Hi all,
I'm truely new to the ways of the diesel. I pulled a Travel Trailer 540 miles this weekend and had some questions. First when the fan turns on, it scares the crap out of you at first. Boy at 83degrees out, it turns on a lot.
My turbo also seems to make a missing sound when pulling a load. It sounds like a car not whining on all cylinders?
I also got 7.9 mpg doing 72 mph on realitivly flat land of Wisconsin.

Ok, or not so much?

Thanks

How much does your TT weigh?

Do you have some kind of screen front or something on? You shouldn't see the fan come on too much at 83 degrees but it depends on what you are towing.

7.9mpg is probably low but again it depends on what you are towing.

Turbo noise is probably normal.

The truck is bone stock with 2k miles on. The TT IS 85OOLBS. or so.

I would say with that kind of weight and low miles MPG is about right. It will definetly loosen up alot once yet get close to the magic 10,000 mile mark. My 05 got almost 4 MPG better between 6000 and 10000.

For what it's worth, I just pulled about a 4,000 lb. trailer (not much, really), with about 500 lbs. in the bed of the truck and 700 lbs. of mud in the wheel wells and on the frame for about 3 hours up and down some pretty good hills at 100 degrees and the fan came on once (traffic in Stephenville, Texas, believe it or not). MPG was about 15.8, Tran temp stayed right at 190 and engine never moved off of 205.

Turbo whine is a beautiful sound:D .

I ran 16K gross from Tucson to Kansas City @ 75mph and averaged 11.8. No wind, and no real wind resistance. There are a lot of variables, but I have never gotten better MPG than the day a vehicle was new. If I do it's because of modifications I have done. I drive my trucks for a living. That may have something to do with it. I am not testing the traction from stop light to stop light, till the new wears off. I do it till the tires wear out.:)

I am more worried about your fan and your turbo noise. Did the temp ever move? Did the fan cycle on and off, or just blast all the time? May need a trip to the dealer for the turbo.

Just got back from a trip to canada from here in calif., middle of the state and I pull a 29ft aplpenlite 5th wheel that ways around 11000 lbs and I averaged almost 12 mpg. Truck has about 14,000 mile on it at this time. Most of the time in calif the outside temps where in the 90 deg range and the fan would only come while towing up a hill. I have noticed that the fan comes on more while towing in tow/haul mode for some reason. Truck got up to about 230 degrees towing up the ashland grade in oregon but when the fan kicked on it cooled it down right away.

I towed my trailer for the first time yesterday. Total weight was only 5500 lbs. (not much compared to what others tow). The trip was only 120 miles, temp was 85 to 87 and several long grades, fairly steep. My truck has just over 600 miles on it. I was watching the engine temp and trans temp like a hawk an listening closely for the fan to kick in. The temp never moved past the mark right before the 210 degree mark and the trans temp remained under the 200 degree mark. I did not hear the fan kick in at all. I understand it was not a scorching hot day and I was not pulling at a lot of weight. After reading all the over heating stories I expected the temp to heat up a little bit at least, but it did not. I hope I got lucky and got a relatively cool running engine.

WOW, mine is fairly new ('05, 9K miles), I have never seen less than 9 mpg towing my 10k+ toy hauler. Something is wrong... maybe a Monday or Friday truck...

last year when I bought my truck we went to sturgis from LA and I got 6.8mpg most of the way 200 miles per tank ran out once in wyoming.I now get 10.5mpg towing the same load.I have 21,700 mile on the truck and the trailer is a 26foot weekend warrior 7,600lb dry full of toys 11,200

You could have the dealer replace the fan clutch and then join the overheating crowd.

Seriously, the fan clutch is your friend. Try a mild power box once and I think you'll like the results. Not having to be floored all the time willbe the best benefit.