Overheating ecoboost when towing
#46
07-18-2016, 01:51 PM
2011 overheating towing travel trailer
I have a 2011 ecoboost with max tow (35,000 miles) and I keep getting the dash lighting up for overheating when I tow up a grade. I am pulling a 2012 Jayco Eagle 284BHS, which dry is 7,066 lbs, and when last scaled loaded was at 7,943. I had pulled this with my 2004 f150 a few times which pulled very well but worked a bit too hard for my comfort, then later upgraded to a new to me 2011.
On my last trip from Salt Lake City, UT to Bear Lake, ID the dang thing lit the dash up like Christmas 5 total times. The 1st time was on I-15 where it was fairly flat. I pulled over and it cooled very quickly. The other 4 times it was pulling up the canyon, and it was in the upper 90’s when this happened. It was even worse on the way back. We had left late in the evening and it was 78 degrees and I had to limp that bastard all of the way up Sardine canyon. There is no shoulder or pull offs, and traffic was blazing by. I was fit to be tied.
The next day I took it into the dealership to report the issues and show them the video I took of it with my phone. They inquired about fuel octane and I told them that is all the truck ever gets. They had it for 4 days and called me back to say that they couldn’t find any codes other than an overrev code (no idea how that ever happened) or couldn’t find any issues. They had contacted Ford, and the response that they were given was that this is a known issue with select F150 ecoboost trucks, and that there currently was no fix available. I am to check back every couple of weeks to see if any updates are available.
Anyone else have this problem, and if so what solutions were you able to find? I am pissed that I have the most capable half ton ever, but only on a cool day going downhill.
On my last trip from Salt Lake City, UT to Bear Lake, ID the dang thing lit the dash up like Christmas 5 total times. The 1st time was on I-15 where it was fairly flat. I pulled over and it cooled very quickly. The other 4 times it was pulling up the canyon, and it was in the upper 90’s when this happened. It was even worse on the way back. We had left late in the evening and it was 78 degrees and I had to limp that bastard all of the way up Sardine canyon. There is no shoulder or pull offs, and traffic was blazing by. I was fit to be tied.
The next day I took it into the dealership to report the issues and show them the video I took of it with my phone. They inquired about fuel octane and I told them that is all the truck ever gets. They had it for 4 days and called me back to say that they couldn’t find any codes other than an overrev code (no idea how that ever happened) or couldn’t find any issues. They had contacted Ford, and the response that they were given was that this is a known issue with select F150 ecoboost trucks, and that there currently was no fix available. I am to check back every couple of weeks to see if any updates are available.
Anyone else have this problem, and if so what solutions were you able to find? I am pissed that I have the most capable half ton ever, but only on a cool day going downhill.
I have found no fix. What I have learned to do is turn off the A/C and slow down. The heat gauge will come down immediately. I can't go up a grade when it is hot (100 degrees) with backing down to say 35 or 45 then it does not heat up. Don't use cruise in the mountains either, go manual. I thought with 2 Turbos mountain would be a piece of cake. I truly feel we don't have big enough radiators. I have thought about putting on a fan cooled transmission cooler and not use the cooler in the radiator.
#47
07-25-2016, 11:11 AM
330500 hard miles
I use my truck for my transport business. Max tow. The truck is running at 16,000 to 17,000 GCWR 14 hours a day...everyday. for the first 250,000 miles I had no overheating issues running in the Rocky Mountains and High Plains desert. I developed a coolant leak on the driver side Turbo. That caused momentary temperature spikes going up steep grades. I had to replace the engine at 267,000 miles due to 2 loose bolts. It was cheaper to get a new engine then pay the maintenance time to fix those two bolts. The new engine overheats constantly. Under load or not under load... doesn't matter. Any Hill will wipe it out. My transmission temps are higher, possibly due to a bad solenoid that will not allow my torque converter to unlock. For those with overheating issues, I would take a close look at your transmission temperature. Once it gets over 205 degrees your coolant temperature may spike. Pay close attention to your exhaust manifolds as they often warp, breaking bolts. If your truck throws a wrench light, replace the throttle body and it will be good as new for the next 70,000 miles! I am on my 5th throttle body.
#48
07-25-2016, 11:16 AM
#52
07-26-2016, 11:39 AM
Just came back from a 2000+ mile camping trip into Colorado pulling our 3500# trailer up and down some steep roads with no problems whatsoever.
Ideally, when towing, you should not exceed about 80% of the rated capacity for safety's sake. glc is right on with his advice about using a Super Duty for that job.
- Jack
Ideally, when towing, you should not exceed about 80% of the rated capacity for safety's sake. glc is right on with his advice about using a Super Duty for that job.
- Jack
#53
07-26-2016, 05:24 PM
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#54
07-26-2016, 06:50 PM
Here's the deal as I see it. Ford, and the other truck manufacturers like to play up the pulling power of their vehicles. And, my truck would certainly have no trouble pulling a 7000# trailer (my truck weighs 6450# measured on a CAT scale and the landfill scale I use with me in it). I can climb a long 6% grade in my truck in 4th gear pulling my trailer, so I have plenty of excess capacity there.
But, Ford and the others DO NOT make much of their axle limits and DO NOT really give you a good idea of the "Delivered Gross Weight" of the truck with all options. The reason they don't is because it would tell you NOT to put anything with a high tongue weight on the trailer hitch. A 7000# trailer would easily put close to 1000# on the ball. That would over-gross my axles, wheels and tires. My truck has a Max Gross Weight Limit of about 7200#.
For a short distance, such as the Ike Gauntlet Hill Climb that Ford has used in their advertising, the overstress of the axles is probably OK and may even be minimized by lowering the tongue weight and increasing sway control mechanically. But, for prolonged towing with a properly set up trailer with 12% tongue weight, I would not want to subject my truck to that stress.
So, this is my opinion. You can consider it worth exactly what you are paying for it if that suits you. I'm not trying to fight, just trying to provide a little common sense.
- Jack
#55
07-26-2016, 08:13 PM
If you are running a transport business running 16-17k GCWR 14 hours a day, it's amazing you got the service you did out of that 1/2 ton truck. That should shut up some of the EB haters if nothing else. However, that really isn't the right tool for that job, I still say you should be using a diesel Super Duty.
#56
07-26-2016, 09:18 PM
Got to sit in on a meeting today and the topic was the turbo engines and heat related failures. Some of the EcoBoosts are having issues. The gist of it was this, when the direct injected turbo engine is in a high demand scenario, the fuel mapping strategy changes. The engine is supposed to receive more of a rich charge vs the normal 14.8 air fuel ratio. In the normal charge the engine would in effect be running in a lean condition, hence the high heat. The extra fuel charge acts as a coolant. They recommended those having the issues to have the dealer run a dealership reader and read the fuel mapping on it as it is being driven under full load. Some are experiencing that the ECU is not going into the correct air fuel for the demand placed on the engine. Might give it a try.
#57
05-20-2017, 01:00 PM
Turbos, transmissions and heat
I have a 2011 F150 Ecoboost and spend a considerable amount of time climbing logging roads in the Oregon Coast range. One of the first things I noticed was that the transmission (heavy duty) temperature was rising as long as I had a hill (steep) in front of me. Knowing that U-Haul has stated that over 90% of their transmission failures was due to over heating, so I came up with the solution of adding a second transmission cooler (fit perfectly inverted to the original), and it really did a great job of keeping the transmission cooler.
Once I got onto that problem, I checked out the exhaust system. The factory one is totally counter intuitive to the very idea of high turbo gas flow out of the engine. It begins with a junction plenum from the exhaust manifold pipes that is about 5-6" in diameter, reduces down to a 3" pipe to the Cat, and then down to a 2 1/2" pipe to a constrictive muffler. I had everything behind the Cat replaced with a 3" pipe to a high flow muffler. I haven't had any heat problems since. It is a sad thing to have to re-engineer critical systems that Ford "engineers" "designed". I wish Ford would put a pyrometer behind the turbos so we could see what is going on while pulling a load. Sounds really good to!
Once I got onto that problem, I checked out the exhaust system. The factory one is totally counter intuitive to the very idea of high turbo gas flow out of the engine. It begins with a junction plenum from the exhaust manifold pipes that is about 5-6" in diameter, reduces down to a 3" pipe to the Cat, and then down to a 2 1/2" pipe to a constrictive muffler. I had everything behind the Cat replaced with a 3" pipe to a high flow muffler. I haven't had any heat problems since. It is a sad thing to have to re-engineer critical systems that Ford "engineers" "designed". I wish Ford would put a pyrometer behind the turbos so we could see what is going on while pulling a load. Sounds really good to!
#58
07-10-2017, 08:08 PM
Another EcoBoost overheating-- please help
#59
07-17-2017, 09:26 AM
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I have been dealing with this issue since the day I bought it. Ford doesn't care, It is a known issue that they won't do anything about. I dealt with them long enough. Here is what I have been trying. I live in Idaho so I pull a lot of big hills going camping etc. Every summer when it gets warm, above about 80 I have the same issue. I pulls great but gets hot. I have tried a couple things. First I replaced the intercooler, put a lower temp thermostat and a program in it from SCT Tuner. I did that at the first of this summer 2017. Took a trip up Logan canyon then to Yellowstone then back to western Idaho, ran warm to hot the whole time. Any time the temp was above 85 it was getting warm if I pulled above 70 mph. I think the intercooler actually caused it to get hotter because it is bigger and covered more of the radiator. So I am in the same boat you are. I love the truck, just wish it could do what they say it should do. So I am on my last straw with it. I just installed this weekend a new radiator from Full race for the Freak O boost. I will be pulling my 7600# trailer in two weeks up North so It will be the true test. I should know if it did the trick after the first week of August. I will report back. With the new radiator I have thrown about $2000 at it so if it doesn't work I may be trading it in.
#60
07-18-2017, 01:03 PM
