03 Excursion overheating during towing
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03 Excursion overheating during towing
Hi all, looking for some help if possible. This past weekend I Hooked my toy hauler up and all was good, up and down hills fine. Then while going up a mild but longer hill my speed was decreasing and the peddle eventually was pressed to the floor. I let up until I could maintain the 25mph I was doing. The rpm was at about 3k floored, Then the check gauges light popped on, it was overheating (in the red). Pulled to the side of the road, popped the hood, let it idle and the temp quickly dropped back to normal. I was in the middle of nowhere, so I continued and the temp started to rise, it sounded like it was missing, kind of a weird irregular pop. Luckily I started heading downhill and the temps dropped back down to normal. I dropped my hauler at the storage place, and drove 3 hours home at 80mph, truck ran great and the temp was fine. Check engine light never came on. This is the second time this has happened. Feels like the turbo isn't boosting at random times. The first time this happened I pulled over for a few minutes, and it was fine for the rest of the trip. Any ideas are appreciated. I had the following replaced about a year ago. Radiator, egr, HP oil pump, oil cooler, injectors
2006 Bullet-Riddled 6.0
Joined: Sep 2011
Posts: 651
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From: Sac River Delta Ca.
Well I would start at the thermostat and then flush the Ford Coolant out of it so fast heads spin. If its Gold DUMP IT.
Then look over the wiring thats up top for the fan clutch.
You need to have a clean cooling system preferably with ELC coolant and a functional fan clutch.
Don't forget International original output goal was 215HP. Ford had that pushed to the 325HP to compete with the newly designed DuraMax for 2003 emissions standard.
The waterpumps in 2003 were all still from the original design 90mm and was not upgraded to 100mm until the 2004 production engines.
So you must have everything at peak efficiency or when its worked hard it will absolutely overheat. One more thing the 2003 defuels at the highest temperature and they have been known to melt all of the upper plastic parts like the oil filter housing etc before going into defuel.
Don't mess around with it, honestly there is not one good reason for you not to have a monitor for your truck since you are working it.
Good Luck Bud.......
Then look over the wiring thats up top for the fan clutch.
You need to have a clean cooling system preferably with ELC coolant and a functional fan clutch.
Don't forget International original output goal was 215HP. Ford had that pushed to the 325HP to compete with the newly designed DuraMax for 2003 emissions standard.
The waterpumps in 2003 were all still from the original design 90mm and was not upgraded to 100mm until the 2004 production engines.
So you must have everything at peak efficiency or when its worked hard it will absolutely overheat. One more thing the 2003 defuels at the highest temperature and they have been known to melt all of the upper plastic parts like the oil filter housing etc before going into defuel.
Don't mess around with it, honestly there is not one good reason for you not to have a monitor for your truck since you are working it.
Good Luck Bud.......
Tuned
Joined: Oct 2009
Posts: 425
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" honestly there is not one good reason for you not to have a monitor for your truck since you are working it."
Wise words indeed. Being able to see when temperature begin's to rise alow's backing off and downshifting before engine overheats. Mountain passes are no place to be looking for a place to pull off the road,there aren't many. I might add,all those extra horses will pull in higher gears than is good for engine longevity. ALLWAYS use tow-haul on the hills and/or manually downshift and bring up the rpms. Just slow poke up the mountain and never mind the guy in back honking and shooting the bird.
Wise words indeed. Being able to see when temperature begin's to rise alow's backing off and downshifting before engine overheats. Mountain passes are no place to be looking for a place to pull off the road,there aren't many. I might add,all those extra horses will pull in higher gears than is good for engine longevity. ALLWAYS use tow-haul on the hills and/or manually downshift and bring up the rpms. Just slow poke up the mountain and never mind the guy in back honking and shooting the bird.
New User
Joined: Apr 2020
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I have a 2001 5.4L that overheats when pulling a 3500 LB trailer up hill. It can pull on flat highway all day. I have replaced the T-stat (2x), radiator w/ transmission cooling (3x), fan clutch (2x), and heater coil. The pump docent leak and as far as I can tell circulates just fine. I don't know if this is a habitual problem with the 5.4 L has but I have replaced just about every part of the coolant system. The upper and lower hoses are is good shape and not squishy. I have been working on this issue for over a year and have taken it to two different shops and they cant figure out why it will overheat in these specific situation. After working on the problem, they will set up there monitors and go for a test drive and everything checks out. I slap on the popup and take t to Roosevelt... boom. Overheat. I'm think about adding an e-fan to help cool when the temp starts to spike but that is just because I can't figure it out. Anyone have any input? Thank you
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