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.

 

[East-TN]

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.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

I have a new 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4 - purchased new. It has the factory HD cooling package. I have never towed with it.

I live in the Midwest, and summer temperatures often reach the mid 90’s with oppressive humidity.

Since new, the cooling fans will make a very loud “roaring” sound when the temperature climbs above 90. I’ve had people comment on the loud fans and I returned it to the dealership for the noise. I was told that the loud roaring noise was normal, although there is no mention of it in the owner’s manual. It was so loud that you could hear the roaring fans with the window glass closed and the HVAC running on high fan setting.

Do you hear this roaring sound when the temperature gauge climbs? My reason for asking is I believe the computer is programmed to increase the cooling fans speed (to hyper speed.....) when the high temperature is extreme. The fans would increase to this high speed when I would stop for gas and leave the engine running.

Do you have the HD tow package?

 

[Habbibie]

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

You interested now?

 

[rdlangston13]

I have a new 2015 Expedition Limited 4x4 - purchased new. It has the factory HD cooling package. I have never towed with it.

I live in the Midwest, and summer temperatures often reach the mid 90’s with oppressive humidity.

Since new, the cooling fans will make a very loud “roaring” sound when the temperature climbs above 90. I’ve had people comment on the loud fans and I returned it to the dealership for the noise. I was told that the loud roaring noise was normal, although there is no mention of it in the owner’s manual. It was so loud that you could hear the roaring fans with the window glass closed and the HVAC running on high fan setting.

Do you hear this roaring sound when the temperature gauge climbs? My reason for asking is I believe the computer is programmed to increase the cooling fans speed (to hyper speed.....) when the high temperature is extreme. The fans would increase to this high speed when I would stop for gas and leave the engine running.

Do you have the HD tow package?

Our 15 Limited has had very loud fans since the day we brought it home. I never suspected anything wrong, just the Ford used super powerful fan. It helps with the AC when stopped which is one reason I think they have them because they will turn on even though the engine has not reached operating temperature.

Now on to the OP post, my 15 has never moved from the middle point on the temp gauge and this include towing a 7000 lb boat from Houston to Branson Missouri in August last year and from Houston to Hot Springs in June of this year. These both have their share of inclines though not near the total elevation that you are at. At once Point on a hill it down shifted to 2nd gear to maintain 65-70 mph and never had a warning of any time.


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[coolzzy]

I have the loud roaring cooling fans as well with the AC on. I was also running premium fuel the whole trip and am running a 5* custom tow haul tune that is supposed to prevent overheating issues but that may just apply to the transmission. My return trip where it was 100 degrees I was going up and down hills between 2500 and 3k feet total elevation, so a far drop from the 7k+ near Yellowstone. I have some more mountain camping trips planned and will monitor the temps with my torque app, I will be interested to see what temps correlate to the guage moving so high and then immediately dropping.

 

[rdlangston13]

I have the loud roaring cooling fans as well with the AC on. I was also running premium fuel the whole trip and am running a 5* custom tow haul tune that is supposed to prevent overheating issues but that may just apply to the transmission. My return trip where it was 100 degrees I was going up and down hills between 2500 and 3k feet total elevation, so a far drop from the 7k+ near Yellowstone. I have some more mountain camping trips planned and will monitor the temps with my torque app, I will be interested to see what temps correlate to the guage moving so high and then immediately dropping.

Also maybe try to take the tune off and go back to stock.


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[99WhiteC5Coupe]

I have the loud roaring cooling fans as well with the AC on. I was also running premium fuel the whole trip and am running a 5* custom tow haul tune that is supposed to prevent overheating issues but that may just apply to the transmission. My return trip where it was 100 degrees I was going up and down hills between 2500 and 3k feet total elevation, so a far drop from the 7k+ near Yellowstone. I have some more mountain camping trips planned and will monitor the temps with my torque app, I will be interested to see what temps correlate to the guage moving so high and then immediately dropping.

Do you have the HD factory tow package?

 

[JExpedition07]

Do you have the HD factory tow package?

He does but even so the engine cooling radiator isn’t very different on trucks with or without. The main thing we get is the aux trans cooler.

 

[coolzzy]

My tow haul tune is specifically designed to reduce transmission temps by keeping the converter locked and downshifting rather than unlocking the converter and then downshifting. Though as I've said, the transmission never went over 208 and sat at 203 or 204 for 90% of the 6 hour drive.

I'm heading out for another 6 hour trip tomorrow but without the trailer. I'll be hitting some of the same hills and will be watching to see if the guage moves as much when not towing. I'll be running premium on the trip there and 87 on the way back so I can compare highway mpg.

 

[99WhiteC5Coupe]

My tow haul tune is specifically designed to reduce transmission temps by keeping the converter locked and downshifting rather than unlocking the converter and then downshifting. Though as I've said, the transmission never went over 208 and sat at 203 or 204 for 90% of the 6 hour drive.

I'm heading out for another 6 hour trip tomorrow but without the trailer. I'll be hitting some of the same hills and will be watching to see if the guage moves as much when not towing. I'll be running premium on the trip there and 87 on the way back so I can compare highway mpg.

You’ve never said - do you have the Ford factory HD towing package?

Do you think the company that developed the aftermarket “tune” knows more about towing and equipment than Ford does?

 

[rdlangston13]

My tow haul tune is specifically designed to reduce transmission temps by keeping the converter locked and downshifting rather than unlocking the converter and then downshifting. Though as I've said, the transmission never went over 208 and sat at 203 or 204 for 90% of the 6 hour drive.

I'm heading out for another 6 hour trip tomorrow but without the trailer. I'll be hitting some of the same hills and will be watching to see if the guage moves as much when not towing. I'll be running premium on the trip there and 87 on the way back so I can compare highway mpg.

I run the stock tune and my transmission stays in the same range as yours on hills


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