My truck has a towing package but not Max Tow. It does make a big difference.

 

Wondering if he might have 3.31 gears?? You hookup that much weight with those hills and high elevations with a 3.31 rear gear i can see it overheating...

 

If you have just the regular tow pkg and not the max tow than you might not have 3.73 gears along with the larger radiator and you might be trying to tow that heavy trailer up those steep grades with 3.31 gears for all you know.. You need to look on your window sticker and see what you have for gears.

 

While I see what you're thinking about, gearing has absolutely nothing to do with this. Here's why:

Engine heat output is directly related to horsepower. (Torque x RPM)/5252 = HP. It takes a certain amount of horsepower to maintain speed up a grade; the heavier the trailer, the faster the speed, or the steeper the grade the more horsepower it takes. Lower gear ratios would put his engine RPMs at a lower spot in a given gear at a given speed, which would mean it could make less power output in that given gear as a result.

At no point in time would the engine actually work "harder", because the lower RPMs would mean the engine was making less power in a given gear. Of course this is only meaningful if you can't shift gears, but these 6R80s are fantastic at putting the engine right where it needs to be, so if not enough power could be made the transmission would simply downshift so the needed amount of power could be made.

 

Problem fixed I bought a Dodge 2500 diesel. I really loved the F150 but its been a year of overheating and all that Ford would do is say sorry they dont have a fix for the overheating. As not mechanical person it really shouldn't matter what gears or heavy tow package is on the truck if the sticker says it tows 11,300 lbs. I beloved what the sales person said my bad. Wont do that again.
thanks again for all the advise.
OP

 

Congrats on the new truck! It's a shame your F150 couldn't do what you expected of it, but I think the larger cooling package of a 3/4 ton truck will do the job just fine. Can you post some pics of the new truck?

 

You must be basing this on a naturally aspirated engine not a little V6 with forced induction. These little twin turbo V6's are already making a TON of heat as it is being a gasoline engine. If he was lugging up those steep grades at a lower rpm towing 8000lbs without the larger radiator i would certainly say even if it wasn't working harder it was definitely making much more heat with those turbos at max boost. If the rear end gear doesn't matter than why does the Max Tow pkg only come with 3.73 gears and 4.10 as a option??
There you go, Your next tow video should be the Eco with max tow and 3.73's against a truck with the regular tow pkg and 3.31's. I saw how hot your truck got at the top of that hill in the video. I'm willing to bet that the truck with 3.31 gears and smaller radiator will go into limp mode before the top of that hill.

 

Your truck didn't have a tow rating of 11,300lbs. The only trucks that have the 11,000lb+ tow rating is with the Max Tow Pkg which your truck did not have. Your salesman screwed you!! I wish you the best of luck with the new truck. Hard to beat a Cummins!

 

The radiator matters, but the gears have nothing to do with cooling. It would be cool to do a comparison video, I just need to find a willing participant and a suitable hill!

 

You find a big hill and I'll get Lance Armstrong to ride my old 10spd bike. My test run up the hill will be in 1st gear and yours will be in 7th gear. I'll bet Lance gets tired and overheated trying to climb that hill in 7th...
Just messing with you Tom!
I do enjoy all the hill climb vids so keep them coming!

Kevin

 

Just returned from a 4900 mile trip with a 2013 XLT Max Tow 2WB CC with the 6.5 Bed. We did not tow anything on this trip but I can see where some problems could come from. I too traded in an 04 PS Diesel that was just starting to blow turbo hoses when towing #9000.

I added a Edge Monitor to read what's happening with the engine /trans etc, and at ALL times the engine water temp was 195 to 204. I would reccomend one of these to anyone towing. I monitor volts, throttle position, turbo boost, engine water temp and intake temp. You can program it too but I leave it stock as I did my 04.

The intake temp runs 2 degrees over ambiant as shown on the radio screen. We drove in some 111 degree weather and the intake was 113. When we were idling for a time the intake temp went over 125 and I know the 3.5 definately did not like it, me either...when we could move fast it came down and all was good. I would never let this engine sit and idle like my diesel.


I see a problem with an engine meant to run at 200 degrees for effiency and fuel milage when put to the towing test. I'm smart enough to select another gear went pulling up a steep grade and would have no problem running near 4500 RPM in 3rd or 4th for a long pull. I love the manual select with the "paddle" selector and used it many times even unloaded.

Averaged 20.3 mpg on the whole trip, the worst was Hurricane Ut. to OC in So Cal mostly in 105+ heat only getting 18.7.......Satisfied so far. I hope I don't regret no ordering a 6.2................................

 

I think this engine will do better idling than you give it credit for. Granted intake temps will skyrocket, but your cooling fans should have no difficulty keeping the engine cool at idle. How hot did your coolant temps get during this time?

The benefit of electric cooling fans is that they can operate at maximum capacity with the engine running at an idle. Belt driven fans require elevated engine speed to do the same, and as such I think the F150s will have an easier time staying cool at low engine speeds.

 

The Ecoboost is very impressive to say the least when it comes to towing. With an engine that reaches max torque at 2500 rpms there is absolutely no reason to manually downshift and climb hills at 4500rpms .. If that's something you want to do than you would be better off with the 6.2L since it's max torque isn't reached until 4500rpms but i promise you will never see anything close to 20.3mpg!
I have owned mine for over 2yrs and 23,000mi with no regrets. I tow a 33' 7500-8000lb travel trailer and when towing i lockout 6th gear and just set the cruise between 60-65mph. She will climb 95% of the hills in 5th at 2100rpms maintaining the speed limit, very seldom on a real steep grade she might drop to 4th at 2600-2700rpms. I promise you will have no complaints towing with your truck!

 

Agreed, forcing higher RPMs than normal doesn't help anything at all; if anything you are creating more heat due to the increased friction of the faster moving internals.

 

Crazy...The engine temp never went over 204 ever. Until I selected intake temp to monitor after it stumbled/missed a lot after idling and I didnt know why. After selecting it I knew. The truck told me something was not quite right so now I'll just watch it. I'm sure it's built to take it but as a racer I know how important intake temp is especially with a blown engine.

Kev...Many times on the trip the engine rpm would be down at 15-1600 in 6th and pull right up under normal throttle to 2200 and be back running 75 mph without much notice. One time out in Nebraska on a 2 lane I dusted off a line of cars/trucks following a semi and looked down to see about a 100 with 25 on the boost. I backed out to normal speed and checked the Garmin top speed and it was 98.7. Quickest accelerating street vehicle I've ever had from 55 on up. No spool up time just stepped out and went....

One of the trucks in line was a Ford 6.4 diesel and he couldn't wait to have his chance to come back by me and it he felt good about I'm happy for him I guess. I told my wife that's how we looked blown' black smoke over the years when stepped out with 04.

Quick question....Is your tail pipe sooty? Mine's been since new even getting good mileage in town or on the road.....My other gas cars don't show anything, I know engines are tuned on the lean side with the computers but this is my first gas turbo on the street. . . . . . . .thanks