Hello all, I know overheating is a hot topic but my search of this site and also didn’t lead my down any path of solving my issues. Here are my specs

2013 ecoboost max tow 4x4 crew cab king ranch with 3.73 gears truck has 160,000 and bought pretty much new so they are all my Miles.

live in northern colorado so lots of altitude towing

mods That could effect performance
tires- 285/75/17 all terrians
5 star tune 87 eco 87 tow 91 tow/performance
170 degree thermostat
westin winch/grill guard

other mods but nothing that would add or subtract performance.

I use the truck to tow my camper, car trailer and other things. Truck has always been a beast and never had power issues.

I had a shop damage my radiator when doing a flush so right around the time I had a new radiator put in was when I also added the grill guard winch combo and also the wider/taller tires.

with all that info here is my problem. Can’t keep the truck cool towing. My camper is 23 feet, 8 feet wide and 11 feet tall. It’s a big box but even on flat towing if the ambient temp is above 80 degrees I can’t maintain 60mph without it overheating.

can barely pull mountains due to this issue. Like I said has power for days but just can’t stay cool.

i have been trying to figure it out, I put the thermostat in to maybe slow the heating process down on the hills to buy some time, but my biggest thing I notice is that I run 210-220 even when the truck is empty and not under load.

was about to yank the grill guard off to see if maybe I had an airflow issue but tonight I drove 60 miles at 75 mph with the outside air temp being 24 degrees. My intake air temp was 26 degrees, trans temp 198 but engine temp was 223 not under load.

with how cold it was, there is no way it’s not getting enough cold air flow with the grill guard/winch.

looking at changing the temp sensor but wanted to see if anyone had any other leads or ideas where to look. Was gonna put an aftermarket heavy duty radiator in it, but after tonight with how cold it was outside I’m thinking that’s not my problem

 

Do you have the rubber air defectors that fit between the fenders and the radiator? They funnel air into the radiator. Only thing I can think of.

 

Take out that 170 degree thermostat and put the original thermostat or a MC brand one back in!!! A colder thermostat wouldn't make your truck run any cooler but it will create driveability problems and probably make it fail emissions testing. Aftermarket thermostats are also notorious for failing shut so it's very likely that that one is causing your overheating problem.

 

check for all the air damn equipment to be in place as mentioned.

See if you can confirm they used the correct replacement radiator

how long ago was the radiator done? Part of the reason to switch from orange coolant was it clogging things up

any leaking from the water pump weep hole that maybe its going?

 

those are still in place. The only deflector missing is the low low chin deflector, it had to come off with the grill guard install

 

i put the 170 in to try and get the coolant to return a little sooner. Pulling my camper up some of the mountains, I’m usually getting into the red midway or 3/4 up so it was an attempt to maybe gain a half a min on time to maybe just make it to the top before getting hot. Didn’t really work.

I paid good money for the thermostat, but it’s possible that from the box it’s junk. Or they sent me the wrong one.

 

i have a part number for the radiator but can’t match it with anything. Radiator was put in about 10-15K ago.

not noticing anything coming out of the water pump. I can look again.

for the sizing on the radiator I was thinking it was possibly too small, but when it was 24 out yesterday and not towing I would have thought any radiator could have kept that truck running in the 170-190’s

The coolant that is in it is orange, what’s the story behind the coolant switch? Gonna look it up while I wait for reply’s

 

Unless you've flashed the temperature setting(s) for the cooling fans it's a moot point. *They kick-on at ~215°F.

May want to consider FoMoCo desert transmission cooler....

 

Do you have access to an infrared thermometer to shoot at the radiator to see what it is and if it is cooling before exiting back to the engine? What is the temperature drop between intake and outlet?

 

yeah I need to get it reflashed, I know that would also buy me more time since it would be opening sooner plus kicking the fans on, just did the thermostat at the end of the summer so it got put on the back burner a little.

what I noticed is that when my temp reaches 170, and I would expect it to drop a little as it started letting coolant by pass, I never have that drop, it continues to climb as if it never had a 170 in it. Now I know it won’t hold at 170 if ambient temp and load of the truck won’t allow it to, but I would have expected that first opening to give it a little bit of a temporary drop (or slow down) of temp increase due to cool coolant from the radiator now being allowed in that hasn’t previously been in the motor to get heated from the first rise in engine temp.

I do have the external trans cooler, not having any transmission temp problems, so curious as to the suggestion to change it?