Good V10 driving habits

[BigBaron]

Originally Posted by Grimesy

On my 98, which was the first year Winnebago put a V 10 in their "A" body, I was told there was an RPM limiter built into the sysyem that would not let you to over rev. Was never in a position to see if it actually worked. Was also told if it overheated two cylinders would stop firing until the temp returned to normal. Thought it was a great engine and only serious problem was water injestion into the air cleaner in heavy rain.

Good luck and enjoy the ride.

Don G.

I rented a BIG class C with the V-10 and when those two cylinders kicked out going up the hills toward Hoover Dam it scared the #!$# out of me! LOL
The towing switch worked excellently going downhill, too. I found cruise control downshifts too early as well, so I didn't use it going uphill, but it worked perfectly with the tow switch going down.
I got between 7-8 mpg uphill, downhill, engine on, or engine off... I'd be scared to see what a class A gets!
Good motor!

[trode]

My v-10 f-53 in my 2004 SeaBreeze is a 2003 chassis version, I do not have a Tow-Haul mode on mine but instead have overdrive off. I feel like this works similarly but maybe not exactly the same. I had Tow/Haul in my Ram truck that I pulled trailer with, essentially it seemed to move shift points a little but mostly kept tranny out of O/D. Used it mostly in-town driving and hilly areas. On the v-10 I have only used the O/D off switch to accomplish down hill engine braking on that bridge on the way into Charleston, SC. One other time I used it in very congested traffic to offer some braking effect when I let off accelerator. I do not travel in mountains (yet), so have little experience there. The noise of the v-10 on slight grades, and that afore mentioned bridge, is not surprise to me, and I don't try to "out think" the computer, so let it do what it wants on hills and grades. RPM-wise it will run up to 3,500 or 3,800 range for some slopes when in cruise, but I think that beast could run all day at those ranges with no harm.

One thing I have noticed on the last trip, I could hear the engine fan cycle on after climbs on the overpasses and bridges along I-95. I assume it is a clutch type fan. I also guess most of that heat comes from the tranny. At any rate I hadn't noticed that on prior trips, but most other trips were not at ambient air temps of 90-94 degrees.

I run my boat engine for hours at a time in the 3,200 - 3,500 range for hours. So I don't worry about a few minutes in the high 3's for the V-10. The noise? Reminds me of the sign near the air-base near my home "that is the sound of freedom", in the case of my V-10, that is the sound of horsepower!

[BBQ Judge]

cucamelsmd15, you are correct. I took your advice and checked with Ford for my 2013 V-10. First thing I learned is technology changed in the 12 years since I bought my last V-10.

There is no red line on the tach, computer modules will not let the engine over rev. The computer modules also protect the engine in the tow/haul mode from over-revving. Even if going down hill at a good speed and you stand on the brakes, the engine and trans should not be damaged. It may sound like its trying to come up through the engine cowling but it is safe. The tech I talked to did say I should not make this drastic a stop a common practice.

[Hipshot]

I like to also use tow/haul in town for the down shift braking. I pretty much use it all the time. I wish it would default to tow/haul on startup and give me the option to turn it off.

[Ted Lambert]

Originally Posted by trode

My v-10 f-53 in my 2004 SeaBreeze is a 2003 chassis version, I do not have a Tow-Haul mode on mine but instead have overdrive off. I feel like this works similarly but maybe not exactly the same. I had Tow/Haul in my Ram truck that I pulled trailer with, essentially it seemed to move shift points a little but mostly kept tranny out of O/D. Used it mostly in-town driving and hilly areas. On the v-10 I have only used the O/D off switch to accomplish down hill engine braking on that bridge on the way into Charleston, SC. One other time I used it in very congested traffic to offer some braking effect when I let off accelerator. I do not travel in mountains (yet), so have little experience there. The noise of the v-10 on slight grades, and that afore mentioned bridge, is not surprise to me, and I don't try to "out think" the computer, so let it do what it wants on hills and grades. RPM-wise it will run up to 3,500 or 3,800 range for some slopes when in cruise, but I think that beast could run all day at those ranges with no harm.

One thing I have noticed on the last trip, I could hear the engine fan cycle on after climbs on the overpasses and bridges along I-95. I assume it is a clutch type fan. I also guess most of that heat comes from the tranny. At any rate I hadn't noticed that on prior trips, but most other trips were not at ambient air temps of 90-94 degrees.

I run my boat engine for hours at a time in the 3,200 - 3,500 range for hours. So I don't worry about a few minutes in the high 3's for the V-10. The noise? Reminds me of the sign near the air-base near my home "that is the sound of freedom", in the case of my V-10, that is the sound of horsepower!

I think you will find OD OFF and TOW HAUL is the same just stated differently. A buddy owned a transmission shop an told me that in OD only one band is used in the trans. With OD off more bands are locked up making things much stronger. In OD that one band is doing a lot of work.
Of course there is also the lockup torque convertor that comes into play also.My experience is with heavy duty power shift transmissions.
Maybe somebody else could add to and verify this.

[cucamelsmd15]

OD off and Tow/Haul are not even remotely the same. There is a 5-star thread that shows the graphical shift patterns, but off the top of my head:

Shift schedule
Shift pressures
Speed thresholds
Torque converter lockup

All of those things, and more, change when using tow/haul. Its a drastic change to the shift logic. OD off simply locks out overdrive, that's it.

[John H...]

I've had 3 V-10's and love the engine, and the fourth is on order.

[BigBaron]

Originally Posted by cucamelsmd15

OD off and Tow/Haul are not even remotely the same. There is a 5-star thread that shows the graphical shift patterns, but off the top of my head:

Shift schedule
Shift pressures
Speed thresholds
Torque converter lockup

All of those things, and more, change when using tow/haul. Its a drastic change to the shift logic. OD off simply locks out overdrive, that's it.

I noticed a significantly different shifting behavior when using tow/haul mode. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works, except on steep hills. I always turned it off when climbing.

[Ted Lambert]

[QUOTE=cucamelsmd15;1742514]OD off and Tow/Haul are not even remotely the same. There is a 5-star thread that shows the graphical shift patterns, but off the top of my head:

Shift schedule
Shift pressures
Speed thresholds
Torque converter lockup

All of those things, and more, change when using tow/haul. Its a drastic change to the shift logic. OD off simply locks out overdrive, that's it.[/QU

That makes sense to me. I think my Friend was referring to OD OFF. He is long gone now and the Tow Haul was not around when I had the discussion with him.
Thanks for setting me straight on this. Gives me something to think about when looking at older units.

[cmalberto]

I consider myself still a newbie. Had to take my rig over the other side of Houston today. First time I have run complete interstate as opposed to back road, 2lane rough roads. I have a Scangauge hooked up to monitor my real time mileage. Based on my first tank mileage, i was very displeased with myself - only averaging 6.2mpg. I learned quickly to slow down(65 or less)...getting better real time mpg equated to a better run at 7.6mpg on my last tank. Today I was averaging about 8.5 before filling up(last tank was split across trips). After filling up I got caught in slower Houston traffic - about 55ish...mpg was even better. In fact the average was 9.8 when I pulled into my dealer's parking lot about 50 miles down the road.

Some observations....smooth interstate roads perform better than the 2-lanes; finding an 18 wheeler to hide behind creates some interesting drafts - smooth and seems to pull you along....mpg increases here too.

Any ways - been following this thread and I thought I would add my newbie, 2 cents worth. Hope it helps.

[John How]

Thanks everyone for your insights, I am looking forward to my first trip in a few weeks to try and put some of these ideas into practice.

[cucamelsmd15]

Originally Posted by BigBaron

I noticed a significantly different shifting behavior when using tow/haul mode. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works, except on steep hills. I always turned it off when climbing.

In the F150 at least, I prefer to use it when going up the mountain, towing or not. The strategy may be different, but in the 6R80, it will immediately dive to 6th gear as soon as you let off or engine load drops. Tow/Haul will hold the gear, which is better because it keeps the engine spinning (i.e. water moving) and keeps you from locking/unlocking the torque converter and putting heat into the transmission.

That said, Im not sure if the 5R110 in the motorhome is different, but I imagine it could be. I guess Ill find out in about 3 weeks.

[Fiesta48]

The OP asked about driving techniques. First get a monitoring device ie. Scan Guage (or simular) or a vacuum gauge so you know how much you are pressing the accelerator. A light touch will also give better gas mileage and increase reliability. I get 8.0 mpg on my 2011 Bounder and got over 9 on my 05 Fiesta. I rarely drive over 60 mph. Hold your foot steady, going down hills faster to climb the next hill. Try to avoid headwinds and carry as little junk as possible.

[John How]

We're getting ready for a trip in the coming weeks so not knowing when the oil was changed last and to start fresh, I changed the oil & filter, (engine & generator) and lubed all I could find on the chassis. Got all 9 fittings on the front axle/steering gear and linkage. The u-joints on this thing don't have fittings as seems the norm in years since the 70's. Are there any others that I didn't see or don't know about?