2004 6.0 Powerstroke overheating when towing in overdrive
 

Engine getting hot when towing my 31’ travel trailer. Dealer did a ride along and concluded that the fan clutch was bad and there was a restriction in the oil cooler. Replaced both, still getting hot. I’m not losing coolant. The fan is not cutting on when the temp gauge goes up. I hooked up my Superchip Flashpaq to monitor actual engine temp. Engine gets up to 242 degrees and the “check gauge” light comes on but no fan. This only happens when I am towing and it shifts into overdrive. If I punch the accelerator to make it downshift and get some more revs, the temp backs off. A/C still blows cold. Trans temp is perfect. Does anyone have an idea where to look next?

Are you saying the "no fan in O/D" only happens when you're towing, but cruising around it's fine in O/D? Was this on a grade?

If you're going up hill, that sounds about right. I made mine hold OD going up some hills pulling a 5500lb truck on my 18ft flat deck trailer. It shot up into the 240 range, but no CEL. However, when I had it loaded down (10K of trailer, Jeep, and mother-in-law's stuff on a commercial scale) doing a cross contry from Salt Lake City to Fallon on I-80 in June, unlocking the converter on hills kept the temps about 220 up hill.

In short, you're lugging the motor pulling that trailer in OD with the converter locked (assuming it's an auto), that's what caused my high temps pulling a load up hill.

The engine never gets hot when the truck is unloaded so I never hear the fan when the truck is up to speed. It is only when towing and it happens on flat ground. When I was towing yesterday from South Carolina to Maryland the outside temps were never above 60 degrees and the engine didn't get above 228. When I towed from Florida to South Carolina the day before the outside temps were close to 90 and the engine temp would climb to 242 in overdrive but if I got it to downshift they would go down to 232.

---AutoMerged DoublePost---

It is an automatic. At 240 the PCM should be calling for the fan but I'm getting nothing. I've hauled loads much heavier in the mountains at 90 degrees and never got hot. This is a first.

What mods are on the truck?

Why not just tap the brake to get the torque converter to unlock?

You're not using that superchips for tuning and towing at the same time are you?

No major mods. Blue spring, AirRaid intake, 4" lift, 35" tires, AirLift air bags

I was towing with the stock tune. I use the Flashpaq "Towing" tune when I'm in the mountains. I use the "Performance" tune for daily driving.

I tapped my brakes all the way from Florida to Maryland to keep it from locking. Burned a ton of fuel. I've been towing campers this size since I bought the truck 8 years ago. Never got hot before. The truck didn't even run hot when I blew up the EGR cooler two years ago while pulling the same camper.

I'd look into better tuning, though that's most likely not your issue, but it's not helping anything.

Probably time for an oil cooler rebuild. Monitor oil temp against coolant temp, it should never really spread more than 15* apart.

Coolant filter, coolant flush, and a new oil cooler are probably in your future (at least, this is what I would recommend you do) and then some better tuning. Are you still running an EGR cooler? I'd do an EGR delete too. :c:

I just had a new oil cooler put in last week.

I just ordered a coolant filter kit. I am running an EGR cooler but it is a Bulletproof aftermarket one.

Ok, good foundation.

Guess I should have read the first post again. You did put a new oil cooler in!

I know it seems elementary, it might not hurt to clean the outside of the intercooler and radiator. My buddy bought an 05 that had similar issues and would get hot quick out of no where. Took a pressure washer to the radiator and intercooler and we couldn't believe the dust and dirt that came out of there. It never did it again after the cleaning. Wouldn't hurt to check...

No biggie.

I will certainly take that advice. There are a few layers of coolers on the front of these things. They could easily be blocked a bit. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

I talked to the tech that did the oil cooler and he called some tech friends and someone told him that it could be the water pump. Something about the crap in the coolant wearing away the impeller. Ever heard of anything like that?

Yeah the factory pumps use a plastic impeller and they chip away and break. I don't think it's a function of the coolant itself, but yes they can break away. Bulletproof diesel makes a billet one now... I'm probably throwing one in mine when I tear it down. That is definitely another option, and could be the cause.

Yeah, I saw that Bulletproof one. They want a pretty penny for that thing. :)

The stocker isn't cheap either. Lists for $195... Tousley has them for $160... so $220 for the BPD one isn't that bad....

$220 is not bad but the price I see on their site is $315.

You're right... they used to have 2 versions, one that was basically a stock pump with a billet impeller on it, and then they came out with what you see there which is a full billet unit, billet housing and everything. Must be they did away with the earlier versions... yikes.

Check ebay, I've seen some "stock replacement" water pumps that had metal blades/impellers on them. I believe Alliant even made one. :c:

I certainly appreciate all the advice and insight.

You mentioned that I should go with a better tune. I am scared to give her too much because of the head bolts. That's why I went with the Flashpaq (and because my buddy practically gave it to me). :tu: What do you recommend without doing the head bolt upgrade?

SCT with custom tunes. The flashpaq is a piece of crap (don't take this the wrong way). It's not really a "tuner" by any sense of the meaning. It just tricks the PCM into sending more fuel and more injection pressure to the engine. I would recommend an SCT with a good street tune. It should still be headbolt safe (a lot safer than the flashpaq, I bet the timing is absurd on that thing) and way safer for your transmission. You could make more power and run safer with custom tunes. :c:

The highly recommended tuners are:

Eric @ Innovative Diesel
Matt @ Gearhead
Vivian @ Quicktricks Auto
Doug @ GoGo

there are probably others I'm forgetting. Eric has been the best for me so far both in tuning and customer service. :c:

Being that I am on TTY bolts at about 101K, and since you have already addressed the oil and EGR coolers, a 4 inch straight exhaust (if you don't already have it), and an SCT are about all I see you missing. Personally, I like Matt's SRL tune.

When driving, stay off the loud pedal below 190* ECT. When parking spool down to 400* EGT to prevent oil coking in the turbo. I see gauges and/or a monitor in your future.

I have mud raced, truck pulled (hauled a friend's truck to the pulls, and competed) and went down the quarter mile in my truck, and that was just the summer of 2012! Watch your gauges and it should be fine. :c:

Okay, I'm stuck. It's still overheating. I have replaced the oil cooler, fan clutch, water pump, and thermostat. I cleaned the radiator and checked the flow. I am not losing coolant. Could the head gasket possibly be blown without losing coolant? My EOT is running about 22 degrees higher than my ECT. Could the oil cooler have clogged up in 2000 miles? What is going on? HELP!

You say it's running 22* higher, but what are the actual temps we're talking here? I wouldn't think it would be a clogged oil cooler, usually that causes absurd coolant temps, not oil temps.

It's possible the headgasket is blown, but you'd be doing something... like pushing coolant out of the overflow bottle. Any white residue around that? The fan is coming on right? You cleaned the radiator.... on the inside or outside?

ECT's in the 240 range. I'm not puking coolant. No residue around bottle. The fan seems to be coming on just fine. I had the radiator out when I did the water pump and washed the outside really good and reverse flushed it. It seemed to be flowing well. Someone else told me that I really need to get a IR thermometer on it and check for dead spots. I guess that's my next course of action.?

So coolant temp is in the 240 range and oil is 262??? Am I reading that correctly? At what temp is your fan coming on?

Man this really has me scratching my head, the cooling systems on these things are ridiculously good. I guess it's possible you got a bad thermostat out of the box, but that seems SO unlikely...

Fan doesn't come on full unless I'm loaded. If I'm running empty and she gets this hot the fan comes on but you don't get that full airplane propeller roar. It's not the thermostat. I took the old thermostat and punched out the guts to see if that was it. Still gets hot.

So those temps are correct? 262* for oil???

You can test a thermostat by throwing it in a pot of boiling water and seeing if it opens. A gutted thermostat may very well let it overheat too. The thermostat not only open/closes as it should, but the design in itself is there to restrict coolant flow. If coolant flow is too strong, it wont have enough time to dissipate heat in the radiator. It needs to have a nice slow pass through there to let the radiator do it's thing. Obviously if you have a new thermostat in there it's not the issue though.

If you're getting this hot with no load on it, something is definitely awry here. :humm: How is boost? Are you getting any unusual smoke from the exhaust?

Yes, the oil got up to 262. It takes a good hour to get this hot empty and that's stomping it pretty good. Per your advice I went with an SCT tuner and I'm running the mid range custom tune IDP sent me. I decided to spring for the Livewire so I could get all these numbers. :tu:

No unusual exhaust. I haven't paid much attention to boost but I know I've seen it up to 20 psi.

Crazytown... It sounds like you have done alot of work with not much to show as far as results go. I have had myself a little run in with something alot like what you are describing. First off let me explain, Bought a used truck and 1st time I hit a hill with a load it overheated. Changed thermostat, coolant, and water pump... 2nd hill same as the 1st
:nope:. I pulled out the radiator and even though it looked clean installed it was packed with fine dust that looked like the inside of a vacuum bag. I sprayed out the fins real well and re-installed it. That made it much better but, If I had the A/C on it would still get hot on a long grade. I talked to a radiator guy and he said it sounded like the core needed to be rodded out (internally blocked). While he had the radiator I went ahead and changed the fan clutch even though it seemed to be just fine and ramped up like the jet noise you described. What I do know is this, after the rodding out of the radiator core and a new fan clutch it never overheated again... (over 100k since then)

I don't want to give you something else to chase your tail with but, maybe a call to your local radiator guy might help? :humm:

I think that has to be my next step. Keeping my fingers crossed.

c-tane that's wild. I would have never even thought about that.

Please keep us posted, I wish I could offer more help but I'm running out of ideas myself on this one...

If I have to replace my radiator do y'all have any recommendations?

Stock ones seem good!? I know Mishmoto makes some too, I believe they're a sponsor here, or at least they were at one point.

C-Town, I woundn't just go out and buy a new radiator, unless you have money just burning a hole in your pocket... I would find a shop that just does radiator repairs. I use a guy that only does radiators and A/C. The dad does radiators and his son does A/C. When I asked him about the radiator he showed me a cut open radiator and explained how they work. He said that high performance radiators are aluminium cores with aluminium end caps. When he sells one to a hot rodder they are after cooling capacity for their high perfomance engines. He then explained that our diesels already have gallons of cooling capacity (7 gallons compaired to the 2-3 in gas engines) and we already have aluminium core radiators. He said the plastic end caps are the weak points in the system but, because of the volume space in the degas bottle this should never be an issue unless you are king of the 750rwhp club. :yeah:
This guy is great, he went on to explain that the inside of the radiator is just like the 6.0 oil cooler it has passageways that the coolant runs thru to disapate heat and over time they get gummed up. He said most common thing is guys adding coolant that isn't compatable even though the bottle says, "works with all types". It interacts and makes this stuff that looks like sticky hair gel (he had a radiator opened up for repair). Rodding out the radiator is just what it sounds like, they take the end caps off and push a steel rod thru that pushes the big stuff out then they put it in a bash and boil everything else out.
My dad has been using this guys shop for years for his hot rods and I think the guy is more than fair. He said, look I can sell you a $1200 radiator for your truck but, you really don't need it because I can make your radiator brand new again for 150 bucks... Needless to say I was cool with $150. :jump:

I agree. I don't plan on just buying a new radiator. I was just looking at the worst case. I am familiar with rodding radiators. I grew up on a farm and there used to be a really good radiator shop that we took our tractor radiators to. They are no longer around. I was told that I would be hard pressed to find anyone to rod out my radiator. They said no one is going to want to fool with the plastic tanks. I hope I can find someone. Ford want $335 for a new one. My mechanic friend is going to help me check for dead spots with his IR thermometer this weekend. I'll have to go from there. I will keep you posted.

$335 actually isn't bad at all, I figured it would be way more than that. Good info C-tane.

A & L Radiator in springfield, Va. Give them a call

Is this a personal recommendation?