Need some help on the delta spread I am seeing on my 04 6.0 Excursion. Pulling my 33ft toy hauler up a pretty steep grade 6-7% that goes for about 2-3 miles. My eot was getting a little warm imo. This was my first time pulling with my X. I could only pull the hill about 45-50 mph as well, sound about right? My 6.7 Cummins would do 65-70 easy.

Top pic is while I was pulling the hill.

Bottom pic is 30 mins later cruising along.


Do these temps look “normal”. Any red flags? I am not studded. Egr delete, coolant just changed over to shell ec-1, Xpd coolant filter (not installed on this run), sct x4 on canned tow tune.

 

The PCM will call for "defueling" when engine (coolant) temp is above 221 *F. Looks like you are a little short on cooling as 226 is a little high IMO. Your oil cooler doesn't look "perfect", but towing a heavy load up an incline you aren't too bad at all. You might consider cutting open the coolant filter at some point to see if you have removed many solids. Also, take a look at the radiator fins to see if they need cleaning.

Where is your ICP sensor located? I am wondering if you have an 03 engine. It has a smaller water pump.

Lastly, I would have expected the VPower reading to be in the high 13's or low 14's. Is your battery power getting up to 14 volts (alternator performance)?

Edit - two more things .... If you don't have them already, I would consider getting an EGT gauge and a fuel pressure gauge.

 

Towing a load up an incline, 17 degree spread is entirely reasonable. Look into your cooling as Mark stated.

 

One other thing. Post up what EOT and ECT are when the engine is cold and has not been operated for 10-12 hours. These temperatures should be very close to each other, Might as well post TFT and IAT1 and IAT2 and check all the temperature sensors baseline operation. It is hard to know if things are truly fine or not without at least getting one data point on the temperature sensors reading correctly.

 

Thank you for the quick feedback. I’ll look at the fins as you suggested. If they do need cleaned is it a matter of pressure washing it?

No idea where the icp sensor is located. Would I just need to look at the sticker on the engine to verify engine model year? If it is an 03 can I just install a larger water pump from a 04+?

The alternator looks to be newer and the battery’s are 6 months old. I haven’t noticed any cold cranking issues but can look into the charging system as you suggested.

I do not have either of those gauges present yet. What system do you recommend for monitoring those systems?

 

Mark here is a pic of temps with city driving no load with the engine warmed up. Again this is pre coolant filter install, in fact this is also before I had the coolant changed over to Ec-1.



I will run another test on baseline temps with the addiontal pid’s you suggested. Is forscan the best or should I be using torque pro?

 

Either one is fine. I like using Torque Pro, but I have gone to ForScan because it pulls codes better.

Those numbers look pretty good. Only thing I see to really improve on is the coolant temp when you were towing heavy on the incline.

 

Thank you for your reply. I’m new to the 6.0 and trying to learn what is acceptable and how hard to “push” a non studded block.

My 6.7 psd would see some pretty high eot temps and was told that was to be expected but I’m trying to save up the 7k need to build this motor.

 

I have the 200 degree Mishimoto thermostat and I have seen coolant get to 221 but I have never felt a defuel, granted I have only gotten it that warm a few times on mountain pulls. Will the truck tell me if it is defueling?

 

What options do you recommend to improve coolant temps while pulling? I should note that the air temp was only mid 60’s low 70’s so it worries me a little bit how warm it got and it’s not even summer temps. I’ll get torque pro as well and use them both. What should I use to monitor egt’s and fuel pressure? Btw I have also done the blue spring kit with in the last 1k miles.

 

Just those in post #2

I have not looked at options in quite awhile. I would think some searches would put you on some good choices.

 

You could very well be fine w/ the alternator. I just would have expected the VPower to be closer to the typical alternator output.

You can get some detergent for cleaning air conditioner condenser coil fins. That helps to free up the dirt. I wouldn't hit the radiator with too much water pressure. Gentle washing w/ a water hose should do it IMO.

The 03 front cover would need to be changed out in addition to upgrading the water pump. It isn't the easiest job.

The 03 has the ICP sensor behind the turbo. The 04.5 and up have it on the passenger valve cover.https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...9ac2bfcb63.jpg

 

It is slow and gradual. I don't know of any way to know if it is defueling.

 

Your true eot/ect should be taken when driving 60 to 65 mph unloaded with the engine fully warmed up. Takes approximately 15 to 20 miles of highway driving to get there.

 

Looking at his data, he should be well below the 15 degree differential at normal highway driving conditions. Even when working the engine hard, he is virtually at that 15 degree differential (only slightly above). Posts like these, and other situations I have seen, lead me to the conclusion that a healthy system is going to be well below 15 degree differential at 60-65 mph and even towing heavy shouldn't push you out of that range. I can tow heavy or be in a hard acceleration and be below 12 degrees, typically below 10. A pristine cooling system can and should still produce differentials below 15 degrees - even w/ hard working engines. That said, get to know your engine and take action if you see performance degrade. IMO there are at least two "action limits" when maintaining mechanical systems. One at which you do preventative maintenance (like back-flushing), and one at which you begin repair (hopefully before any actual failure points). I look at reaching the 15 degree differential point, when driving 65, as the point to begin repair (assuming the preventative maintenance has proven ineffective).

That said, no one really knows the point of when an OEM oil cooler might fail. Up to a point, I like operation to be on the cooler side! They are all "rules of thumb" subject to some interpretations.

Ford's original 25 degree differential clearly was not sufficient. The revision to 15 degrees was on the high end of normal IMO. Clearly they weren't going to want a lot of warranty work on oil coolers, so they looked for that upper limit that limited failures, but wasn't going to kill them on warranty repair.