Thanks for responding, Boatingman. If your truck overheats every time you tow during the day, you might want to bring your truck to the dealership with the boat attached. If possible, take your tech for a test drive so you can replicate the symptoms for them. If that's something you'd be interested in doing, PM me when you head in and I'll notify your regional customer service manager. When writing, please include your full name, best daytime phone number, VIN, current mileage, and servicing dealership.

Crystal

 

I experienced the same overheating message a couple weeks ago. My 2014 F-150 is only 5 months old and now has 2,800 miles on it. We towed our Ragen FS-2500 toyhauler with empty water and sewer tanks and lightly stocked with food for 2 people from Phoenix north up I-17 to Camp Verde then up on the Mogollon Rim. Twice on the trip up we got that message, once at the last 100 or so yards up to Sunset Point and another climbing up on the Rim. Neither time did there appear to be anything unusual with any of the other gauges except the one which pegged quickly and returned to normal just as quickly.
On the trip home we got the same message climbing out of Camp Verde to the south on I-17. Granted these are pretty steep and long grades but it seems strange this is happening with a brand new truck supposedly designed to tow trailers such as ours? We towed the same toyhauler up to Payson over Mothers Day weekend loaded even heavier with 80G of fresh water, my Artic Cat Prowler inside and all the provisions and food for 16 people and never got this message.

 

AZ, I'm VERY familiar with those grades into and out of Camp Verde. I know the one going south is about 12 miles long at 6%. The one north is maybe a tad longer and the same steep grade.

I'd guess the difference between Mother's Day and now is the outside air temperature. As I remember, we were having a relatively mild spring this year, so I'm guessing the temps were in the 90s back then. I KNOW the temperature a couple weeks ago was around 110, and maybe even higher.

As I stated earlier, the Owner's Manual states the behavior you describe is there to protect the engine in the event of elevated temperatures when towing. It seems to me that it's in place to PREVENT overheating. I wonder if you had reduced your speed a bit (I tend to climb those hills while towing at 65) to maybe 55 if this would have reduced the load enough to prevent the problem you were having at the higher outside temperatures?

For various reasons, we have not been able to go camping yet this year, so I don't have ANY first hand experience towing with my new 2014 EcoBeast. We hope to get away in about a month, so then I'll be able to let everyone know how my truck does. I've also put Torque App on my cellphone and installed an OBD BlueTooth transmitter so I'll know exactly what the coolant temperature is.

By the way, if you want a REAL grade, try the 13% one up to Cedar Breaks in Utah. I did this one in my old 2005 F150 pulling the trailer and had to do it in 1st gear all the way.

- Jack

 

If you find your temps climbing try downshifting a gear on two. This will of course make the engine spin faster which in turn spins the water pump faster. It will also allow the engine itself to make more power instead and allow the PCM to drop back on the boost. This will lower IATs. More coolant moving plus cooler incoming air should go a long way toward cooling the engine off.

 

When mine happened I was in 3rd gear just under 4000 RPM doing about 65mph. It was warm out so I'm pretty sure I had the ac on. The weirdest thing to me was how quick everything came back to "normal". Shift to 4th then quickly to 5th and within 2-3 seconds the gauge was normal. Tranny temp never waivered.

 

Tried changing out the Cyl Head temp sensor no change.

Tried the shifting gears, between 2nd and 3rd gear. Normally up Parley's canyon if i am set at 65mph its in 4th or 3rd. This time I ran 55 Between 2nd and 3rd and when I did that still shows over heating. coolant temps do fluctuate when shifting but it doesnt change the end result. still over heats, or says that its over heating. Trans temps are showing 120 F at the warmest and normally about 117-118.

However same day same load same hill just later in the day outside temp 70 instead of 89 and i can run as fast as i want and as hard as i want with no issue.

 

Did you mean 220 and normally 217-218? I cannot believe your transmission temps are in the low 100s.

- Jack

 

What temps are you seeing when it overheats? Also, are you 100* off on your trans temps? The 6 speed normally runs 200ish.

 

Yes sorry 218-220 are my trans temps and engine temps are going to pegged on the hot. Also like most other people on here it cools right down in 2-3 seconds

 

And that right there seems to be the biggest part of the issue to me. How the hell would it be possible to cool so fast? Come on Ford, send us ANOTHER update! I can understand wanting to protect our little powerhouses but we have simply gone a little far in this last update. If I'm wrong then tell me so I can (ahem, this is tough for me to say) simply buy a 5.0 next time.

 

To me, it seems that if you just slow the F down going up grades when it's 100* outside, that will probably solve the problem...

But no... Lets just keep the boost on full in order to go 65 effing mph up a 6% grade when it's hotter than hell outside... Then bitch when the little 3.5l V6 starts to heat up... DOH...

Have a clue guys... I remember the days of having to turn the HEATER on FULL HOT and going 25 mph up some grades in 1st gear in a 1971 F250 with a 390 in it towing a #6500 TT up the Grape Vine.. I was a kid in the camper shell and Dad driving.. We never overheated to the point of having to pull over, but Mom and Dad in the cab were pretty hot!

Anyway, I still can't believe how small the rad is on the Ecoboost compared to the rad on my 97 F150... The 97 was a dual core job that would take 2 full gallons of fluid on it's own. I'll bet I couldn't even get a gallon of fluid in my Eco's rad..

But, I have not overheated mine running in 90*+ heat running up the grades going around 60 mph, but for only about 5 minutes at a time..

Yes, it does cool down fast once you get out of the boost... Go figure..

Good luck!

Mitch

 

Read the rest of the threads on this Mitch. Bottom line is I don't believe the truck IS overheating, the computer just is warning us it might. As I've posted, same truck, same pulls, same trailer, same time of year, the only change is a one and only PCM update and now the truck won't do the job. Is there something wrong with complaining about something my Ecoboost USED to do easily? And the fact that my trailer is not even 2/3 of its Ford rated tow rating? If I was pulling 10000# I could maybe understand it.

 

5land, I believe what you're saying is correct. However, I suspect Ford has become more proactive about preventing overheating than they were in the past. The fact that my Owner's Manual has a section about this "power reduction" feature, makes it obvious to me they want things this way.

Again notice it doesn't actually disable the truck, it just acts to reduce the heat loading (which of course reduces power too).

And, I'm not convinced that operating in a lower gear will help either, since there will be more "power strokes" per minute which tends to generate more heat, even though the water pump will be turning faster. I noticed in my old 5.4L engine that operating at low gears caused the oil temperature to shoot way up, over 260 degrees.

- Jack

 

What if yal grab a OBD2 Dongle for 10 bucks then load up torque app (free) and actually watch and see what the coolant is when the truck says its overheating?

 

Sorry for the rant.. Yeah, should not have posted, as I was stuck inside due to the weather we had Saturday (finally some rain, but accompanied by a lot of wind too..) and had a few too many beers!

I still think the Eco has too small of a rad!

Mitch