Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×
 


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 06-12-2022, 07:36 PM   #1
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: Tampa Florida
Posts: 6
E450 6.0L Toy Hauler Build Help

Hey Guys,
I just got done building a E450 micro bus into a RV/toy hauler. My goal was to build a rv that could haul a 26' 4000# trailer with 2 Polaris RZRs on it. Roughly 10,000#s total. But after todays 90 degree, 3.5hr maiden voyage, I'm a little concerned that I might be asking too much out of her. All temps (EOT,ECT,and Trans Temp) were high from what I've been reading and I was empty (no trailer and tanks were empty). I've attached a picture of my tuner. At the bottom of every gauge is the min-max numbers so you can see where its been.

Some info on the bus
2010 Blue Bird but I believe the E450 cab/chassis is 2009
74K miles
egr deleted
4.56 gears
Jody at DP-Tuners tune (dd and a tow tune)

Im thinking next upgrades will be:
Larger aux transmission cooler
Bullet Proof Diesel 6.0L to 7.3L fan Conversion
Coolant Filter
I only have 1 transmission filter (in the pan) so I might add a aux one

Questions:
1) Is my goal achievable (towing 10K)?
2) Should I bypass the radiator portion of my transmission cooler and just run the large aux cooler?
3) Any problems with the listed upgrades?
4) Do I need to add anything else to that list?

I know this is a lot but I have a trip to Tennessee planned in 3 weeks and need to figure this out asap or prep the ole 7.3L for the trip. Let me know if I need to move this to a different section. Thanks guys [ATTACH][ATTACH][ATTACH]Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8478.jpg
Views:	15
Size:	304.1 KB
ID:	44248[/ATTACH][/ATTACH][/ATTACH]
Attached Thumbnails
Livewire.jpg   IMG-6653.jpg   IMG-8476.jpg  

Bullfrog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-12-2022, 10:42 PM   #2
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Western Colorado
Posts: 1,228
I ended up removing/replacing my 7.3L fan clutch that I had installed in my 6.0L. It was engaged way too much and there was no in between in regards to fan speed, it was either on full tilt or not all all. It was very loud.
__________________
Desert Solitaire
2003 7.3L EB 4x4
Timberline 4x4 conversion
saline is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 05:51 AM   #3
REF
Senior Member
 
REF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Boulder, CO.
Posts: 2,552
Send a message via MSN to REF
E450 6.0L Toy Hauler Build Help

Sweet setup, fitting in a larger trans cooler aside, I’d ditch the DP tuner. Several of us had his tunes on our 7.3 that created the same high temp issues along with several other undesirable effects, garbage, since replaced with the PHP Hydro tunes with much better results. I think there are a few threads here that address 6.0 tuners, SCT, Bully Dog and Edge come to mind, I have no idea about the results.
Here’s the link for Power Hungry Performance 6.0 FICM tuning.

https://gopowerhungry.com/ficm-programming/
__________________
'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
(de)SMB'd Custom RB-50
Quigley 4X4 w/Deavers & Agile Offroad's R.I.P. package
CCV High Profile Pop Top
REF is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 07:04 AM   #4
Senior Member
 
Twoxentrix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Maryland
Posts: 3,347
Garage
Several of us have used 5-Star tune, and had them program the fan to come on earlier to help control temps (especially on uphill grades and while going slow since you don’t have a lot of air pushing through). Has help my Van tremendously.
I’m guessing your e-450 weighs in around 9K lbs unloaded (if not more), have you had it in a CAT scale to see what it actually weighs ?
Highly recommend upgrading the Trans cooler since you are towing.
__________________
TwoXentrix
"AWOL"
Twoxentrix is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 07:31 AM   #5
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: Tampa Florida
Posts: 6
I understand that a tune can contribute to the high temps so about 45 minutes into the trip I stopped and went back to a stock tune. Everything stayed about the same but the tranny did go about 2 degrees higher (so did the outside temp). I would say nothing changed.

I haven't weighted it yet but plan on doing it soon.

I called around to a few tuners (PHP being one of them) but no one wanted to mess with it because of the -EGR.

That picture of the SCT Livewire didn't come out the best so below is about what I was seeing.
Engine Oil Temp average 219 with a max of 222.96
Engine Coolant average 210 with a max of 216
Trans Temp average 211 with a max of 214
These temps happened with an outside temp of 90 degrees, flat Florida roads, and cruise set at 60mph.

What Trans Cooler do you guys recommend?
Bullfrog is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 07:49 AM   #6
REF
Senior Member
 
REF's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Boulder, CO.
Posts: 2,552
Send a message via MSN to REF
I went with a Tru-cool on my 7.3, check dieselsite, riffraff and others. Mishimoto makes a quality product too. I’m sure someone will chime in with first hand knowledge for the 6.0
As mentioned, you can also have a tune programmed to kick on the fan a lot sooner to help cool things.
__________________
'03 Ford E350 7.3L Diesel
(de)SMB'd Custom RB-50
Quigley 4X4 w/Deavers & Agile Offroad's R.I.P. package
CCV High Profile Pop Top
REF is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 09:24 AM   #7
Senior Member
 
Twoxentrix's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Maryland
Posts: 3,347
Garage
My tranny temp only crested the 200 mark a couple times (steep hills), but your oil and coolant temps are pretty close to what I was seeing initially with my 11,800lb Van. I was educated by the brain power here that those temps your are running are not too far out of line, but can only assume they would all go up much higher while towing with a fully loaded van.
I’m now running 198-208 coolant with 202-212 oil on freeways, doing about 70mph. But I did these mods which helped:
Installed a Mishimoto low temp thermostat
Installed a Mishimoto aluminum radiator
5-Star (50hp) tune that engages the fan earlier (starts to engage when coolant hits about 110)
I Have a 4” exhaust
Replaced the HPOP just to make sure it wasn’t restricted in any way.
I also use an oil additive and fuel additives religiously.
__________________
TwoXentrix
"AWOL"
Twoxentrix is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 12:38 PM   #8
Orv
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2018
Posts: 619
Garage
IMHO those temps don't look that bad. If you have the stock thermostat I don't think it's even fully open until around 220F.
__________________
N8SRE
1990 E-250 Sportsmobile w/ penthouse top, converted when new by SMB Texas.
Orv is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 01:37 PM   #9
Senior Member
 
carringb's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Corvallis, OR
Posts: 5,300
Yup. I was going to say thing. Stock T-stat starts to open at 192F, and I don’t think it fully open until 215F. Your deltas look pretty good.

You really need to see what happens on a long climb.

Many of us have done the Tru-cool max 40k trans cooler upgrade, and that’s probably the one component you should just do, if you plan on towing 10k. Note: it won’t lower your light-mod temps, since the transmission has a thermostat too. It’ll just keep them from spiking during hot weather climbs or stop and go traffic.
__________________
2000 E450 dually V10 wagon
carringb is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 06-13-2022, 05:10 PM   #10
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2022
Location: Tampa Florida
Posts: 6
Just got home from work, went out to the bus to start measuring things for the new cooler and unfortunately found a clue to my overheating issues. I started checking all my fluids and found this. By the way YES I did check everything before I left on the first trip and NO they did not look like this.

Couple other things I found:
*Engine coolant leaking where the transmission lines enter the radiator.
*Surface rust on the transmission dipstick and on the inside of the transmission dipstick tube.
*Transmission fluid doesn't look bad
*Engine oil is clean

I'm thinking at this point the radiator failed and is mixing the transmission and engine coolant together which would cause they coolant to get milky and the transmission dipstick to rust due to the coolant being burned off.

What do you guys think?
Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8831.jpg
Views:	6
Size:	117.2 KB
ID:	44286

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8834.jpg
Views:	5
Size:	132.8 KB
ID:	44287

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8835.jpg
Views:	7
Size:	90.9 KB
ID:	44288

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8838.jpg
Views:	4
Size:	116.8 KB
ID:	44289

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8837.jpg
Views:	4
Size:	113.2 KB
ID:	44290

Click image for larger version

Name:	IMG-8829.jpg
Views:	6
Size:	181.6 KB
ID:	44291
Bullfrog is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
6.0l, e350, overheating, powerstroke, towing

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off

» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3
Disclaimer:

This website is not affiliated with or endorsed by Sportsmobile SIP or any of its affiliates. This is an independent, unofficial site.


All times are GMT -6. The time now is 05:29 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.