[SoCalBoost]

I've searched a lot on this topic and I just can't figure out what to do or try on my truck.
I have 2013 crew cab short bed 2wd, 3.55 gears, rated for 9800 lbs. It has always run just under half on the trans and coolant gauges when empty.
Last month we bought our first travel trailer. It weighs 5800 dry so it's probably about 6500-7000 as it sits now.
Towing to a local campground which is a curvy mountain road with a 4% grade my trans and coolant gauges went about 7/8 to the red, at which point I pulled over for a few minutes. The gauges both went back down to half and I continued on my way. The reading on the trans was 240 at its highest. The outside temp was about 100, and the a/c was on.

The trans is running around 195-205 when empty. When loaded on the freeway, I have seen it get to around 208-212 on the display, but still show half on that gauge.

I'm not sure what to do at this point. It seems like if something was wrong, it would do it all the time, not just when towing. Is the truck overloaded considering the grade and the ambient temp?
Thanks.

 

[SoCalBoost]

Also, truck is completely stock except for a K&N intake. I also put 91 in whenever I'm towing.

 

[2Goldens]

This is a good question. I had a similar incident this weekend with my 2014 FX4 SuperCrew with 3.73. I was pulling up an 18 mile stretch (3 to 4 % grade) of road with my 27 ft travel trailer loaded for a weekend so I would say I was around 10,000 pounds. I have done this many times before with my trailer but not to this location. My coolant and transmission temp went just about all the way to the right to "High". I pulled over and about two minutes the temps started to drop. I was in the tow haul mode and running around 3400 rpm in 3rd gear. Sometimes it would drop to 2nd and jump to 4300 rpm. No overheat on my rig. Very unusual.

 

[mass-hole]

A/C on doesnt help as it sits in front of the radiator/trans cooler so you are effectively preheating the air prior cooling the coolant. If you do not have max tow package I dont believe you have a secondary trans cooler which sits in the very front of the cooling stack(but correct me if I am wrong). Basically the trans cooler and radiator are 1 in the same so my guess is that if one starts to over heat it might drag the other with it.

This is what my max tow truck looks like:

You might consider adding another trans cooler like from the max tow package or I have seen a thread around here where they use a cooler from an excursion which is 2x the size.

Also, make sure you torque converter is locked. Use Tow/Haul mode and maybe try manually downshifting to a lower gear to keep the RPM's up so it locks the TC and that should cut down on trans heat.

 

[SoCalBoost]

So mine does have the auxiliary trans cooler. I talked to a guy at my local Ford dealer and he said there was no difference between my radiator and trans cooler and the max tow version.
I was in drive with tow/haul mode on as well.
Also I agree that the a/c is adding a little heat, and a little load, but i just feel like that shouldn't be a problem.

 

[mass-hole]

So mine does have the auxiliary trans cooler. I talked to a guy at my local Ford dealer and he said there was no difference between my radiator and trans cooler and the max tow version.
I was in drive with tow/haul mode on as well.
Also I agree that the a/c is adding a little heat, and a little load, but i just feel like that shouldn't be a problem.

I agree. If you look around the towing section there are quite few recent threads with overheating issues so you are not the only one. I personally think the efans are not cutting it and are too restrictive but i have no proof.

 

[madmaxmutt]

I agree. If you look around the towing section there are quite few recent threads with overheating issues so you are not the only one. I personally think the efans are not cutting it and are too restrictive but i have no proof.

And it seems more prevalent the last two summers. I wonder if the coolant is giving up on some of these trucks. I know mine is due.

Sent from my XT1254 using Tapatalk

 

[Boosted2012]

Welcome to the world of ecoboost. Where you have plenty of power but can't use it all. Many many people have this issue. I am working on trying to fix this same issue on my truck right now. In a nutshell when in boost for longer periods of time (ie towing up a grade) the turbos heat the oil up pretty good. Your cooling system is routed so that the oil is partly cooled by the engine coolant. The hot oil raises the temp of your coolant and the stock system can't keep up. Personally I have purchased a bigger radiator from full race and am also going to add a larger trans and oil cooler to help. Also a larger cac is supposed to help as it lowers the air temp going into the turbo which reduces temps. I don't have one of those yet so j can't comment on the effectiveness. I havent installed my parts yet but im hoping it helps.

 

[mass-hole]

Welcome to the world of ecoboost. Where you have plenty of power but can't use it all. Many many people have this issue. I am working on trying to fix this same issue on my truck right now. In a nutshell when in boost for longer periods of time (ie towing up a grade) the turbos heat the oil up pretty good. Your cooling system is routed so that the oil is partly cooled by the engine coolant. The hot oil raises the temp of your coolant and the stock system can't keep up. Personally I have purchased a bigger radiator from full race and am also going to add a larger trans and oil cooler to help. Also a larger cac is supposed to help as it lowers the air temp going into the turbo which reduces temps. I don't have one of those yet so j can't comment on the effectiveness. I havent installed my parts yet but im hoping it helps.

It's a tough engine to cool I imagine. Especially when you consider it can make as much power at 8000' as it does at sea level. You have to evacuate just as much heat(more probably since the turbos work harder at altitude) with less cooling air density in extreme temps.

At least with NA v8's they lose power at the same rate as cooling air density.


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[Mitchf150]

I sweat more when I'm working in my yard then when I'm just sitting on my porch...

Towing is hard on a rig... It's 100* outside, you got the ac on and going up a grade... Sure, the temps are going to rise..

The good thing is you saw it happening and pulled over and didn't let it overheat..

My trans was running 195* going up some grades in the Sierras in California and it was 8* outside! Yes, I know the trans is thermostatically controlled...

But, towing puts more strain on any rig, so it's just gonna run hotter in some cases..

I've seen 225* on mine at times, but only for short time to get thru some switch back curves going up hill but I never did see the gauge actually move..

Dunno what the answer is, but I think you did the right thing and let it cool down when you saw the gauge move.. I've never seen a Ford temp gauge move above 'normal'....

Good luck!

Mitch

 

[2Goldens]

When I was pulling my trailer this past weekend my transmission temperature went to 245. Never had it go that high. Around 15,000 miles had a TSB done due to a noise when shifting from drive to park and they changed out the transmission fluid. I have 43,400 on my rig now. Got another pull in a few weeks and hope this doesn't happen again. May have to move up to a super duty if this is going to be an issue. Hope I don't.

 

[SuperDave23]

Same truck as the OP, same issue. I was pulling a 8k toy hauler up a continuous 6% grade in 100F heat. Grade is about 8 miles long. Was running the AC the whole time. Coolant got up to 240F, trans up to 230F before i decided to pull over. Thought it was me trying to be a hero and run the hill at 55mph, so I the next time I ran the hill I tried 35mph in 2nd gear. STILL got hot, same temps!

The trans seems to do fine, staying around 205 until the coolant gets over 230 at which point the trans quickly rises above 220 and then slowly continues climbing. I'm guessing the efficiency of the coolant->transmission cooler is dropping off, and the air cooler just can't keep up anymore.

I run a Scanguage so I can watch actual coolant temps, boost, etc.

The stock idiot coolant gauge starts moving at 232F. At around 3/4 it's 240F.
The stock idiot transmission gauge starts moving at 230.

Next time I'm going to try it without the AC.

I also removed the upper front baffle plate from the intercooler (not the rear) to see if getting more intercooler flow will help. My truck didn't have the lower "glue-on" baffle.

After that I'll try replacing the thermostat, maybe it's not opening all the way? Also do a coolant flush.

Heard from a bunch of people, including engineers on other websites that the tranny fluid is good up to about 250F so no danger of really hurting anything yet. I just don't like running things hot. Heat tends to kill things quick! I don't tow much about 5-6 times a year so probably not as much of a concern as if I was doing it all the time.

Pulled the same hill with my old 2005 6.0 and we rarely got over 220 as the big mechanical fan would ramp up. Also the Superduty radiator is about 2x the size of the F150.

Whats even sadder is I did once pull this hill with my 2002 F150 5.4. It ran about 220 as well!

I think in the name of cost and possible some fuel efficiency, Ford went to a small radiator and electric fans which just aren't up to the task.

 

[mass-hole]

Same truck as the OP, same issue. I was pulling a 8k toy hauler up a continuous 6% grade in 100F heat. Grade is about 8 miles long. Was running the AC the whole time. Coolant got up to 240F, trans up to 230F before i decided to pull over. Thought it was me trying to be a hero and run the hill at 55mph, so I the next time I ran the hill I tried 35mph in 2nd gear. STILL got hot, same temps!

The trans seems to do fine, staying around 205 until the coolant gets over 230 at which point the trans quickly rises above 220 and then slowly continues climbing. I'm guessing the efficiency of the coolant->transmission cooler is dropping off, and the air cooler just can't keep up anymore.

I run a Scanguage so I can watch actual coolant temps, boost, etc.

The stock idiot coolant gauge starts moving at 232F. At around 3/4 it's 240F.
The stock idiot transmission gauge starts moving at 230.

Next time I'm going to try it without the AC.

I also removed the upper front baffle plate from the intercooler (not the rear) to see if getting more intercooler flow will help. My truck didn't have the lower "glue-on" baffle.

After that I'll try replacing the thermostat, maybe it's not opening all the way? Also do a coolant flush.

Heard from a bunch of people, including engineers on other websites that the tranny fluid is good up to about 250F so no danger of really hurting anything yet. I just don't like running things hot. Heat tends to kill things quick! I don't tow much about 5-6 times a year so probably not as much of a concern as if I was doing it all the time.

Pulled the same hill with my old 2005 6.0 and we rarely got over 220 as the big mechanical fan would ramp up. Also the Superduty radiator is about 2x the size of the F150.

Whats even sadder is I did once pull this hill with my 2002 F150 5.4. It ran about 220 as well!

I think in the name of cost and possible some fuel efficiency, Ford went to a small radiator and electric fans which just aren't up to the task.

This is what make me think its the fans as well. It doesnt matter the speed, it just doesnt cool. At high speed, there is not enough flow area through the shroud to let the air flow effectively, and at low speeds the fans arnt moving enough. an experiment would be to cut the shroud down the middle, leaving one fan in place but the other half of the radiator free to flow naturally ans see if that helps at highway speeds. Then at least if it doesnt help and you overheat you have the one fan to draw air through when you pull over.

I believe the Ram ecodiesels have a similar issue. they overheat pretty easily and use electric fans while the much more powerful hemi does not and uses a mech fan+a small electric for A/C. This is how my jeep liberty diesel is setup as well, and when I tried to convert it to efan only using a big Derale fan behind the radiator, it didnt help at all. In fact, the shroud/efan combo cooled worse at highway speed than with no fan or shroud at all. The only solution I have found to work so far is a mechanical fan and I am now using a flex-a-lite 19" flex fan with no clutch and that laughs at the heat. Even with the engine at idle its probably moving close to as much air as my Derale efan was. At 2000 RPM is sounds like a turboprop.

And it is absolutely an MPG thing. The difference in power and spunkiness of my jeep with and without a mechanical fan is very noticeable.

 

[SuperDave23]

This is what make me think its the fans as well. It doesnt matter the speed, it just doesnt cool. At high speed, there is not enough flow area through the shroud to let the air flow effectively, and at low speeds the fans arnt moving enough. an experiment would be to cut the shroud down the middle, leaving one fan in place but the other half of the radiator free to flow naturally ans see if that helps at highway speeds. Then at least if it doesnt help and you overheat you have the one fan to draw air through when you pull over.

I believe the Ram ecodiesels have a similar issue. they overheat pretty easily and use electric fans while the much more powerful hemi does not and uses a mech fan+a small electric for A/C. This is how my jeep liberty diesel is setup as well, and when I tried to convert it to efan only using a big Derale fan behind the radiator, it didnt help at all. In fact, the shroud/efan combo cooled worse at highway speed than with no fan or shroud at all. The only solution I have found to work so far is a mechanical fan and I am now using a flex-a-lite 19" flex fan with no clutch and that laughs at the heat. Even with the engine at idle its probably moving close to as much air as my Derale efan was. At 2000 RPM is sounds like a turboprop.

And it is absolutely an MPG thing. The difference in power and spunkiness of my jeep with and without a mechanical fan is very noticeable.

My point on the lower speed up the hill was generally lower speed = less horsepower required = less heat from the engine to deal with. In my diesel if I slowed down going up a hill temps would start dropping off quickly. Wasn't really the case with this truck. Maybe a gas truck thing?

 

[mass-hole]

My point on the lower speed up the hill was generally lower speed = less horsepower required = less heat from the engine to deal with. In my diesel if I slowed down going up a hill temps would start dropping off quickly. Wasn't really the case with this truck. Maybe a gas truck thing?

no thats totally right, but when you slow down you also lose the air speed through the radiator. If the fan cant make up for that then it doesnt really do anything for you.

 

[jlucas45]

Additional transmission radiator

I sweat more when I'm working in my yard then when I'm just sitting on my porch...

Towing is hard on a rig... It's 100* outside, you got the ac on and going up a grade... Sure, the temps are going to rise..

The good thing is you saw it happening and pulled over and didn't let it overheat..

My trans was running 195* going up some grades in the Sierras in California and it was 8* outside! Yes, I know the trans is thermostatically controlled...

But, towing puts more strain on any rig, so it's just gonna run hotter in some cases..

I've seen 225* on mine at times, but only for short time to get thru some switch back curves going up hill but I never did see the gauge actually move..

Dunno what the answer is, but I think you did the right thing and let it cool down when you saw the gauge move.. I've never seen a Ford temp gauge move above 'normal'....

Good luck!

Mitch

I have a 2011 Lariat with the "heavy duty tow package", but I noticed that the transmission temp would keep climbing on steep logging roads to over 212 and climbing. I wasn't towing, so I figured it would overheat if I pulled a load, so to make a long story short, I figured out how to mount a second factory radiator upside down so the hose nipples lined up perfectly with the existing factory rack, doubling the cooling surface...It made a big difference in keeping the transmission below 200 degrees. I can see when the thermostat opens up at 192, and it seldom goes over 194 now...cost was around $100, but well worth it.

 

[BRoell]

I have a 2011 Lariat with the "heavy duty tow package", but I noticed that the transmission temp would keep climbing on steep logging roads to over 212 and climbing. I wasn't towing, so I figured it would overheat if I pulled a load, so to make a long story short, I figured out how to mount a second factory radiator upside down so the hose nipples lined up perfectly with the existing factory rack, doubling the cooling surface...It made a big difference in keeping the transmission below 200 degrees. I can see when the thermostat opens up at 192, and it seldom goes over 194 now...cost was around $100, but well worth it.

2nd factory trans cooler or radiator? Any pictures of the setup and how you mounted?

 

[DNA Dan]

There is a larger OEM transmission cooler that is pretty much bolt on with a few hose trimmings. It's about the same cost ($120) No need to double anything up.

 

[TCP2]

locking it out to second gear didn't do you any favors. The 6R80 can only lock up the torque converter in gears 3-6. The same thing with a locked torque converter in third gear may have helped.

Same truck as the OP, same issue. I was pulling a 8k toy hauler up a continuous 6% grade in 100F heat. Grade is about 8 miles long. Was running the AC the whole time. Coolant got up to 240F, trans up to 230F before i decided to pull over. Thought it was me trying to be a hero and run the hill at 55mph, so I the next time I ran the hill I tried 35mph in 2nd gear. STILL got hot, same temps!

The trans seems to do fine, staying around 205 until the coolant gets over 230 at which point the trans quickly rises above 220 and then slowly continues climbing. I'm guessing the efficiency of the coolant->transmission cooler is dropping off, and the air cooler just can't keep up anymore.

I run a Scanguage so I can watch actual coolant temps, boost, etc.

The stock idiot coolant gauge starts moving at 232F. At around 3/4 it's 240F.
The stock idiot transmission gauge starts moving at 230.

Next time I'm going to try it without the AC.

I also removed the upper front baffle plate from the intercooler (not the rear) to see if getting more intercooler flow will help. My truck didn't have the lower "glue-on" baffle.

After that I'll try replacing the thermostat, maybe it's not opening all the way? Also do a coolant flush.

Heard from a bunch of people, including engineers on other websites that the tranny fluid is good up to about 250F so no danger of really hurting anything yet. I just don't like running things hot. Heat tends to kill things quick! I don't tow much about 5-6 times a year so probably not as much of a concern as if I was doing it all the time.

Pulled the same hill with my old 2005 6.0 and we rarely got over 220 as the big mechanical fan would ramp up. Also the Superduty radiator is about 2x the size of the F150.

Whats even sadder is I did once pull this hill with my 2002 F150 5.4. It ran about 220 as well!

I think in the name of cost and possible some fuel efficiency, Ford went to a small radiator and electric fans which just aren't up to the task.

 

[SuperDave23]

locking it out to second gear didn't do you any favors. The 6R80 can only lock up the torque converter in gears 3-6. The same thing with a locked torque converter in third gear may have helped.

Are you sure? Everything I've read about the 6R80 is it can lockup the torque convertor in all gears?

http://www.advanceadapters.com/tech-vault/ford-6r80--10r80-automatic-transmission/