New member here.



I just took my new toy out this weekend to the Mojave desert, where we had planned to run the 130+ mile across to Laughlin, NV. The weather was fair (around 70 degrees). My truck has an aftermarket ADD intercooler installed.

Mid way through our run, an engine temp message came on (flashing red!), so we stopped to check it out and popped the hood.. Everything seemed fine under the hood - fluids were topped off and there were no leaks. So we continued. Not even a mile later, the message came up again and I was a little more concerned. Long story short, it happened 2-3 more times and luckily for me we were close by a paved highway. My buddies were saying that because we were traveling at low speeds (40-50 mph) through the terrain, that there was probably not enough air flowing through the intercooler to the radiator which is causing the engine to run hotter.

But my question is if that's the case, why would anyone put that huge intercooler there and cause the engine to run hotter.
Was wondering if anyone else with an ADD/SVC intercooler installed and experienced the same engine temp high message during a run?
What other things would cause that? Again, there were no leaks or smoke for my truck.

To finish the scenario, as soon as we jumped on the paved highway and traveled highway speeds (70mph), there were no engine temp high message that came up.

 

There are countless threads with people having overheating issues with and ecoboost engine. The bad news is i haven't seen one where they had a definitive solution. They replaced thermostats, radiators, put lower temperature thermostats, and larger custom built radiators. some even removed the thermostat and that had mixed results. For some those options seemed to help and others it only helped marginally. I would start with making sure your fans are properly working and that your radiator is clean.

 

I'll add & it seems quite important.....
If you have replaced the thermostat with an aftermarket stat rather than OEM ; these fords tend to not like that !!
In my 2 cases (5.0 & stats were replaced while doing other work ) the fans ran very high...It also heated as outside temps went past 70 degrees !!
I have also heard Duralast stats on this forum (from advance auto ) perform the same way....so beware ???

 

Intercooler, transmission cooler, a/c condensor, THEN the radiator. A whole lot of heat being pushed into the air ahead of the radiator, that's why Ford put the intercooler beneath them.

Have you verified that high fan speed is being commanded?

 

You don't know what the actual numbers were though? Check out Forscan and you can enable the temp numbers to show above the gauges.

 

The temps above the engine temp gauge showed between 230-260 degrees. It was in that range where the red message flashed to warn me.

 

I've been dealing with this issue since September. I have a 2018 Lariat 3.5 ecoboost and my truck runs hot all the time. Been to 4 dealerships and there is no concrete answer as to what's causing it. I'm punting on this truck and Ford. Good luck, I hope you figure it out.

 

I have (I guess had) the same problem with my truck. The problem ended up being two things. The louvers for the intercooler were in a stuck in a diagnostic cycle and there was an issue with the water pump (the truck should be done tomorrow, so I hope to have more info). If you have remote start, then start the truck and watch the upper and lower louvers, they will cycle open and closed 1 to 2 times. Any more then that you have an issue.

 

SoCal, The intercooler you have is a large repositioned intercooler. It is great for freeway driving and the dyno where there is a a steady flow of air coming to it. It is blocking the radiator which is no good for off roading below freeway speeds.

I would suggest a stock location intercooler like Cobb, CVF, CPE or AEM. If you go this route, those lights will be blocking the IC. I have a ‘20 Platinum 3.5 Ecoboost that I installed a Cobb stock location IC. I relocated my license plate and removed the active grill shutters to maximize flow to the IC. I don’t know if your Raptor has active grille shutters.

I know Raptors have electric fans attached to the stock intercooler. Did you reinstall them to your ADD intercooler?

Good luck.

 

Ford never intended the intercooler to be placed in front of the condenser, it's supposed to be below the condenser and radiator and in Raptors they have their own cooling fan (low speed rock crawling). Your aftermarket intercooler is blocking airflow to the radiator