About a year ago when I done my blue spring mod I went ahead and changed my thermostat out because I was seeing temps of around 187-190 and thought it may be low since it was dipping under the 190 from time to time. Since then I have put about 8k on it I see temps as high as 207 but the fan kicks in (scanguage fan speed gets up to around 1650 at 207 but normal driving stays 4-450)and it comes right back down to 195-198ish then climbs again although slowly. Now I know several factors come in to play, one being we have a 75mph speed limit also some slight hilly and curvy roads. Also its been hitting the 85 degree mark +/- a degree or two but I dont know how the temps will get this summer in the Texas heat. Also on a side note my oil temp has never been over 210 and I have a delta of around 7-9 degrees. I guess my question is do I need to put the old thermostat in or am I reading more in to it. I have seen people post these temps but they were all towing at the time. I dont tow and have these higher temps. I am pretty much stock other than a Banks air intake (on the truck when I bought it) and a 4" cat back exhaust with a Flow Pro muffler and also a stealth EGR delete. Am I being paranoid as the truck is running awesome with no power loss at all.

 

Trust me on this -- from one paranoid 6.0 owner to another.

You are FINE

On edit: I prefer the stock filter setup btw...

 

you have nothing to worry about. If there was a 205 stat for the 6.0 like for the 7.3 many of us would run it. Mileage is better when it is closer to 200deg Myself I would be thrilled if I could get mine to run that warm.

 

Thanks for the reassurance guys. One thing also, I can pretty much tell you what my temp will be on certain stretches of highway so thats one calming thing. If it were more sporadic or even getting higher and higher I would throw alot more concern. I just dont see unloaded guys with temps as high as mine, and they stay that high for a mile or two before gradually coming back down. My tranny hovers 165-170 but in stop and go in town with a speed limit of 35 and a red light every few feet I have seen 193 but it came down and hovered around 185 and stayed there til I got back out on the highway at a more sustained speed. I dont really have anyone else to compare my stuff to in person other than my dad in laws truck and I drove the %*&@ out of his and only got his coolant to barely 192 on the same road. Just needed an A-OK to feel better about it. I wasnt too terribly worried since it always came back down but just that it gets that high with normal driving needed a lil nod. I recently done the stealth egr delete due to my egr cooler rupturing and I didnt touch the oil cooler since my deltas stay 7-9 almost constant unless I WOT climbing a long hill which I did peak out at an 11 degree difference but it came back down to the 7-9 after maybe a minute tops. Since were talking temps, my EGT's run 5-700 cruising but under WOT I have seen 1200 but as soon as I let off the pedal it falls fast. Thanks again.

 

Mark,

Does your bumper contain air holes on the sides of the license plate? This might reduce your air flow and be why you are slightly higher than most.

I have the BPD external oil cooler and in FL - during the "cooler" months, when I don't use A/C - I run a winter front end to cover up the grille to help my engine get to 190. But a lot of air flows in around the factory fog lights on the stock bumper and the Power steering cooler sits out in front behind there too.

 

Your unloaded temps are good, in my humble opinion! I frequently am travelling at 80MPH once the engine is up to temp, running at 80MPH I see temps of 194-197 ECT and 197-199 EOT at about 70F ambient. 55-65MPH 195 ECT and EOT toggling between 194-195. It has been cooler the last few days and my warmed up temp at speed can vary a few degrees to the negative.

I have fought with a couple of thermostats. One peice of advice is that if you get to a point that you need to change it, get the Motorcraft one. I have had 2 aftermarket ones that were crap. My previous Fan clutch ALWAYS kicked on at 210F and kicked down at 195F. My new fan kicks on at 213F and kicks off at 199/200F. I had several threads going about coolant and fan clutches. In those threads it seemed that most of the fans seemed to kick on and off around the same temp (roughly 210+/- 5* and 195+/- 5*).

Coolant filter is a good idea due to the random nature of which engine seems to have casting debris (sand) and those that don't. Plus any "junk" that may be in the system will get filtered and is a good preventative measure.

Make sure you understand about flushing the system and what can get fouled during the process so that you can inspect those items before closing everything up. Your pro-active questions show you are keeping an eye on your vehicle. That's good stuff right there!

Eric

 

I have a coolant filter and motorcraft thermostat. Thanks for the advice.

 

I run 197 to 204 almost all the time loaded or empty regardless of the ambient. Enjoy the truck.