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Old 06-27-2019, 04:11 PM   #1
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Milage gone from 7.5 to 4.8MPG

2013 F-53 Thor Challenger 37KT is upshifting and downshifting when it never has in the past. Also hear a whining noise on exceleration. No one can find any codes so therefore can't fix anything. Any ideas out there?
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Old 06-27-2019, 04:51 PM   #2
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Seperate the exhaust pipe and the tailpipe. Shine a light in the tailpipe and check the cat. coverter. Ford uses a ceramic honeycomb converter. They sometimes break and clog the pipe. Sounds exactly like your problem.
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Old 06-27-2019, 04:56 PM   #3
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To check for restricted exhaust, hook up a vacuum gauge.

Take off, with you foot to the floor. You should see 0 vacuum. If the vacuum starts to climb, while accelerating, there is a restriction.
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Old 06-27-2019, 05:06 PM   #4
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Originally Posted by ga traveler View Post
Seperate the exhaust pipe and the tailpipe. Shine a light in the tailpipe and check the cat. coverter. Ford uses a ceramic honeycomb converter. They sometimes break and clog the pipe. Sounds exactly like your problem.
Separate Exhaust after the cat and before the Muffler?
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Old 06-27-2019, 09:27 PM   #5
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Separate Exhaust after the cat and before the Muffler?
There’s a 4 bolt flange at the front of the converter. Split it apart there and inspect the inlet of the converter (honeycomb). I had the same symptoms and the converter was clogged at 26k miles. Ford replaced under warranty. At least in CA and possibly elsewhere the emissions warranty is 8 years.
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Old 06-27-2019, 10:03 PM   #6
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2013 F-53 Thor Challenger 37KT is upshifting and downshifting when it never has in the past. Also hear a whining noise on exceleration. No one can find any codes so therefore can't fix anything. Any ideas out there?


A whining noise on acceleration may be a differential problem. A friend with a new 2019 F53 chassis just had that start on him after about a thousand miles. He took it to Ford today and they found metal shavings in the differential. As soon as the tech heard the noise he knew what it was.

Does your whining noise get louder as you move to the back of the coach? His did. It was dead quiet up until that happened.

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Old 06-28-2019, 09:16 AM   #7
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There’s a 4 bolt flange at the front of the converter. Split it apart there and inspect the inlet of the converter (honeycomb). I had the same symptoms and the converter was clogged at 26k miles. Ford replaced under warranty. At least in CA and possibly elsewhere the emissions warranty is 8 years.
Here's a pic of my converter. If it looks like this it's bad. The coach slowly lost power over a period of a year. Fuel mileage dropped like a rock. It would run ok on the flat but as soon as you started climbing a grade it would fall on it's face. Never any codes, no pinging, lean misfires or over rich conditions. Plugs looked great so the fuel mixture didn't appear to be over rich. I never knowingly put any contaminated fuel in the tank but who knows what you get in the backwoods. Anyway the local Ford dealer was very supportive and confirmed the converter was restricted. They replaced it under warranty. I asked the mechanic what might of caused it to fail and all he would say is it happens. After the replacement it runs like it did new and the fuel mileage is back to normal. I did not hear any drive train noise so maybe your issue is something else but the other symptoms fit.
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