When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
All gauges are normal except EGT’s. They rise slightly due to the draw of the fan. Apparently it uses some HP when on!
Yeah when towing you'll feel it. The fan will eat up 35-40hp when it's roaring along. That's quite a bit from our stock power levels, which will cut into your mpg when towing cause you throw more fuel at it to make up for the loss of power from the fan while still tugging along that load. When the fan runs less your mpg will be higher. Mine used to affect mpg by 1.5 - 2mpg depending on how much the fan ran. Usually when my oil hit 230 the fan is split seconds away from coming on. Once you get heat soaked to that point you have 2 choices. Drive 55, or pull over and high idle for 15 minutes to cool off everything in the engine bay. Usually after 30 minutes I'd hit that point back when we were bone stock.
Crazy how lowering EGTs with turbo mods helped heat soak. Since the radiator is behind the intercooler it's actually not that surprising tho. Cooler air temps post turbo pre intercooler means cooler air flowing past the intercooler to cool the radiator, which means the fan runs less.
So, just to clarify, you aren't actually using the comb on the radiator, or even the intercooler. You are using it on the AC condenser. That's the first thing in the cooling stack for manual transmissions, autos should have the transmission cooler in front of that I believe.
If the 1st thing has bent fins the air flow will be nearly completely blocked to everything behind that spot, some air will work it's way in behind the damage, but very little compared to straight fins. Be prepared to be surprised at how many sand pebbles you pull out. So do the whole thing. Pull the grille off for much easier access, and run the comb from top to bottom and work the fins straight. Expect to spend a few hours doing it, and a small thin flat bladed screwdriver will be a great help to the comb on bird strikes.
Once you are done go to a carwash, remove the grille and spray the condenser/atf cooler with degreaser. Then use the "high pressure" setting and blast it. Keep the water jet as close to straight on as possible and blast the wee out of it. Don't get off to the side or at an angle, you'll bend the fins over if there are split ones from fixing damage.
The light oil buildup from years of driving behind other vehicles kicking up oily rain spatter from the pavement will attract dust, which insulates the cooling fins, decreasing efficiency.
Don't use your manly pressure washer @ 4500psi at home, you'll bend the fins back over with true high pressure. Car washes use a higher volume of water at a safe pressure, they don't want to have to pay for removing trim and pin stripes from vehicles, so the pressure there is safe to blast point blank up into the grille
Remember you have 3 to 4 stacks of cooling systems to degrease, don't be shy about it. Blast it in deep and rinse well. If the motor isn't wet you didn't get the radiator rinsed
Thank you! You’re right about the first thing in line. Radiator looks exceptionally good.
Something nobody thinks about when the subject of cooling and airflow disruption comes up are these worthless ugly things:
The expanded metal mesh in front of the grille makes a ton of stagnant air just behind it.
Just putting window screen (for bugs) in front of the condenser kills a ton of airflow too.
😂😂 Right! Thought of that as well. But we have had this problem before we were forced to put that eyesore on 🦌! The front cooler is mashed down pretty good. Going to try to comb it and clean it out good. It is only a problem around 85mph, and the oil temp reaches 210.
I have the exact same Ranch Hand Legend grille guard that Cleatus12r posted and I agree that it causes stagnant air behind the it and the grille. Although, after several summer seasons of towing our 5th wheel even through the heat and grades of WY, I have never seen an EOT above 225° even when pushing the truck hard up a long grade like Teton, Vale, Eisenhower, etc.
Between the 8 gallons of coolant and the clean heat exchangers in the front of the truck, we do pretty well at 18,000 - 20,000 lbs GCVW in the dead of summer.
Between the 8 gallons of coolant and the clean heat exchangers in the front of the truck, we do pretty well at 18,000 - 20,000 lbs GCVW in the dead of summer.
I wonder if you could get even better mpg without it? Meaning if the air isn’t moving well then your fan will be operating more and pulling more hp. Ever consider removing the mesh portion to free up some air flow?
😂😂 Right! Thought of that as well. But we have had this problem before we were forced to put that eyesore on 🦌! The front cooler is mashed down pretty good. Going to try to comb it and clean it out good. It is only a problem around 85mph, and the oil temp reaches 210.
210 oil temp is nothing to worry about. It's just getting up to operating temp then.
I wonder if you could get even better mpg without it? Meaning if the air isn’t moving well then your fan will be operating more and pulling more hp. Ever consider removing the mesh portion to free up some air flow?
Maybe? But at 12.3 MPG towing a 5th wheel hand calculated over 5,500 miles, I wouldn't think so. I have not considered removing it because everything works as designed and intended based on data logs and observations while the truck is being worked hard.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
