F250 Tow/Haul

[RMHarville]

I forgot to push the Tow/Haul button for part of our last journey. I towed our 24 Cougar RLI for about 1.5 hours without the truck being in the "tow/haul" mode. I do not think it caused any problems. Thoughts?

 

[chuckster57]

Nope. If you were on flat highway, no harm no foul. If you were on hills and downshifting, your probably still good.

 

[NH_Bulldog]

I have always used it intermittently myself. With a 10 speed it always seems to find the right gear regardless, and I always monitor my transmission temps anyway. One thing I don’t like about it is that it aggressively engine brakes on downhills even if I don’t want it to, so I use the select-shift a lot if I am not on the highway.

Tow/Haul mode modifies the transmission's shift points, causing it to hold lower gears longer during acceleration and downshift earlier when decelerating, but that’s about all it does. With select-shift, while in Drive, you can use the minus button to lock out the upper gears if you find yourself downshifting from 10 to 8 a lot. You can just lock out 9 and 10 and force it to stay in 8. It worked the same on my F150 with the 6 speed transmission.

 

[RMHarville]

Thank y’all
That’s what I thought.

 

[Peto]

No damage done. I use my exhaust brake mostly.

 

[RMHarville]

Thanks again.
Was making me worry a bit!

 

[jsb5717]

Tow/Haul Mode is an aid, not a requirement. It simply changes shift patterns to help maintain a more optimum power band under load. It seems to be most effective in trannies with 4 or 6 gears. The more gears the tranny has the more efficient the tranny is out of the box. My 6 speed tranny is more efficient in Tow/Haul Mode on the uphill pulls but I can see how a 10 speed tranny might not really need it.

 

[Clegg]

Tow/Haul will minimize the transmission "hunting" for gears. The constant downshifting and up-shifting is hard on the transmission after a while. It is definitely better for your transmission to use the tow/haul feature when pulling, but it is not the end of the world.

 

[bipolarcoder]

Am I in fault for never using tow/haul? Gears sound terrible to me so I just use normal mode and exhaust break.

 

[Notanlines]

Nope, you’re not. Generally speaking there isn’t much to be gained with tow/haul. But I do wonder what you meant by “gears sound terrible.”

 

[bipolarcoder]

Nope, you’re not. Generally speaking there isn’t much to be gained with tow/haul. But I do wonder what you meant by “gears sound terrible.

I only mean it sounds different from regular mode. Like some gears last longer and I’m just not used to it. No grinding or anything

 

[jasin1]

Tow haul mode on a diesel heavy duty pickup truck helps with downhill runs maintaining speed …at least on newer diesel trucks it works together with cruise control and exhaust brake…also helps hold gears longer pulling up a hill…check out tfl trucks ike run from a few years back with big three diesel’s

I’d use it on a gas truck for regular towing but personally wouldn’t use in the mountains going down hill… don’t like the sound of screaming rpms holding back the truck….I feel they do that more for safety to prevent overheating brakes and imo it can’t be good for the engine almost redlining it to slow down…..I have a Ford Transit van that i pull a cargo trailer with and it sounds like the rocker arms are gonna fly thru the valve covers going downhill in tow/ haul

 

[sourdough]

I don't have experience with a Ford F250 or Ford diesel...nor the current trannys in Ford trucks so take the experience I'll relate for what it's worth to you.

Bought a new F150 with the E40D transmission. Did not have "tow/haul" mode but did have the "OD" button which is pretty much the same thing. Had about 30k on the truck and DD moved to S TX from W TX. Made 2 trips down there pulling a loaded 12' Uhaul. Before I got home on the 2nd trip the tranny was slipping a bit. Returned the Uhaul and resumed daily life...with a slipping tranny that got worse little by little.

Took the truck in while it was still under warranty and it the tranny was fried. They tried to "repair" it twice then finally had to put in a brand new unit. The lead tech said I had fried it by not using the OD switch which made sense. He also said if he or I told Ford the situation they probably would not cover it under warranty.

I know it's a different truck, type of truck/tranny but the takeaway for me was what I mentioned in the 3rd paragraph. I have used the tow/haul mode religiously since then no matter the truck. Read the owner's manual for guidance on when, where and how to use it.

 

[Monte421]

OD button is not the same as T/H. All it does is lock out OD. T/H keeps the converter locked so it doesn't build heat. Must have gone over Frauds recommendation of 260 trans temp which is a pretty ridiculous temp for a trans.

 

[chuckster57]

OD button is not the same as T/H. All it does is lock out OD. T/H keeps the converter locked so it doesn't build heat. Must have gone over Frauds recommendation of 260 trans temp which is a pretty ridiculous temp for a trans.

I have a ‘94 F350 ( in sig) with the E4OD trans. The button is as stated, locks out overdrive. I use it when tugging the trailer uphill and when the trans starts “hunting”.

I installed a cooler w/fan and I have a temp gauge on the pillar. Hottest it’s ever gotten was 245. I am a member of a ford diesel forum, and one of the moderators was a Ford Trans engineer. When I was prepping for my cross country trek I PM’d him with questions and he said the E4OD trans could take 250 degrees for about 30 minutes without damage.