Greetings all! Forgive me if I am duping, however I have not found much on the v10 in a 3500 dually (78K miles) bone stock, and am not knowledgeable to know if everything translates to the other models.
I have recently acquired this truck from a family member (1st owner) in California, and towed a heavy 28' cargo trailer across country to Nashville.
1st thing I noticed... transmission was all over the place and I was wishing for a gear splitter. Screaming third gear 3500+ rpm and unable to go far past 1/2 throttle in OD till it jumped back up.
The v10 had more than enough power, just seemed the trans was poorly geared.
That said, I ended up blowing the upper radiator hose in Barstow to which I replaced. (Every morning since then, the upper hose has been flat due to vacuum, open the cap and it puffs back up, fill, burp, fill... next day same thing)
Once I was out in the flat, the beasty did much better, but it still would have been nice to give it more throttle at the lower RPM in the higher gear.
I was able to get decent MPG on my way from Nashville to home in the twin cities of MN, so it can't be all bad....

My questions are:
1. What in the world is going on with the coolant?
(I have the lower, heater hoses, thermostat, etc... coming to replace as well)
2. What can I do to help this transmission to get it to shift a reasonable RPMs?
3. Gear splitter a bad idea?
4. Regular maintenance items for a DIY?
5. Is there a trick to getting to the engine gracefully?
(I am only 5'8" and I have to crawl into the engine bay to work on this thing)

Thank you!!
Jim

 

Hey, I'm born/raised Minnesotan! Still have lots of family there. I miss the winters!!!!

Sounds like you got a great rig there! Try to keep it off the roads in the salt though.

No idea about V10 or autos but I did drive a v10 once and it was awesome power! Being its a 01, it may have deathflash which was a dealer tune that de-rated the gas engines to alleviate ping. You would know by looking at the pcm for an added sticker and sometimes on the radiator "authorized dealer update." I have it on my 5.2.

Our super moderator is a V10 guy and knows everything. He'll chime in soon (heyyou)!

 

1 Sounds like the cap isn't venting properly. It's supposed to allow vacuum in the radiator (which you get when it cools, and the coolant contracts) to suck in coolant from the overflow bottle. It doesn't appear to be doing that, so, replace the cap.

2 Don't tow in overdrive. What size tires do you have, and what gears in the axles?

3. Gear splitter is NOT a bad idea...... might be easier/cheaper ways to accomplish what you want though. Installation can be interesting, if you want to be able to use it in 4x4, it would have to go between the trans, and t-case... which would require custom driveshafts. Other problem is, not much aftermarket support for these trucks any more... so, finding one might be impossible, and even if you do, it's gonna be expensive.....

4. How many miles on the truck? Does it have any issues (aside from the trans) that you think need to be addressed? (things that don't work as they should?) Fix those first. Changing all the fluids sure won't hurt either, and things like plugs and wires, if you don't know the last time they were done..... have at 'em. (no distributor cap or rotor to worry about, no PCV valve either. It's just a fixed orifice valve, that doesn't get replaced, unless it breaks.

5. Nope. I'm 6'2", and I have troubles with it as well. I have a stool that I stand on, when it's necessary to work in the engine bay. If I am going to be under the hood for a while, I'll let some air out of the front tires, to lower it down some. If I am going to be digging deep into the motor, I'll pull the fan, and shroud, so I can actually stand IN the engine bay. (gotta have a helper for that though, crawling in/out of the engine bay to get the right tool gets old right quick. )

 

@Ramman18 - Love the winters up here! I will take a look for the sticker. Don't think the old man had anything like that done.
@HeyYou - Thank you for the notes!
1. I replaced the cap with an OEM one, still had that problem. I got home and picked up another aftermarket one to see if that helps. I checked the line to the puke tank, and it is clear. Maybe still too much air in the system?
2. No tow in OD? I did that all the time on my chevy with no issue. Stock tires as far as I can tell. 16inch rims. I will take another look at the sizes. If I shouldn't do OD while towing, how can I get a bigger gas tank on that thing! Stopping every 170 miles is not gonna cut it!
3. I would only split in 2WD, that's the only time I feel I could use it. Especially on hills.
4. 78K miles. Still a baby. There is some aged parts I am going to replace like hoses etc... but otherwise not much is wrong. This winter I will be pulling it into the shop for all the fluid replacements, and rubber replacements. The old man had it serviced regularly by month regardless of age at a dealership. Likely has royal purple, etc... throughout and checked over and over.
5. I can barely reach the hood when it pops fully open! Feel like a kid again when I work on it! With the winch on it, I can't reach a thing!

Jim

 

The 47RE doesn't like towing in o/d.... the clutches in the o/d unit slip under heavy loads, and that will eat the trans pretty quickly. It's a dodge thing....... Mine has 4.56 gears, and 33" tires, so, with O/D off, I am pushing 2800 RPM at 55...... I really don't wanna know what that would look like at freeway speeds. Ugh..... I need bigger tires.

Only splitting in 2wd makes it easier to install...... still think you are going to have a hard time finding one, unless you have a two piece driveshaft, and can put it in place of the center support bearing??

I get 10-11 mpg under normal circumstances, towing drops that a good bit. The truck should have a 34 gallon tank..... and that's as big as they get. May an aux tank?

 

I was considering gear vendors, as I had one on my motor home and it made a WORLD of difference.
http://www.gearvendors.com/product/a...&FUEL_TYPE=GAS
Good to know about OD towing - I will resist!
Tires are stock size 235/85-16. Most certainly need some larger tires.
When I had a 12' truck camper on my chevy, I put 19.5" rims with some load H rated tires. That was a while ago... is anyone doing that these days? With the dually not so sure I need it, but I liked the stiff sidewalls with the load. If I were to get bigger tires, should I be getting bigger rims? What is the majority running, or what is recommended for providing a better gear ratio to life expectancy of transmission?
I have looked high and low for a bigger tank. Most of the time there is one specified but is no longer manufactured... there is a spare tire delete tank, or a bed tank... I don't like running down below 1/4 tank due to fuel pump burn out (lack of cooling), so I really only have about 28 gallons of usable fuel... which bites at 6 MPG!

 

Holy crap. That is friggin' EXPENSIVE....... (though, I am impressed you were able to find one at all. ) 3300 bucks (plus tax, and installation....) would buy an awful lot of gasoline........

You already have approx. 32" tires there...... Do you know what gears you have in the diffs?

 

80K truck... Imma thinkin it is in line with the cost... although I would like to find it cheaper...
I do not know what is in the pumpkin... I have been looking for the body tag, but it is not on the rad supports, and the truck is fully carpeted... where else could I look for it?
I was thinking of having the 19.5 inch rims to hold on to load range H tires. I like the steel belted sidewalls and 5,000 lb per tire holding capacity. They range from 32" to 40" depending on preference.
What is the average people generally put on these guys... I still have 5 more inches till I can't get into the garage!

 

Ok...... That's an interesting metric.

Grab your VIN number, and go here. Click on 'equipment listing', and on the page that pops up, enter your VIN, and hit search. That will give you a complete equipment listing your truck came with from the factory. Including gear ratio.

Being you have a 4x4, I wouldn't be surprised if you couldn't go to 35" tires without any clearance problems at all.... So long as they aren't too wide. I have 33's on my truck, stock ride height, and there is PLENTY more room for tires. Go much bigger, and it might prompt you to want to regear..... not an inexpensive endeavor.... (cheaper than the gear splitter though......)

 

Says I have - 3.55 Rear Axle Ratio
5 pages to wander through... Already has the AUX trans cooler