3rd Gen Engine and Drivetrain -> 2003-2007 5.9 liter Engine and drivetrain discussion only. PLEASE, NO HIGH PERFORMANCE DISCUSSION!

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Old Mar 3, 2014 | 01:22 PM
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marder's Avatar
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3rd gen newbie

Hi guys, i have had 3 12 valves in the last 10 years. Still have a 94 2wd 5spd with 430,000 on her. I recently picked up a 2005, 3500, 4x4 dually. Ill probably be driving you all nuts with questions for a while so please bear with me. Its got 200,000 on it and is an auto. First 3 questions.

Why does it use so much oil. I checked it when i bought it and its used about 3 quarts in 409 miles.

Why does the horn start honking when i open the.door whlike the truck is running.

Is there any harm done driving in tow/haul if im not towing or hauling? Thanks in advance guys.
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Old Mar 3, 2014 | 03:43 PM
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Horn honking is an ECM flash, most people hate it. I don't think you can remove it either.

Tow/haul shouldn't hurt anything, some people prefer it.. it will shift more harshly in 2/3/4 gears, as it's locking the TC in the tranny..
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Old Mar 3, 2014 | 10:22 PM
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I'd be concerned about the amount of oil it's using. Blow by, bad rings...I'm no mechanic but 3 quarts in 400 miles is a lot.
The horn was a safety tsb that is there to alert you that your truck is in gear when you open the door.
Anytime I drive under 45, I'm using t/h (overdrive on the 04). Any speed above 55-60 and the rpms are too high.
Funny thing, when I picked my truck up, the dealer told me that whenever I was towing to never use OD.
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 05:42 AM
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Yeh i am pretty concerned about the oil usage. I dont see any leaking all the way to the ground in the snow where i park. I dont see any smoke out the mirror on the tailpipe side. There is some seepage on the block but doesnt look too bad. Im not sure where its going. The oil soots up ridiculously fast. My 12 valve stays amber for about 3500 miles. This 24 valve sooted up immediately. Dont lnow if thats a symptom or not.

On the horn thing. It does it in park when i open the door with engine running. Not everytime, just about 6 times so far.
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 08:08 AM
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Mine goes through spells where it will drink about 3-4 quarts of oil in 500 miles. Now, I've ran 1300 miles and its still on full mark. I'm going to pull a oil sample and do a compression test in about 2 weeks. Going to have my inj tested as well.
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 08:18 AM
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The horn blowing is a safety feature . When the detentes on the transmission shift lever are slightly off, it will trigger the horn even when in park
First cure us making sure your fully in park, if that doesn't solve it, then the shift lèver needs adjusted slightly
It's a common thing
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 09:06 AM
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That makes sense about the linkages. Ill have to do some trouble shootin on the oil usage.

One more tow haul question. Mine goes into overdrive in tow/haul. Should it do that?
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 09:46 AM
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Different years did different things for tow/haul. For 03-04, tow/haul locked out OD. Others can talk about 05-06.

On the oil, sooting (going black) right after an oil change is normal.
Using that much oil though is not. Have a leak down check performed.
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 12:17 PM
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Originally Posted by marder
That makes sense about the linkages. Ill have to do some trouble shootin on the oil usage.

One more tow haul question. Mine goes into overdrive in tow/haul. Should it do that?
on '05s they do go into OD, but the TC locks in 2-4 as well.. 06's they added the OD lockout as a 2nd option by pressing the T/H button a 2nd time.
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 02:39 PM
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From: Lyndon KS
Originally Posted by marder
That makes sense about the linkages. Ill have to do some trouble shootin on the oil usage.

One more tow haul question. Mine goes into overdrive in tow/haul. Should it do that?
The needed adjustment isn't in the linkages but actially the shift lever of the transmissom itself if I'm not mistaken.
They corrected mine at the dealership, and it took the tech sbout 3 minutes and a pair of pliers to do it
Mine only honks when truck is in reverse and door opens now
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Old Mar 4, 2014 | 07:36 PM
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From: Northern BC Canada
You can use tow/haul any time, I use it around town so it wont hunt between 1st and 2nd, and yes it will use overdrive in tow/haul changes right around 50 mph. the oil things is not good, mine will use 1/2 quart in about 5000 miles towing 12000 lbs, you need to get that checked real quick.
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Old Mar 5, 2014 | 07:12 AM
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From: Texas
Originally Posted by marder

Why does it use so much oil. I checked it when i bought it and its used about 3 quarts in 409 miles.
No idea, but this would be the most pressing issue you should look into. My truck will burn 1qt in 7500 miles.


Why does the horn start honking when i open the.door whlike the truck is running.
Safety feature, your ECM was flashed for it. It'll do that in Reverse too with the door open. I hate that feature. Sometimes it can be gone around but if it's ECM flashed its on there. Don't remember if it can be flashed out either by the dealer or through a tuner ike EFI live.

Is there any harm done driving in tow/haul if im not towing or hauling? Thanks in advance guys.
No. That's how I drive my truck. And yes, OD in T/H mode is normal in an 06.

Someone get this guy an Owner's Manual!
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