2013 F150 FX4 5.0 all stock 145,000 miles. New radiator cap, water pump, and T-Stat. Truck is running hot under normal driving but in normal range. Kick down to pass someone or go up a long hill like 1 mile or more it will get into the HOT Range of 240+. If I pull over it cools down fairly quick, or if I go downhill. Does not lose any coolant, no smoke, oil and coolant not milky, no power loss. I checked temp with two scanners. Both show the same so it’s not gauge related. Both cooling fans are working. They are very noisy, guess that’s normal. What in the HE.. could it be? I can drive it all day in town or in traffic. Just can’t climb a hill or push it over 70 mph without it overheating

 

I'm guessing you went with an aftermarket t-stat?

It could be an air bubble in the cooling system, but given you're talking about trying to drive up hills at 70mph, I'm guessing that should have been worked out by now.

 

I thought maybe the T-Stat was sticking. So I changed it with a 187°. The original was a 190°. I installed new coolant the way Ford said to . Fill the reservoir up, start engine and rev to 3100 rpm until it sucks in the fluid, top it off and rev to 1100, top it off. Drive the vehicle to get it to normal operating temp. Top it off. When I parked and **** it off the temp was at 229°. The reservoir was bubbling, when it stopped the coolant was 1/4 of a gallon low. Topped off. Now it is full to the mark and zero leaks or loss. Still getting hot and reaching overheating temperatures. I am going to do a complete radiator flush and clean the outside of the radiator itself. The AC Coil compressor cleaner for a house works awesome to clean the radiator as well as inter cooler and tenant coolers. I also bought a fin tool that straightens bent fins and cleans the openings. Time consuming, but at least mine isn’t all bent up like most. I never use a pressure washer on the front of the grill. People do that to get the bugs out of the coils and actually bend the fins causing more airflow loss than the bug did.
If this doesn’t work, I am going to assume it’s a blown head gasket. Also can not be the heater core. I bypassed it to see if that was it. Didn’t make a difference. I am at a complete loss as to what it is.

 

Is there any water in the oil, usually is with blown head gasket.

Compression test is next I guess, many have said to use only oem t-stat.

 

Seriously though, what brand thermostat? a lower temp one won't help anything.

 

These trucks don't play well with Non-OEM T-stats. Rip that aftermarket one out and get a new Motorcraft one and i bet your problems are solved.

 

https://www.f150forum.com/f70/2012-f...liever-505040/

 

For the original poster:

I can now confirm to only use the Motorcraft CHT sensor too. I removed the CarQuest one and compared it to the Motorcraft, literally a physical difference and OHM difference too. I have now solved "almost" all the overheating problems. I did take pictures and will start another thread later.

 

You also answered/added to a thread from 2021??

 

Yes, so people can find it when using a keyword search and save themselves grief.