tommyboy180

I haven't had much luck searching but I'm seeing if it's worth it to install a pancake adapter for engine oil cooling. Towing in the summer last year, I would misfire during stops. Through my research, I think my engine oil may have been too hot. I have the tow package so I have the cooler for the the trans lines.

I'm going to try to get the torque app to show EOT but who knows if that will work. Until then I was going to research this topic.

redfishtd

I do have the tow package . But is your coolant system first class ? You should flush it then flush it with distilled water . Then mix your own 50/50 mix with wally world distilled water . Get a trans drain pan and change fluid 5 quarts at a time to get all old out over a week or so run thru 20 quarts of mercon V . Carefully clean your radiator fins and trans cooler . If you don't have trans cooler add one . That is where a lot of heat needs to leave . You can monitor trans cooler with a ac type temp probe . I leave one there all the time .
Most likely your need boots/plugs done correctly .Torque plugs in 25 to 28 foot pounds . Do a hosp clean plug job .This truck very fussy about plug circuit .Theres a lot more to it but this is a start.

tommyboy180

Hey redfish.

I'll touch on each thing you asked about. The coolant was just done this past summer. I did a reverse flush (or flush not sure) where you use a garden hose to flush the contents and then fill up with concentrate + distilled water. I just did the trans and I monitor my temps. I didn't put in a pan with a drain bolt so that's on my list to do, so I'll be doing it again. But I have new fluid and a new trans fluid filter in there.
Radiator and trans coolers were cleaned and sprayed down pretty much anytime a hose got near the hood

But that still doesn't answer my question about the Engine Oil Temps. Since towing last summer, it was already hot out. When driving my temps were fine but I would still get misfires when I stopped at lights or stop signs. I don't get those misfires during non-towing driving so I'm really guessing here but I'm thinking the Engine Oil Temps got too hot. I've read in other places about that.

So I guess my question is, do I install an oil cooler? Who has done it? Is it worth it?

dukedkt442

Before throwing any money at it, I'd get actual trans and engine temps using a scanner (Torque Pro? I have no experience with it). Most cooling in your engine comes from the coolant, not the oil, but too hot oil would get thin, so you'd be able to hear noises and see a drop in oil pressure. With mileage, tolerances, etc. the best thing to do is to compare oil pressure at idle with and without towing and see if there's a change. Same with engine/transmission temps.

I'd do all that before going down the rabbit hole of ignition-related misfires. On a whim, I'd take a look at and change your fuel pump driver module, as these have been known to wreak all sorts of seemingly unrelated havoc on these trucks.

tommyboy180

I definitely monitor my temps. I use Torque pro but I can only monitor trans and coolant. I don't have a temp reading for oil temps. During towing my coolant and trans do fine. It's just when I've been running the trailer up hills and for a long period of time do I get the 5.4 shake at stops. It's quite annoying as I just put this motor in. The truck has over 150K miles on it but the motor only has 60K miles. I don't have a way to monitor oil pressure. I really wish the dash wasn't a pseudo gauge.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

I wouldn't worry about oil temp as much as tranny temp.. Tranny will be the first to go south. I believe oil temp would have to be tied into Cylinder head temp CHT. When I was towing I watched the tranny temp and coolant temp.. Tranny got hotter than coolant did.

tommyboy180

I've been monitoring my CHT as well. Currently it's below 10 here in Alaska and my CHT was 230 this morning. I'm guessing that's hot. How do I lower my CHT? Especially since it's winter, so I'm hoping it's not worse in the summer.

techrep

iTrader: (1)

that sounds normal @ operating temp.

redfishtd

Your engine is at the new ford point of changing plugs/boots . 60 k is it ,100k was never a good thing . Lugging the engine like climbing a hill creates/shows up misfires . This engine is Impossible to deal with without a good tune up .
If this engine overheats to the point of causing misfires you will have massive other problems . Oil coolers are a rare topic for good reason . Now a trans cooler is highly necessary. Anything near 200 is worrisome . That tranny is> $2500 pays to keep it cool , have you got a tranny cooler . I just bought a tranny cooler for a firends 350 chevy truck because he was overloading it and was too stubborn to buy one but he paid to have it put on . He was only pulling a 30 foot travel trailer --DUH!

Misfires will wreck your engine and cats . Do a proper job ,clean plug cyl tip area with carb cleaner and get carbon out of there. Do a hosp clean plug job ,don't fail to replace boots no matter what they look like . Clean all cop terminals . Look at torque pro test results after changing plugs in test results for misfires per cly .
You can add a pillar oil pressure gauge and a tranny temp gauge . Those are the ones I would high light .

tcp2

The shaking at idle is a classic symptom of phaser pins not locking due to low oil pressure. When oil temperature is higher, like after towing, along with some leakage in bearings and tensioners, the cams are not aligned properly and valve timing is off, causing the shake. I had my 09 5.4 do exactly that after a long highway run with thin oil in it. I started running 0w40 euro spec oil in that truck and it was smooth as silk from then on. you're on the right track about the oil thinning out due to temperature, but there are easier ways to deal with it. The 5.4 3V from ford was originally spec'd for 5w30 and 10w40 oils when it first appeared (in the Falcon for the Aussie market in 2001...long before it hit north america and the EPA). It will run great with slightly thicker oil. Try it and you will see. Plenty of 5.4s run fleet 10w40 and 15w40 weight oils without issue.