i have a 03 f350 6.0 and i just did a motor swap on it and put a edge cs box on it.. the original temp gauge in the truck didnt work so i bought that box and ive been driving it ford alittle while and i think it def runs cold. the ect temp only reads like 70 deg at most and on cold days it doesnt get past 50 deg. im pretty sure normal running temp is at like 180 but not too sure.. what is my issue??? thanks

 

What does it read after an over night cold soak? it should read the same as the EOT or very close. Its probably a bad sensor.

 

The thermostat is a 190*, they are like 30 bucks from the dealer and come with a new housing and are very easy to change.

 

Sounds like something is set to celcius instead of fahrenheit

Josh

 

Ideal is 194 to 204 f. cruising with engine totally up to temp.

 

My 03 cruises all day @ around 188 degs. Is that acceptable?

 

It's reality. New thermostats straight out of the box will run 188*, so the way I get around it for long highway trips is running a full winter cover even in Texas where 20*f is about as bad as it gets.

 

So I changed the temp sensor and nothing! The motor gets hot like it should I mean I have heat so I don't think it's a thermostat issue it just reads really low deg all the time. And the factory gauge in the dash doesn't work at all! And the one on my edge is no where near the eot? But I'm throwing no codes for sensors? Is there another sensor I'm missing to make it do that?? Oh and it's set to Fahrenheit not Celsius

 

Must be an edge problem then. You got anyfriends with a different unit or a scanner to ceck the reading against.

 

If the dash temp gauge is always pegged cold
Must have a sensor wire shorted (or open)..
Not sure which way it would read, but it will effect
your mpg! Since the engine thinks the engine
is cold....

Disconnect sensor, if gauge/temp on edge remain
the same you have a broken wire from sensor
to the pcm..

 

Why? -Mike

 

Why what? . You probably mean why do I run a grille cover when it's a toasty 20* outside, by I'll explain my lack of logic in general for you.

Why is 188* acceptable? Because between the thermostat and the sensor, something is off a degree or three just because the tolerances on the parts aren't vitally important, so 186-194* is essentially 190* for day-to-day purposes. If you're hitting 184 or less regularly it might be worth starting to check the sending unit or thermostat, but I'd ride the ECT down into the 170s before starting the parts swapping game.

Why on the grille cover? Because in general the 6.0L will be happier at 196* than 186*. The 7.3 (closest cousin in the SD lineup) even had a 203* thermostat that could be swapped in because HEUI diesels rely on a certain amount of heat to function correctly. I wouldn't put a modded thermostat is a 6.0L because of how the fan speed relies on a number of parameters to run correctly, but if I'm watching the ECT and EOT (and TFT and fan speed if you can) I have no problems running a cover when it's marginally cold to push the temps up a little. Mainly it helps it warm up faster, once it's running down the highway it's not a drastic difference compared to running without one, just a few or 6 degrees higher. IAT doesn't really change, my ECT/EOT split doesn't change, TFT still hangs right at 165, so AFAIK I'm really just pushing up the ECT slightly/ not letting it drop as low while coasting.

In the summer even driving unloaded I'll run ECT and EOT well into the 200s, towing I'll push them up to 220*/230* easy. I don't think a grille cover for running unloaded on the highway will cause any issues, but keeping the ECT above 186* can't hurt. Plus I have one from when I lived in Colorado, so I might as well use it if might help.

YMMV, the original reason really was faster warm ups in the winter. A grille cover does make a difference on anything less than 10 miles when it's even slightly cold, if your truck is your only vehicle sometimes you have to cold start it to drive a mile to the store and back, getting it up to operating temp under that circumstance is a good thing.

 

Tex, great info.
I just bought a cold weather grille cover and
i live in FL. I have the bulletproof diesel remote
Oil cooler and it works too well unless i have the
air cond on!
My new job is closer to home and no highway
now. When its 45 oil temp never
gets to 175. Even long highway drives in 40-60
Temps oil temp of 180 is it. Just need time to
install it now...