, and no problems on the hills (maybe a little slow). We use Valvoline 5W-30 oil in it. Called Ford and they said the 5W-30 oil was ok. Especially since we normally use it in warm weather (Summer on the east coast, and winter in Florida)

[Clifftall]

Great to hear. By the way what was your fuel mileage? I can't seem to do better than 7.3 mpg . Also , you can now go to your user cp and join the new ford owners group.

[DandS]

Good to have a "gasser" group - seems like a majority of posters on these forums are diesel owners. Have owned two MHs with the F53 chassis and pleased with both.

clifftall - I got an average 7.5 mpg with a 30' Winnie pulling a toad and now get approx. the same with my 37' Newmar and toad. Think the 7-8 mpg range is pretty consistent for the V-10.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by DandS Good to have a "gasser" group - seems like a majority of posters on these forums are diesel owners. Have owned two MHs with the F53 chassis and pleased with both. clifftall - I got an average 7.5 mpg with a 30' Winnie pulling a toad and now get approx. the same with my 37' Newmar and toad. Think the 7-8 mpg range is pretty consistent for the V-10.

Thanks DandS.

I've had two as well and averaged the same on both. I just don't understand those who say they get 9.2 or sometimes better. I think their odometer is set for kilometers .

Cliff

[DandS]

Cliff - Exaggeration is the fuel for legends.

[Clifftall]

You got that right.

[WilleyB]

Well I have no idea of whether I'm overly pleased with it or not. However it's always got us home so that's a big plus.
2nd year out a blown spark plug, lost a lot of confidence after that. In defense of the V10, it was on a Sunday a very long way from any sort of a dealership, but it chugged noisily along from St Thomas ON to Welland ON. Other than the noise there was lots of power left and even at that, the only time it rocked a bit was on big hills. Locking it out of Overdrive on hills solved that inconvenience. After a Ford approved repair($500) we spent another $450 on maintenance as insurance for the homeward bound trip. The homeward trip was uneventful other than waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The next year it pretty much sat in the driveway from the lack of trust. During the winter that year my granddaughter moved to Calgary AB and DW promised her we would visit, so in the Spring preparations were started, I knew there were brake problems so off to the Kenworth dealer it went. Two front calipers were seized, the short of it is a $1200 cost for shocks and brakes (not to mention mods required on the coach). This time I checked the plugs for proper torque. The short story is for the 8000 miles it ran fine excepting that the brake and ABS warning lights coming on and staying on within the last 150 miles.
With regard to the V10, climbing the roads at Banff and Jasper it wasn't much if any different than driving on a flat surface, no high revs and in overdrive most of the time. Coming back down the brakes got a little stinky.
This is the mileage calculated on the second trip, it also confirms our calculations for the first trip
3107 miles 876.6Lt. = 3.54437 miles/liter = 17.5312169 liters/100 km
Miles per Gal US 3.54437 miles/liter = 13.4169miles per US Gal
Most of our driving is on the highway and at 55mph. The rig is a bit over 5 ton gross weight and only 23.5 ft bumper to bumper. It now has 120000 miles on the clock, will we keep it? you can bet we will, hopefully I'll have the light problem figured out tomorrow and repaired shortly after. There's a few more modifications to do before it's really our home away from home.
Maybe I should start a Blog
I guess I should mention the drag race it won against a V6 (Ranger. Toyota) or whatever, it was a blast and from DW's description of the look on the drivers face as we passed him it was well worth the short run to do it

Cheers
Willey

[Fr-Philip]

I have a 1995 National RV Dolphin 533 widebody on the F53 chassis with the 460 V8. It averages 10.2 to 10.7 MPG. But it is equipped with a BANKS system that made a vast improvement. I check the milage using Actron computer pluged into the engine test port EEC IV system. Great chassis except for the fuel pump problems. I have 97,000 miles on the rig.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fr-Philip I have a 1995 National RV Dolphin 533 widebody on the F53 chassis with the 460 V8. It averages 10.2 to 10.7 MPG. But it is equipped with a BANKS system that made a vast improvement. I check the milage using Actron computer pluged into the engine test port EEC IV system. Great chassis except for the fuel pump problems. I have 97,000 miles on the rig.

Fr-Philip

Hello and welcome.

What horsepower is in your 460 v8?

I wouldn't care about fuel pumps if I averaged 10.2 mpg.

Cliff

ps There is a ford motor owners group that you may want to join. It shows loyalty to the brand and brings out the cavalry when those workhorse guys try to pick on you.

[tmar10]

I would love to see anything greater than 7.5 mpg. Our rig seems to be happy around the 6.5 to 7.0 range and I have no complaints with its perfformance. If there is some device or procedure that can get us to 10, the debit card is ready and willing.

We have nothing but praise for our platform and technical support after 10,000 miles of operation.

[Clifftall]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tmar10 I would love to see anything greater than 7.5 mpg. Our rig seems to be happy around the 6.5 to 7.0 range and I have no complaints with its perfformance. If there is some device or procedure that can get us to 10, the debit card is ready and willing. We have nothing but praise for our platform and technical support after 10,000 miles of operation.

Tom

I will be anxiously awaiting responses to your question. However I'm not holding my breathe .

Cliff

[tmar10]

I guess we will have to wait for Ford to put the Powerstroke in the class A chassis.

[Fr-Philip]

Origionally the F53 chasis on a dyno developed 252 hp, after installation of the Banks system it was 287 hp. Also the transmission kit provided a tighter lockup and help the milage. Going over Donner pass I was able to hold speed and pass many big semi trucks, what a difference the banks system made.
The Dolphin is older but a good one, as any motorhome it is a constant repair and tighten proposition.