Ok, some of you may have seen my post from a month or so ago about a fan issue I was having in my 03 F-350. Basically the fan wouldn't ramp up above 400-600 until the ECT was over 220, and by that time my EOT was over 230 (towing a 25k gooseneck up and down hills in Colorado). I started by replacing the t-stat, then had the PCM checked to make sure it was sending the proper info to the fan. Then gave up and took it to my shop and they diagnosed it as the fan clutch. I replaced it with the fan clutch for the snow plow package and while that's helped prevent the high temps as often (runs 1200-1500 instead of 400-600 at normal rpms), it still gets up into the low 220s before it'll ramp up over 2000 to really start cooling things down.

What's the next thing I need to check? I really don't think it should be getting that hot (my '06 F-250 ramps up at 207 on the ECT) and the truck always has that hot oil smell after a tow where it's gotten up to the 220-230 range.

Thanks!

 

Dave my 03 programming wont ramp the Fan up past 600rpm until I hit that 218*f ECT

At 218*f ECT then fam Hits the 1500+ RPM Range

So it might not be a Problem but something a Custom Tune would Address or maybe a Different stratigy would change

IDK why they cut it so close either other then MPG

Seems like they thought to use the thermostat to its Max ability before they kicked in the Fan

 

I have always seen 217 as the magic number. So 220 isn't that out of line for specs.

The Snow Plow HD clutch will actually run hotter at highway speeds than the stock OEM spec clutch.

Possible the radiator needs boiled out?
Have you verified proper water pump flow?

Josh

 

Hmm... Interested to hear others see the upper 2teens. I had always seen 207-209 as that magic number. I guess I'm glad to hear it's not that far out of spec. Still, with defueling supposed to happen at 224 (which I've never actually seen happen) I'm kinda surprised they'd let it get that hot.

Josh, no clue on boiling out the radiator... what does that mean/entail? I've never heard of it before. I'm assuming I'm getting the proper water flow, but don't really know how to verify it. I'm running Final Charge EC-1 that's a little high on the coolant side of the ratio (lost about a gallon to a leaking heater valve and replaced it all with EC-1 not water). I'm told that I can run the higher concentration and that it'll actually sustain the higher temps, I'm just concerned about the hot oil smell after every run. If that hot oil smell is nothing to be worried about, then I guess I'll just ignore it and move on. I just don't want to be killing the truck any faster than I have to be!

 

Ya know, another thought on that hot oil smell... I had a leaking rear main seal for a long time and built up a lot of oil residue on the bottom of the engine. I wonder if it's just getting hot and burning off and now that the main seal is replaced it'll eventually burn off and the smell will go away? Hmm...

 

A radiator shop can boil out the radiator to remove scale/ corrosion that has been built up.

Defuel is 223 ECT and 253 EOT. There has been discussion on whether that defuel is thru the entire throttle input or just WOT. As some have ran much higher ECT than 223 and did not experience a loss in power, whereas others have experienced power loss.

If the truck can readily hit the upper 210's easily, I would suspect the water pump or blockage in the radiator.

Josh

 

I'm only hitting the upper 210s and into the 220s when I'm hauling my 25k trailer. I have a net gain of about 500 vertical feet over an 8 mile drive with it, but there's probably a good 2000-3000 feet of gross vertical travel with the up/down hills I drive. When I'm not hauling I stay in the 190s mostly, though I can hit the low 200s if I'm running WOT. I do need a new oil cooler--already know that. I run about 12-13 delta following the Ford parameters for testing. I've seen over 25 delta when hauling the trailer, but I'm told that deltas don't really matter when you're hauling.

Last time I did a coolant flush (about three months ago) my maintenance guy who I was teaching how to do it forgot to put the clamp back on the lower radiator hose and then drove it about 10 miles with water only in it. It built up enough pressure to blow the lower hose off and when he got back the ECT was about 260 and the EOT was about 290 and the cooling system was completely dry. Any chance that could have a) boiled out the radiator for me like you're saying a radiator shop can do, or b) caused other damage with the water cooling system? FWIW, I was seeing the high temps with the poor fan response prior to that event, so I don't think it had any direct correlation with what's going on.

 

Unloaded doesn't sound too bad. I remember now that scenario of the guy driving it hot.

Possibly the water pump impeller has been bad all along.

Josh

 

It all sounds normal to me. You are gonna run hot towing that heavy up a grade. Back off a bit to keep it cool.

 

First, I do not understand why you would go with a snow plow fan clutch when your heating issues are not related to the use of a plow. Second, I do not understand why temp deltas "do not matter" when towing. I often run a 26,000 trailer (35k gross) and I never see more than an 11 degree delta. I think you need to fix the things you know are wrong before throwing more parts at it. If you deltas are that wide, you need an oil cooler. I do not remember if you did the water pump already or not- but I assume you did.

And I disagree with the post about having to back off in order to stay cool- if everything is functioning correctly, the truck has loads of extra cooling capacity. I've run wide open while loaded on long climbs on days pushing 100 degrees with everything staying at proper working temp.

 

Those oil and coolant temps can do some serious damage, over 250 oil and water is not good. When you open up oil filter is there meted plastic in there, are there signs of melting plastic in the oil? I agree with checking your impeller and going back to a proper stat and fan clutch. The oil cooler and EGR cooler also need to be dealt with, it should be able to keep up with the cooling needs. Have you VC9 or restore and restore plus cleaned the rad and coolers, if not all needs to be done before oil cooler is done.