Ford Ranger owner need to tow in S model

Col Rennie · Veteran Member

Ford Ranger owner need to tow in S model

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

YEP not just Ranger. Pretty much all of them !! You wouldnt tow in top with manual or shouldn t ., There is NO economy at 1500 rpm at wot . Wide open throttle .. Does not do turbo etc well either .,

Delta18 · Guru

Aus-Kiwi wrote:
YEP not just Ranger. Pretty much all of them !! You wouldnt tow in top with manual or shouldn t ., There is NO economy at 1500 rpm at wot . Wide open throttle .. Does not do turbo etc well either .,

I can only speak for Isuzu D-Max as it is the first auto I have owned since my AP-6 Valiant many years ago.

I can assure you that if, towing my van I got to 1500rpm in 6th at anything above 80kmh, (and this would have to be downhill) with any throttle increase the box would kick down to at least 4th. If I were to give it "wide open throttle" it would instantly go back to 3rd.

I have been advised by those in the know to let the auto's brain do the work, it knows better what gear it needs and when.

I fitted a Scangauge2 to my car to monitor temperatures both coolant and auto trans & they stay within specs when the stick is in D.

I seem to recall mention on a forum that the Ranger manual actually NOT to stay in S mode too long. I'll see if I can find that reference.

Aus-Kiwi · Guru

Funny you say that . When over at Broom there was two Isuzu trucks and one Nissan getting their autos fixed . Yes they should kick down . But how does ECU know your towing ? They tend to stay in too high a gear ! 1500 rpm at around that ? Is no where near the sweet spot . Torque wise . The turbo keeps adding boost overheating ..This subject often comes up . If auto doesnt kick down ? Do it manually . Same with going down hills !! The auto doesnât kick down there either !! The shifter doesnât have D 1-2-3-4 etc to look fancy !!

Delta18 · Guru

For sure 6th gear towing under load is a no-no in auto or manual.

Today's autos are smart enough to know you are towing, or at least there is a heavy load either on or behind the car is irrelevant.

I haven't seen a shifter with D-1-2-3-4 (don't forget P-R-N too biggrin ) since that AP-6.

My car won'r hit 6th gear until about 100kmh, towing or not & it takes very little throttle input it initiate the kick-down.

This is the Ranger manual I was referring to, they cover their butts by saying "use S mode in hills or heavy towing" then go on to say "don't use S permanently".

Anyone long distance touring would be better NOT in a Ranger I think.

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outlaw40 · Guru

Think you need to reread the manual carefully Delta 18 .the section between your red highlites needs to be included and understood . With the ranger and bt50 ( same box ) when you select sport mode it drops out 6th gear and changes the shift patern slightly , but still acts as an auto BUT as soon as you use the + or - to manually select 1- 2-3-4-5 ( yes they do have them on the dash cluster) etc you override auto altogether.

outlaw40 · Guru

So in short the manual is saying dont use the plus and minus continually not dont use sports mode

iana · Guru

For the Ranger and BT50, I would say fit a scan gauge, and drive according to the conditions. The transmission temperature will dictate what mode to drive in. A long gentle slopping highway I would drive in full auto, undulating road, corners etc. in "S" mode (which is the majority of the time), and up long inclines especially following slow traffic, I would drive in manual.

Col Rennie · Veteran Member

Thanks you all fore the feed back and ideas guys.

Safe travels.

Joda · Senior Member

The manual is telling you not to hold the gearlever in the plus or minus position, just bump it to change gear & let it return to its normal position, been towing for years with ford boxs & never had a problem, carnt say for the ranger but the territory will lock you out of 6th. If trans. reachs a certain temperature, keep driving as normal & in 5minutes or so it returns to normal, happened to me only once flogging up the adelaide hills on a 40deg. Day towing the van. Zf box in my diesel terry is rated to 1000 h.p.

mezza56 · Senior Member

Hi Col , we towed our 3.2 tonne van all over with our ranger and pretty well always used S mode , the revs were only approx 150 more than in D in sports at 90 - 100klm and never had a problem , what I did find though and others may have experienced the same , I'd have the cruise control on at say 90 klm/hr and as we went up the odd higher hill the car wouldn't change down quick enough and all of a sudden I lost all power , I had to flick the lever down a gear and it would kick back in . After it happened a few times I then used to manually drop it down a gear as soon as I got onto a reasonable rise when I was in cruise control ? Now we tow with the 200 and I still drive in 5th

Col Rennie · Veteran Member

Thank you for the feed back

It makes sense

Travel safe

kesa32 · Senior Member

mezza56 wrote:
Hi Col , we towed our 3.2 tonne van all over with our ranger and pretty well always used S mode , the revs were only approx 150 more than in D in sports at 90 - 100klm and never had a problem , what I did find though and others may have experienced the same , I'd have the cruise control on at say 90 klm/hr and as we went up the odd higher hill the car wouldn't change down quick enough and all of a sudden I lost all power , I had to flick the lever down a gear and it would kick back in . After it happened a few times I then used to manually drop it down a gear as soon as I got onto a reasonable rise when I was in cruise control ? Now we tow with the 200 and I still drive in 5th

Hi Mezz , our Territory does the same if using cruise control , same Box, and l do the same just manually select 4th , and then either up to 5th or if the terrain is easing off just go to D and back to P to go full auto again

Agree Joda , that's all the manual is stating , nothing to do with normal P mode operation

Col Rennie · Veteran Member

eference: 310720518

Guys ,just wanted to share the email I received from Ford re towing in S mode .

Make of it what you will .

Just trying to share the information .

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you for your e-mail to Ford Motor Company of Australia Limited (Ford Australia).

In relation to your enquiry about towing with your Ranger. In the owners manual it is stated as follows :

When towing heavy loads or in hilly

terrain, it is recommended that sport (S)

mode is selected. This will result in cooler

transmission temperatures and additional

engine braking.

Switch on sport (S) mode by moving the

transmission selector lever from drive (D)

towards the driver. Sport (S) mode will

remain on until either you shift manually

up or down the gears using + and -.

We trust this is of assistance and thank you for taking the time to contact Ford Australia.

Kind regards,

Christie

Customer Service Representative

Private Mail Bag 5 Campbellfield, Victoria 3061

Phone: 13 36 73

Fax: 03 8301 3899

sandman55 · Guru

Hi all I found this thread interesting. We have a new Ford Everest Ambiente 4x4 (same drive train as Ranger) and our van weighs at max 1.7 tonne and single axle. We tow in S mode (only had one trip so far) though on a couple of long slight downhills I have popped it into D. As you say when you move from D to S it goes to 5th and I would guess it would go to 6th if you were silly enough to go fast enough.

iana that Scan Guage sounds good I will have to do a bit of Googling about it. I think I read in the user manual that Ford don't like you plugging anything into the port where they plug their computer in so if I get something I will have to make sure it is of good quality. I would really like to know the temperature of my gearbox when I am towing. Some have said I should get a transmission cooler but with my small van and the Everest being rated at 3 tonne towing I should be OK