I have a 06 F250 PSD and I'll pull an 8,000 lb camper. When going up steep grades at times I'll hear a fan kick on and run for 30 seconds to a minute. It reminds me of the fan that kicks on with my ATV at time when running slow and the motor gets hot. The truck pulls fine while the fan is running and I can maintain 60 - 65 MPH up the hills. All gauges never change, nothing shows running hot. Is this normal? Is this the main fan on the motor or is there an aux fans that helps with cooling. The truck has 8,000 miles and I'm getting about 11 - 12 mpg while towing.

Any help would be great.

Thanks!

 

That's perfectly normal. The fan on the 6.0 is electric and temp activated so it kicks on automatically and it's quite loud. The warmer the engine gets the faster, to a point, the fan will spin to pull air through the radiator. That is the main fan your hearing, there is no auxiliary fan. It does a great job of cooling the 6.0!

 

Yeah, ours comes on in varrying sounds, sometimes just a second or two of a low whir -- it really only comes on full blast on a long grade on a warm day. Very different set up than my Dmax, which was either all on or all off, and when it came on sucked noticable power and stayed on for a loooong time! (it was a viscous clutch style)


Hey Hunter, do you have a Rhino by any chance? Your name looks familiar from a Rhino site I occasionally am on...

 

Sorry not me. I had a Honda Rincon before I bought the family a 33ft camper.

 

diesel-dan, not to totally slam another product, but you are right about that Duramax....especially the LLY version! My dad's Duramax will overheat so fast pulling a boat up to Lake Tahoe in the summertime and the fan absolutely drains most of the power. We were only pulling a 22' ski boat last summer and the fan came on when the engine and tranny got excessively hot and the fan drained the motor so bad that I could barely pull 35mph up the summit. My dad was beside himself since we'd pulled the same boat with my PSD the weekend before and slowed down to 55mph because of cars getting in the way! To add insult to injury, his tranny did a ****-poor job of slowing us down going down the other side of the summit with the Allison. With all the things that people complain about the 6L PSD, I do enjoy how it maintains good temperatures here in the heat of Nevada!

 

I recently went on a weekend trip pulling my 12k fifth wheel to Bear Lake, UT. My fan would come on at 216 and never went above 220. Part of my problem is I have some grill inserts that cut down on air flow, which doesn't help engine temp at all. I would be curious to see how much difference there is with and with out the grill inserts. Anybody have any experience with this?

 

It's not really bashing when you're talking about the LLY (that's what I had too) -- GM should've been forced to do a recall on the whole production run! (1.5 years worth of dmaxes). My LLY went into defuel with the fan roaring and I had to pull into the slow lane as I could only do 55 up I-80 near Auburn, CA -- towing a 3000 lb boat and bed near empty, but it was a hot 110 deg. day (still no excuse). I know we're off topic, but the LLY's had a major problem of underdesign on the cooling system -- most folks that are dmax die hards will even admit the problem, heck their forums are FULL of folks trying to fix 'em... 'nuff said, my PSD would pull circles uphills or downhills around my LLY dmax...!

 

That fan noise is absolutely normal. It scared the crap out of me the first time I heard it come on pulling my toyhauler home from Glamis on a real hot afternoon. Definitely gets you attention though doesnt it?

 

LOL! I've owned my 250 since mid Feb...and I've yet to hear the fan! Thanks to the posts on the site about the noise, I think I'm prepared for when I DO hear it.

 

I got mine in Sep 06 and tow a 10000 boat and I haven't heard it yet.

 

I have the grill inserts & never see temp above 204 F and thats loaded down towing 17k in 118 F Phoenix so dont sweat it!

 

Is there anybody that can record the sound and post it so someone who hasn't heard it can before theirs activates so they know what to expect?

 

have you ever stood by a railroad crossing & had a fast freight go by? thats what it sounds like, seriously!

 

Hey, guys, anybody care to comment on KYHunter's post where he says "...all the gauges never change ..."

I've had the same experience with my '06 and 19K trailer. None of the gauges move, but the fan does come on - can't miss it!
Also, does the fan react to transmission temperatures as well as engine coolant temps?

 

I just like hotroddsl avitar !


My fan comes on too on the 550 towing the horses and all the other crap, but only on hot days and pulling a long grade. Will agree the first time it does get your attention for sure. BUT it sure does it's job and the temp guage drops quickly too!

Bondo©