Tech Help Needed May 17, 2009, 10:05:36 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102407Okay, it's my turn to request help on a Sunday night from Ashland Ore. We left Santa Rosa today, drove mostly I-5. My concern is the behavior of the transmission in my 2000 e-450 (v-10 engine) According to my Scangauge, I usually get 9 to 10 mpg at 60 mph towing my Suzuki sidekick. Today, I'm getting 7 or 8 mpg. Further, it seems like the engine rpms are higher than normal. BUT what is normal? Do any of you out there know what the normal rpm range should be when crusing in overdrive at 60 mph? Or a web source of the same. Tomorrow, I can contact Henderson in Grants Pass -- I'm not sure they do engines/tranny, but if not I'd trust their recommended shop. Meanwhile, we're off to the Ashland Shakespeare Festival this evening, but we thought we'd give you guys a chance to chime in on our problem!Thanks in advance./noel/ (aka cyberskier_98)
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #1 – May 18, 2009, 03:24:05 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102431Quote Okay, it's my turn to request help on a Sunday night from Ashland Ore. We left Santa Rosa today, drove mostly I-5. Hi, I won't even attempt to address the transmission questions - leave that to the techy guys. :-) But the mileage question is easy. Did you notice all the hill climbing you did yesterday? Well, there goes the gas. From Santa Rosa, I'd guess you climbed an easy 7,000 ft up, up, and over the pass into Asland. Depending on your destination, I-5 will keep you going up and over a lot from many miles. Oregon (I-5) only looks flat on a map.Happy Trails, Juli
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #2 – May 18, 2009, 03:52:23 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102432But the mileage question is easy. Did you notice all the hill climbing you did yesterday? Well, there goes the gas. From Santa Rosa, I'd guess you climbed an easy 7,000 ft up, up, and over the pass into Asland. --- The summit of Siskiyou Pass is only 4300'; it just *seems* higher when one is in the truck lane for a slow ascent or descent! ;-)
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #3 – May 18, 2009, 04:20:11 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102434The tranny question should be pretty easy too. What you'll want to do is manually shift the automatic tranny. Start in low and up-shift as you gain speed. If the transmission doesn't give a discernable shift each time you move the gear lever up one, then continue to accelerate (within reason) to make sure you have reached and passed it's "shift-point". If all goes well through to high gear (don't forget overdrive if you have it), you should know if it has shifted for each lever position and will thus know it can get to high gear.bumper
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #4 – May 18, 2009, 05:07:43 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102436QuoteAccording to my Scangauge, I usually get 9 to 10 mpg at 60 mph towing my Suzuki sidekick. Today, I'm getting 7 or 8 mpg. Noel, California is required to switch to summer blend gas as of May1 unless things have changed. Who knows what that formulation is now or what you have in your tank.Joe Hamm
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #5 – May 18, 2009, 06:22:55 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102437"Joe Hamm" wrote: California is required to switch to summer blend gas as of May1 unless things have changed. Who knows what that formulation is now or what you have in your tank. --- This page might answer a few questions (or, spark a few new ones!) about the oxygenate in California's "reformulated" gas. http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/gasoline/faq/faq.htm Joan
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #6 – May 18, 2009, 07:19:06 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102438Quote "Joe Hamm" wrote: California is required to switch to summer blend gas as of May1 unless things have changed. Who knows what that formulation is now or what you have in your tank. --- This page might answer a few questions (or, spark a few new ones!) about the oxygenate in California's "reformulated" gas. http://www.arb.ca.gov/fuels/gasoline/faq/faq.htm Joan Wow, one would need some of that sippin' whiskey to figure this out. Joe
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #7 – May 18, 2009, 09:39:45 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102440"The summit of Siskiyou Pass is only 4300'; it just *seems* higher..." Gosh, all these years I've been seeing messages asking "Will we make it over the dreaded Siskiyou Pass, or is it too late/too early in the year?"... and now I find out it's only 4,300 feet?? Heck, in close to four years of travel all over New Mexico, I don't think I've ever been BELOW 4,500 feet! ;-) Seriously, is there something about Siskiyou that makes it prone to bad weather in spite of its low altitude? Now I'm curious.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #8 – May 18, 2009, 09:55:34 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102441Quote "The summit of Siskiyou Pass is only 4300'; it just *seems* higher..." Seriously, is there something about Siskiyou that makes it prone to bad weather in spite of its low altitude? Now I'm curious. I think it might be because Californians are sissies. But I've only lived there for 45 years so I might be mistaken. Honest - Siskiyou is just some hill. Highway 5 is the problem, and any attentive driver can solve it.John
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #9 – May 18, 2009, 10:08:29 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102442Having lived in Oregon for 10 years, and traveled the Siskiyou Pass many times, I can attest to the treachery of that pass. Especially when it is covered with ice and snow. Lots of curves, and very steep climb going south. The California side is not so bad. It was the main reason for installing a trans temperature gauge in the motorhome. It gains 2,300 feet in 7 miles. Everything bad you have heard about the Oregon side is true.Dick
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #10 – May 19, 2009, 07:27:53 am Yahoo Message Number: 102447Quote Having lived in Oregon for 10 years, and traveled the Siskiyou Pass many times, I can attest to the treachery of that pass. Especially when it is covered with ice and snow. Lots of curves, and very steep climb going south. It gains 2,300 feet in 7 miles. Everything bad you have heard about the Oregon side is true. Altitude doesn't count so much as percent grade. 2,300 feet in 7 miles is an average of a nearly 6% grade (a significant long climb). The trouble is, it's NOT a STEADY average. Some parts of this grade are much steeper than others. Throw in some sharp turns and slippery conditions and you can have a real challenge on your hands. It's even more dangerous coming DOWN in icy conditions. When they say "Traction Devices Required", they really mean it. -Mark.
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #11 – May 19, 2009, 09:49:43 am Yahoo Message Number: 102448wrote: Altitude doesn't count so much as percent grade. 2,300 feet in 7 miles is an average of a nearly 6% grade (a significant long climb). The trouble is, it's NOT a STEADY average. Some parts of this grade are much steeper than others. Throw in some sharp turns and slippery conditions and you can have a real challenge on your hands. It's even more dangerous coming DOWN in icy conditions. When they say "Traction Devices Required", they really mean it. --- I don't mean to minimize the potential challenges of the Siskiyou Pass (or any mountain pass), but, in my experience, a 6% grade is a *very* mild climb or descent if a driver possesses basic "mountain driving" skills. And, *any* road, flat and straight, or with grades and curves, can be extremely dangerous in icy conditions; even heavy rain, wet snow, hail, high winds, and whatever else the weather gods might have in store for that day can present real challenges for drivers, especially for drivers of large vehicles. Like many folks on this board, I've driven through all kinds of weather conditions, and have been caught (bad planning!) a few times in different places having to drive the motorhome over a "pass" in a snowstorm. This experience can indeed be pretty dicey, but, unless an emergency makes travel absolutely necessary, I don't "do" ice, *especially* in the motorhome. If I know that a road, any road, is icy, I am not on it! And, the only "chains" I want to have experience with are 18k gold! YMMV.Joan
Re: Siskiyou Pass Reply #12 – May 19, 2009, 10:05:27 am Yahoo Message Number: 102450"Lots of curves, and very steep climb going south." Thanks... now I get the picture. A 6% grade alone doesn't bother me--I've had no trouble with the Cloudcroft pass in NM, which is steeper than that. But when you're talking about grades *plus* curves, and when bad weather makes the road slick, that can be a lethal combination.Andy Baird http://www.andybaird.com/travels/
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #13 – May 19, 2009, 10:51:49 am Yahoo Message Number: 102452To me, a *very* mild climb is one where you can maintain the posted speed limit while pulling a toad. It has almost nothing to do with basic mountain driving skills, and nearly everything to do with the capability of the vehicle you are driving. Driving a normally aspirated motorhome like a Lazy Daze up a 6% mountain grade is an entirely different situation than, for example, one with a 600HP, turbocharged, diesel pusher.Dick
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #14 – May 19, 2009, 01:03:00 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102460"Do any of you out there know what the normal rpm range should be when crusing inoverdrive at 60 mph? Or a web source of the same."/noel/Terry's site has RPM charts for the 4 and 5 speed transmissions. They show the engine RPM and vehicle speed for each gear.4-speed 4L100 transmission http://tinyurl.com/p6e3xo> 5-speed 5L100 transmissionhttp://tinyurl.com/o4mutr>Larry
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #15 – May 19, 2009, 05:16:35 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102464Thanks for the thoughtful replies. It looks like the tranny is making all it's shifts. Once you settle down to a stable cruising condition the tranny should "lock up". I'm not sure it's doing that. During a test Monday morning without the toad, it seemed like it was working okay. Later, with the toad, maybe it wasn't, but I'm not sure. The mechanic recommeded by Gilbert at Henderson also suggested that a failure to lock-up could be caused by the wrong fuel. Turns out I last filled the rig several months ago, so it was definitely "winter" fuel and the temps were in the 90s for Sunday's drive. The mechanic wouldn't have been able to look at the rig for 2 days. So, I've convinced myself that the worse thing that will happen between now and our return home is reduced fuel mileage. I can live with that. By the way, lower fuel mileage numbers I cited were based on level sections of highway where I could maintain a constant speed for a mile or two. One of the nice things about the Scan Gauge is that it provides a read out instantaneous mpg to the tenth of a mile. (for example, 2.4 mpg when you accelerate from a dead stop!), as well as RPM, % Load on the engine, whether or not the computer is running Open or Closed Loop, water temp, and more -- definitely a fun toy for tech types. I do check also overall mileage the old fashioned way. For the 318 miles from Fairfield Cal to Medford Ore I used 37.7 gals, which works out to 8.4 mpg -- less than I'd have expected, but not bad for that route with a toad and the "wrong" fuel. Anyway, we're continuing on with fingers-crossed and, maybe, a modest increase in fuel bills. Thanks again to all/noel/ (stopped for wi-fi at the Newport Public Library)
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #16 – May 19, 2009, 05:49:34 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102468QuoteBy the way, lower fuel mileage numbers I cited were based on level sections of highway where I could maintain a constant speed for a mile or two. One of the nice things about the Scan Gauge is that it provides a read out instantaneous mpg to the tenth of a mile. (for example, 2.4 mpg when you accelerate from a dead stop!), as well as RPM, % Load on the engine, whether or not the computer is running Open or Closed Loop, water temp, and more -- definitely a fun toy for tech types. That scan gauge will also give you total mpg for the entire day and even the day before. No need for old fashion.Joe Hamm
Re: Tech Help Needed Reply #17 – May 19, 2009, 05:52:42 pm Yahoo Message Number: 102469wrote: To me, a *very* mild climb is one where you can maintain the posted speed limit while pulling a toad. --- Definitions of what constitutes a "mild grade" obviously differ; that's why I said, "YMMV." I don't tow and I'm content to climb (and descend) a grade in the truck lane with all the other "slow" vehicles. YMMV.Joan
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