Yup, another towing question

Me again with another newbie question. I've tried the search button so please don't flame me with the normal retort.

Here's what I got:
2003 Expy 4.6L 2wd
Came with tow bar, 4&7 pin connectors

I did:
Motts mod
K&N air filter
e-fans
underdrive pulley
EvoHT tuner, switching to all different programs to see which one works best for my daily drive or performance.

Recently added engine oil cooler (Hayden HD 1040) which I have not towed my TT yet.

I pull a pull a TT (26 ft) about 3-4 times a year, and this year after all my mods, I over heated pretty quickly and really ticked me off. I think with all the mods I got a little more oomph, but made the engine run hotter, which I didn't notice initially (Or I didn't pay attention before).

So my question, with installing the engine oil cooler, how much of a temp drop should I expect while towing? On the box it says "UP to" 20 degrees (By experience I have now ignored their claims! )

Is there anything else that I could do to keep the engine a little cooler?

Thanks in advance,
Ken

it would be nice to know all the temps before and after any changes you made

what amount of temp drop did you experience

what was the ambient temps
what was the coolant temp
what was the trans temp
what was the oil temp

and what device did you use to get these temps

bedrck46 said:

it would be nice to know all the temps before and after any changes you made

what amount of temp drop did you experience

what was the ambient temps
what was the coolant temp
what was the trans temp
what was the oil temp

and what device did you use to get these temps

Click to expand...

The temps that I get is from the EvoHT tuner:
Ambient: 105
Coolant: (only temp reading was "engine temp") will towing up hill got up to 244 degrees.
Trans: None
Oil: None

This tuner does not have the option to read Transmission & Oil temp, unless I didn't see it. I'll look again at lunch to see if I have that option.

As part of the first question, I JUST installed the oil engine cooler and do not know what the temp readings are when towing, I just was wondering for those that did install the oil cooler what they experienced in engine temp change.

Thanks,
Ken

Look at it from a logical viewpoint. Which is larger - the oil cooler or the radiator? Which one has the most surface area?
Did you increase airflow with the efans or reduce it?

I used to work on medium duty trucks with diesel engines. Out of 239 of them not a one had an efan but they did have one hell of a fan blade with a viscous or air fan clutch. So why is that? Airflow plain and simple.

You also have a single row radiator if it hasn't been upgraded to the 2 row.

How old is the waterpump and tstat?

if you don't know what the oil temp was before and after how can you make the statement

On the box it says "UP to" 20 degrees (By experience I have now ignored their claims! )

have you towed the TT with the expy yet?

Another thing to consider is the underdrive pulley set. It slows the water pump down and you get less water circulation causing cooling issues. I have a similar set-up minus the underdrive pulleys and adding a two row radiator. I also changed the temp of my thermostat to a 185 deg. So now my truck on a 97deg. day running the air conditioning on the highway at 70mph will run at 172-174 degrees. My trans stays 20 deg cooler than the engine. I haven't towed yet. But my truck used to run at 227-235 degrees in the same conditions. Also flushing your cooling system and making sure your water pump has all of the vanes is crucial. Just before I did all the modifications last year I over heated hauling my camper. Got the truck home and pulled apart. I found the water pump was missing three vanes. this caused a lack of flow that contributed to the overheat. Just something to think about.

did the expy come with the HD tow package also does the 4.6 have a one or two row radiator

Another thing to consider is the boiling point of your coolant. It isn't your main problem but if you are running mostly water you end up with steam. And that doesn't cool well.

To the OP: To answer your question about what to expect for the temp drop of the oil cooler, it is all dependant on airflow, surface area of the cooler and flow rate. If it isn't getting the best of the three then anything above 0 is good.

Looking at the owners manuar for your year it list the tow limits as 0-5000 max for your expy

Engine
Rear axle
ratio
Maximum GCWR -
kg (lbs.)
Trailer weight
range (0 -
maximum) kg
(lbs.)
4x2
4.6L All 4762 (10500) 0-2268 (0-5000)
5.4L All 6577 (14500) 0–4060 (0–8950)
4x4
4.6L All 4853 (10700) 0-2268 (0-5000)
5.4L All 6577 (14500) 0–3924 (0–8650)
Maximum frontal area of trailer is 5.6 square meters (60 square feet)

If your towing a 6k trailer it would appear you are past your limits thus increasing the load on the engine

stamp11127 said:

You also have a single row radiator if it hasn't been upgraded to the 2 row.

How old is the waterpump and tstat?

Click to expand...

Radiator has 2 rows. The one closest to the engine was replace last year.
EDIT: WRONG.... I only have 1 row. Doh, the one in front is the AC condenser......
EDIT AGAIN!! I'm not sure if it's one or two. I believe it's two as thick as it is, but I cannot verify it. I look at the OEM replacement and it says two, but I'll have to investigate further.

Waterpump is still stock.
T-stat was changed last year.

bedrck46 said:

if you don't know what the oil temp was before and after how can you make the statement

On the box it says "UP to" 20 degrees (By experience I have now ignored their claims! )

have you towed the TT with the expy yet?

Click to expand...

I was assuming (I know, assume=....) that with the engine oil temp would have a certain relationship with coolant temp, especially towing. In general was hoping for a cooler coolant while towing.

I have towed the TT many times, but NOT WITH THE OIL COOLER.

Bowesmobile said:

Another thing to consider is the underdrive pulley set. It slows the water pump down and you get less water circulation causing cooling issues. I have a similar set-up minus the underdrive pulleys and adding a two row radiator. I also changed the temp of my thermostat to a 185 deg. So now my truck on a 97deg. day running the air conditioning on the highway at 70mph will run at 172-174 degrees. My trans stays 20 deg cooler than the engine. I haven't towed yet. But my truck used to run at 227-235 degrees in the same conditions. Also flushing your cooling system and making sure your water pump has all of the vanes is crucial. Just before I did all the modifications last year I over heated hauling my camper. Got the truck home and pulled apart. I found the water pump was missing three vanes. this caused a lack of flow that contributed to the overheat. Just something to think about.

Click to expand...

I will definitely look into changing the H2O pump or at least opening that up to check.

bedrck46 said:

Looking at the owners manuar for your year it list the tow limits as 0-5000 max for your expy

Click to expand...

I know that I'm at the limit of my capacity and most likely over with the lack-luster 4.6L engine. It was the buying the cart before the horses. But it is what it is till I can afford to change the situation, since I only go fairly short excursions (wish I had that truck), about 3 hours taking it slow on the hills. My TT is at 4.5K, so full loaded I'm over the limit.