Ford Excursion towing problems

gs191145

I have a 2000 4x4 Ford excursion with 97000 miles with av10.(owenedsince 2001).Never had any problems untill this October when for first time ever iI towed a light weight double axle 16' trailer loaded with two four whellers from Georgia to Meeker Colorado over the mountains west of Denver.Going over the mountains up the hills the vehicle would loose all power slowing down to 30 mph and downshifting off overdrive and down to second on occasion .I changed gas and added octane booster with no noticeable improvment.

tidester

You didn't mention the grade or elevation of the roads you were on when you lost power. Also, how heavy were the four wheelers?

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

gs191145

I am not sure about the grade but it was very step going up the mountain .
The elevation was 10000' but it also happened in Tennese at about 2500'.
I do not think that elevation was a factor but I am sure the grade was.

tidester

Does your Excursion have the 5.4 Liter V-8 engine? That would be the smallest and least powerful of the Excursion engines built in 2000 and wouldn't handle steep grades as well as the 6.0 L V-8 turbodiesel or the 6.8 L V-10.

tidester, host
SUVs and Smart Shopper

gs191145

The Excursion is a V10 6.8 liter.It has a lot of power under normal conditions.
It seems that on the steep grades with the trailer behind it (about 6000 lb)
the transmition would overheat and spit some fluid out of the over flow.
At the same time the truck would would downshift,loose power and slow down to 30-40 mph.
It made no difference what the altidude was.

roger72

Hey, I may have your answer. My parents had a 78 24ft class c motorhome back when I was a kid. I think it had a 454 in it. Anyway, we took it on a trip from Washington State to Minnesota. We had about 8 to 10 of us in the motorhome. Long story short, when we went to go over some of the mountain passes, the motorhome did exactly what you said the Excursion did. We stopped and took it to a mechanic. Come to find out that it was an in line fuel filter that was at the end of its life and the force of the engine pulling on the tank at high rpms had clogged it. So, my suggestion is, if you have not purchased a Chiltons Manual for the excursion, maybe do that and it should have step by step how to change the filter. I have an old f150 and it is up against the frame about halfway back on the drivers side. Hope that helps. Let us know if that seems to make a difference in MPG, power, etc. If you have not changed it in the years since you purchased it, more then likely this is your problem. Good luck.