Tribute Towing

Hi John. one of my stablemates is a V6 Tribute and it tows a 750kg camper and hardly knows it's attached so I would think the Tribby would be quite adequate to tow the van (just don't overload it). Tip from Mazda - switch off overdrive - it should run at a steady 2500rpm at about 80-90kmph, and that will give you about 15lt per 100km. I'm out of Australia at the mo so don't have access to my manual but check the max ball weight to be sure the van doesn't exceed it. HTH
cheers
T.Ribbits

A Tribute does not a good tow vechicle make.

The Ford built auto is a pig, and ours failed completely and suddenly at 26.000 Kms.

I am not the only one who has this problem, and when I put my problem on the US Escape forum, got lots of tails of early failures.

Under no circumstances should you tow in overdrive and stay well under the max tow weight of 1600 kgs.

Regards

Col

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the symptoms you describe are typical of the CD4E clutch pack failures.

The situation is that the traveller pack comes with an engine oil cooler as standard, and upgrading to an auto oil cooler may help, the fact is that the Ford CD4 gearbox was not up to the task.

The signs like you have are just the begining, and what will happen is that you will jump in one day, put it into D and the car will only go about 30 meters and will stop.

Putting synthetic oil will not help, in actual fact it will make it worse, and I have this statement confirmed by one of the design engineers from Ford USA.

AS it appears that your lady prefers the smaller 4WD, then I suggest that the Nissan X trail would be more suitable. If I recall correctly it can tow 1800 kgs.

There is a Tribute forum., you will find it on a Google search, make sure you get the Aussie one, put your problem on there, and watch the comments come in. You can also also search for the same subject.

Mazda changed the auto on ours, but the foreman at the dealership advised me to get rid of it, his words words where far from comforting.

If you pull the dipstick, the fluid will feel varnishy and will smell bad.

The problem is the towing capacity is also based on the Ford engine which has a ton of HP, but the drive chain will not take it.

I wish I had better news for you but I would rather you hear the truth, than being stuck far from home.

Regards

Col

Thank you Col,
I think I'll grab a coldy and have a think about my options.
The comments from the Forum have been better than I had expected, even if the news is not good.
The Anchor and I thank you all for your replys.
John F