Overheating ecoboost

[coolzzy]

Has anyone had this happen while towing? I was pulling my 6k pound rv up to Yellowstone and was closely watching my transmission temps. They never went over 204, but nearing the top of the mountain the dash flashed low power mode or something. I switched the Guage cluster to coolant temp and it was maxed out! I let off the gas and immediately the coolant temp began quickly dropping to normal within 30 seconds.

I was pulling the hill in 4th gear, going 65mph. It was 85 degrees and this was on the tail end of a 6 hour journey on the highway at 70 with no issues. My coolant tank is full, and I just spent 3 days driving all over Yellowstone with a butt in every seat of the Expy, drove up to 8800ft with no issues either.

 

[Habbibie]

is it the turbocharged engines that suffer most or is it the naturally aspirated in high altitudes where air is much thinner?

 

[rdlangston13]

is it the turbocharged engines that suffer most or is it the naturally aspirated in high altitudes where air is much thinner?

Naturally aspirated. Turbos don’t care about elevation.

Something definitely went wrong here though. Ours has gone up hills in 2nd gear doing 70 mph pulling 7,000 lbs and the violent temp bar never moved from center.


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[Boostedbus]

Maybe sticking thermostat.

 

[17LimitedExpy]

Maybe sticking thermostat.

+1

 

[coolzzy]

I did some reading on the F150 forums last night, evidently this is common since a system update in 14. The computer is too aggressively trying to prevent an overheat situation when one does not yet exist. This is why as soon as you let off the gas the temp Guage drops in seconds. There is no way coolant can change temperature that quickly (from overheat to normal in just a few seconds). The owners manual says when that message comes on that it is still safe to drive the vehicle but at reduced power and possibly without AC as the computer tries to compensate for higher temps. I'm kinda disappointed since I tow a lot in the Summer in the Mountains and there is seldom a place to pull off the road to cool down. All this time I was worried about the transmission temps when I guess I should have been worried about the coolant.

 

[rdlangston13]

I did some reading on the F150 forums last night, evidently this is common since a system update in 14. The computer is too aggressively trying to prevent an overheat situation when one does not yet exist. This is why as soon as you let off the gas the temp Guage drops in seconds. There is no way coolant can change temperature that quickly (from overheat to normal in just a few seconds). The owners manual says when that message comes on that it is still safe to drive the vehicle but at reduced power and possibly without AC as the computer tries to compensate for higher temps. I'm kinda disappointed since I tow a lot in the Summer in the Mountains and there is seldom a place to pull off the road to cool down. All this time I was worried about the transmission temps when I guess I should have been worried about the coolant.

I’m having a hard time following this. If there is no over heating then why does the gauge show that it is hot? And if the gauge is reading correctly then how can the coolant temp drop in seconds if there is “no way coolant can change temperature that quickly”.


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[Habbibie]

I did some reading on the F150 forums last night, evidently this is common since a system update in 14. The computer is too aggressively trying to prevent an overheat situation when one does not yet exist. This is why as soon as you let off the gas the temp Guage drops in seconds. There is no way coolant can change temperature that quickly (from overheat to normal in just a few seconds). The owners manual says when that message comes on that it is still safe to drive the vehicle but at reduced power and possibly without AC as the computer tries to compensate for higher temps. I'm kinda disappointed since I tow a lot in the Summer in the Mountains and there is seldom a place to pull off the road to cool down. All this time I was worried about the transmission temps when I guess I should have been worried about the coolant.

Sounds like it's time for a 6.7L powerstroke crew cab

 

[JExpedition07]

Sounds like it's time for a 6.7L powerstroke crew cab

Or a 6.2L V8 Super Duty, that and the 6.7L have tons of power and are made for it. A lot more motor and cooling capacity.

 

[coolzzy]

Well if a super duty could seat 7, I might be interested but until then....

Anyway, on the return trip I monitored the coolant temp using the guage in the dash. Climbing a hill at 65 would cause the temp to creep up quickly to the top of the scale. It was 100 degrees out so I would expect some heating but as soon as you let off the gas, within 5 seconds the guage would drop down to normal. During this whole time the transmission temp stayed between 204 and 208 degrees. At one point I slowed to 60 in 4th gear and at the top of the hill I was on the H but the reduced power limp mode never came on, although the air conditioning did blip out several times. At the crest of the hill the truck shifted up to 5 and then 6 and the temps sank to normal.

Now for those of you who say slow down or pull off, these are twisty two lane mountain roads and semis and other RVs are going up and down, and there isn't really a shoulder to pull into. This is a dangerous situation considering these vehicles are designed to tow and I'm not anywhere near maxed out. The motor always had plenty of power and the transmission stayed cool. I believe it's a software glitch to prevent you from actually overheating by making you think you are early. Again, this is stupid ,why even have a temp guage? Next trip I'll bring my Bluetooth adapter and run torque pro to see if the coolant temps correspond with the electronic guage. No way temp could drop from probably 250 (?? Max temp??) to 200 in less than 5-10 seconds.