The family and I are on a post retirement road trip around the country and we're currently at location 4 of a possible 40 (plans change eh). Anyway, I have the scangauge II installed and have noticed that I always run a little warm 205-210 when I'm home and driving around without pulling anything. It's never really concerned me as it never caused any issues and the factory gauge always was sitting in the "normal" range.

Today I was pulling our fifth wheel (32ft approx/10,000 lbs) up 120 towards Yosemite and I noticed the coolant (wt) on the scangauge getting up to 233-244 and right as we crested into the Groveland, CA area (where we are staying) the radiator cracked along the top seam (middle top of radiator). The crack is about 4 inches long if that matters.

The truck is a 2005 F250 v10 CC 2wd 4.10 with about 126k miles on it.

I'm very fortunate in that a local repair shop said they would be able to replace the radiator for me (family is very grateful) but I'm concerned about the rest of the trip. Are these temps normal? When the radiator is replaced...am I ok to keep pushing on or should I be looking at other things to replace (i.e. thermostat).

What's the hottest coolant temp that you would consider normal when pulling 10k lbs up a steep grade with a lot of switchbacks?

Thanks for any advice/tips!

 

First, have the radiator shop check your cap and make sure it's release pressure is correct. The radiator shouldn't have split like that from pressure unless there was already damage to it, or it's just too old (which again, shouldn't be).

I would wonder if the old radiator was plugged up enough to cause problems. But still, that much pressure should have blown past the radiator cap.

There's also a TSB about false overheat: http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/fo..._183256_A1.pdf

I would buy one of those point-and-shoot infrared thermometers and see what the actual temperature at the top of the thermostat housing is.

 

The engine cooling fan should have been roaring at those temps. If it wasn't, you might need a new fan clutch.

 

Excellent point!

 

Scangauge II wT: 204

Temperatures I'm reading with handheld infrared thermometer:
Thermostat housing: 177-179
Rubber Hose from Housing to Radiator: 160
Rubber Hose exiting radiator: 115

Do I need to replace my sensor?

 

Read through the TSB above. You might want to try a Ford Dealer and see if they can give you an OASIS report which will (should?) tell you if the TSB has been done already.

 

I would have the thermostat replaced while the cooling system is drained.

 

Also, thank you for your service!

 

New Radiator installed today. Looks like the stock radiator was only 1-in deep. New heavy duty radiator is 2-in deep. Took another shot at the Priests Grade without the fifth wheel today and the temp maxed out at 215 (which is only 12 degrees hotter than it's idle temp). Overall I'm feeling good about the new radiator and the rest of our trip.

That said, I'm headed to Ford in Sonora tomorrow to have them run some diagnostics on the cooling system, will ask about the OASIS report and see if TSB has been accomplished.

Thanks for all the input/assistance!

 

I've never seen water temps over 210 towing our TT. That's with a 2 valve though, not sure if the 3 valves run hotter. Wouldn't think so though.

 

The Ford Technician didn't seem too surprised with the numbers I threw at him. He said overheat doesn't occur until 265!!!! I watched my gauges all the way up and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. I'm actually wondering if the scangauge is misreading the temps because the temperature readings on the scangauge are about 15 degrees higher than what I pick up with an infrared thermometer.

 

Ok, just got back from Ford. The service technician thinks my temps are too high but that the cooling system did pass the inspection.

That said, he's recommending a new thermostat and a new fan clutch. Said the current fan clutch is working, but not as well as it should. With the engine hot and shut down, he was able to spin the fan pretty easily and he said it shouldn't be that easy to turn.

He also said that my scangauge II is reading the temps right as it's numbers are matching up with his scanner.

I was wondering about the temperatures though. If my scangauge is reading the water temp at 204 and the infrared thermometer is reading the thermostat housing at 180-185...is the sensor off or is the exterior of the thermostat housing just cooler by 20ish degrees normally?

Anyway, have an appointment for tomorrow morning to have all the work done cause wife and kiddo don't need to worry about being stranded in the middle of nowhere with a broke truck.

 

If you're going to Ford, which I didn't know, bring the TSB to their attention: TSB 06-21-15

Make sure they check if it's already been done.

 

I showed them the TSB today (thanks for providing the link). While I wasn't getting the false overheat reading and associated DTCs mentioned in the TSB, the service tech said that I needed to put in a new thermostat anyway due to the temp readings. So it looks like the work will get done.

 

Final Post: Looks like the issues with my v-10 running hotter than normal have been resolved. Today the thermostat and the cooling fan clutch were replaced. While doing that, the technician stated he saw rust in the coolant and recommended a radiator flush. Radiator was flushed 4x. Tech stated that the first flush looked as thick as pepto bismal but with a rust color.

Anyway, after all that my engine is running cooler than it ever has.

Idle/Easy driving it's at 195-198
Climbing steep grades it got up to 207 (that used to be my easy driving temp).

Thanks for all the advice!