out where he lives, damn straight it will. An extra 5 -10 deg early opening temp on the stat on a 30 mile grade in the desert can make the difference between creeping it over the top and sitting on the side cussing . You folks in easy land have no earthly idea how tough conditions are running out in the west. Those grades eat trucks for lunch. thats the kind of crap I built my cooling system for, I dont like overheating
185 Deg Thermostat?
- Thread starter evilplan
- Start date
out where he lives, damn straight it will. An extra 5 -10 deg early opening temp on the stat on a 30 mile grade in the desert can make the difference between creeping it over the top and sitting on the side cussing . You folks in easy land have no earthly idea how tough conditions are running out in the west. Those grades eat trucks for lunch. thats the kind of crap I built my cooling system for, I dont like overheating
SparkandFire
We're drinking beer
RLDSL is 100% correct on this. I know from experience. I've lived out here all my life, been up and over pretty much every grade out here pulling the fifth wheel. I really wish I could go back in time and invest some more coin in my cooling system. I genuinely feel that the stock cooling system in these trucks is marginal at best...
I had a good, Ford factory brass radiator, motorcraft thermostat, new fan clutch, fleet charge coolant (50/50 mix) and I still managed to get the temp hot enough to drop my oil pressure @ 3,000 rpm down to 20 psi.
And now the truck I sunk thousands into to make reliable, comfortable and nice, and to one day pass down to my son, is being scrapped piece by piece...
Not trying to bring anyone down, just speaking from personal experience. If I had gone with the experiences of others on this forum, I would have invested in a better radiator, and intercooler, etc... and I might still have the blue truck driveable.
I had a good, Ford factory brass radiator, motorcraft thermostat, new fan clutch, fleet charge coolant (50/50 mix) and I still managed to get the temp hot enough to drop my oil pressure @ 3,000 rpm down to 20 psi.
And now the truck I sunk thousands into to make reliable, comfortable and nice, and to one day pass down to my son, is being scrapped piece by piece...
Not trying to bring anyone down, just speaking from personal experience. If I had gone with the experiences of others on this forum, I would have invested in a better radiator, and intercooler, etc... and I might still have the blue truck driveable.
Hydro-idi
Full Access Member
No offense to anybody, but I have a different opinion when it comes to RLDSL's response. This also means I could be wrong so correct me if I am. But in my opinion, a thermostat that opens slightly earlier, such as a 185 degree thermostat, still will not make much of a difference in regards to long hill climbing with a large load. When our idi's are climbing hills and hauling a very large load that is rated for our trucks, the engine temperature will increase drastically in the first 1000 feet of the hill. It is naturally supposed to do this. The thermostat will be wide open in attempts to keep engine temp controlled and the engine fan will lock up. When diesel engines are working that hard, a 10-15 degree lower thermostat will still not be noticed. It is not like the engine will be at 220 degrees instead of 240 degrees running a 185 temp thermostat up a 7% grade. The thermostat will open, temp will rise, and the fan will help regulate the cooling system from overheating....nothing more can be done. It will naturally run hotter. The time it takes to gain an additional 15 degrees in the cooling system will occur in a matter of minutes going up a steep hill. With a load that is rated for our trucks, severe overheating should not occur if driven properly meaning........avoiding constant full throttle and downshifting when engine lugging happens. This will help circulate hot coolant because pump is turning faster as well as less EGT's! High rpm's can work wonders sometimes!
Here's my theory: If an engine has a well maintained cooling system, and the truck keeps on overheating when towing.....the truck is talking to you. It is telling the driver that HEY, this load is too big for my capabilities, or I am need of engine maintenance. Lots of idi truck owners complain about their trucks overheating and beef up their cooling systems to try and combat the issue. Yes, these idi diesels can tow lots of weight, but are often overloaded and severely overheat as a result.
Now this is my opinion. I am not wanting to prove anybody wrong. Heck I could be wrong
. If I am, feel free to tell me otherwise. I am all ears when it comes to other people's words of wisdom!
Here's my theory: If an engine has a well maintained cooling system, and the truck keeps on overheating when towing.....the truck is talking to you. It is telling the driver that HEY, this load is too big for my capabilities, or I am need of engine maintenance. Lots of idi truck owners complain about their trucks overheating and beef up their cooling systems to try and combat the issue. Yes, these idi diesels can tow lots of weight, but are often overloaded and severely overheat as a result.
Now this is my opinion. I am not wanting to prove anybody wrong. Heck I could be wrong
. If I am, feel free to tell me otherwise. I am all ears when it comes to other people's words of wisdom!
SparkandFire
We're drinking beer
My fifth wheel weighs around 8k. I bought the smaller of the two trailers I was looking at, the other was 10k and was nicer, but I was trying to be reasonable about what my truck can haul (even though my wife really, REALLY wanted the bigger trailer.)
My cooling system was 100% Ford factory stock. Right down to the brand new motorcraft thermostat. The fuel system was all new, engine was timed to 8.5 degrees on the button. Brand new air filter, fresh oil change, bypass oil filter, full synthetic fluids in the trans and rear end.
So I guess I am not sure where I missed the mark. Was the trailer over the truck's capabilities, I don't believe my maintenance was insufficient.
As I have said before, I believe Ford did not set the cooling system up on these trucks as they should have. The fact that the factory fan clutch doesn't engage until about 5 degrees before the "ENGINE TEMP" light comes on should be proof of this. My triton powered van has a motorcraft fan clutch that engages at practically every stop light in the summer.
Not to sound like a *******, but, should I have got a cummins powered truck to haul my trailer???
2stroke
Full Access Member
Just my 2 cents but I would leave the IH alone and think this You can have a gimungus radiator and a fan bid enough to take off at the local airport. You still want to run at the proper temp with the proper T stat. If you go over temp even under the most server condition you need a bigger or better something in your cooling system.
CDX825
filtration nut
I agree that lowering your EGTs would be more useful than a stat that opens 5 degrees sooner. At 212 its going to be wide open regardless of what temperature it starts to open and after that it won't matter. Bigger radiators, biggers fans or more fans won't save ya because the heat input is to great for the coolant flow. Even if a high flow water pump existed it would only be useful to a point because the block will only allow so much coolant flow.
Lowering the heat input will give better results. You have to remember were not only cooling the water jacket but also the oil as well so the system is going to be working hard when running high EGTs.
Lowering the heat input will give better results. You have to remember were not only cooling the water jacket but also the oil as well so the system is going to be working hard when running high EGTs.
justinray
Contributor
The only thing that will help flow more coolant once your temps are that high is a smaller pulley on the water pump. Maybe its due time for someone to play with that idea.
FORDF250HDXLT
The life of an Indian is like the wings of the air
some of you guys having trouble,i wonder if it's oil temps that are causing more trouble than anything.
an aux air oil cooler and t-stat could just be what the doctor ordered to help maintain lower coolant temps.
an aux air oil cooler and t-stat could just be what the doctor ordered to help maintain lower coolant temps.
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
Climbing a grade the oil temp goes up quicker than the coolant temp. At 3000 rpm the water pump is circulateing 70 gallons per minute and the oil pump is circulateing 18.2 gallons per minute. Maybe some of you don't recall the theroy I have about useing 6.9 head gaskets on the 7.3. Why... Because they have a coolant passage in the lower corners that the 7.3 does not. Yes, there are freeze plugs in the block and heads that will need to be removed. They are about 5/8 diameter. But why do the 7.3 engines restrict the coolant flow but still use the same water pump as the 6.9. The only thing I can dream up is the plugs are there for running a hotter engine for emmissions. The 6.9 head gaskets are demensionally the same as the 7.3. Just the lower corners have no passages in them. The 6.9 gaskets have just a samll opening of about 3/16 thru this area in the gaskets. But the block and heads are much larger openings... Wonder why its that way... Maybe the engineers were designing these engines to run is big dump trucks where you have a huge radiator in them... Ever see the size of those rigs with an idi in them... Food for thought....
Black dawg
Registered User
I have arrived at the same conclusion. These things spin the wp pulley pretty slow, Probably to reduce wp cavitation at 3k plus, I have been working on a way to get the pump about 25% overdriven. If I remember correctly, they are about 10% right now. On my truck I could care less if the pump starts cavitating above 3k, because I dont ever have to rev it that hard.
justinray
Contributor
My thoughts exactly, I don't see me spinning >3000 too often.
typ4
Full Access Member
The cooling systems suck on these trucks, I have a 5 row radiator, have tried several fan clutches, next step is to lock the fan next tow and see whats up. I regularly see 230 on long hills . and dont like it.My fifth wheel weighs around 8k. I bought the smaller of the two trailers I was looking at, the other was 10k and was nicer, but I was trying to be reasonable about what my truck can haul (even though my wife really, REALLY wanted the bigger trailer.)
My cooling system was 100% Ford factory stock. Right down to the brand new motorcraft thermostat. The fuel system was all new, engine was timed to 8.5 degrees on the button. Brand new air filter, fresh oil change, bypass oil filter, full synthetic fluids in the trans and rear end.
So I guess I am not sure where I missed the mark. Was the trailer over the truck's capabilities, I don't believe my maintenance was insufficient.
As I have said before, I believe Ford did not set the cooling system up on these trucks as they should have. The fact that the factory fan clutch doesn't engage until about 5 degrees before the "ENGINE TEMP" light comes on should be proof of this. My triton powered van has a motorcraft fan clutch that engages at practically every stop light in the summer.
Not to sound like a *******, but, should I have got a cummins powered truck to haul my trailer???
justinray
Contributor
Just an idea that bounced off the back of my head, but wht about putting an electric clutch on the water pump/fan, one like the AC uses? Use a temp switch like an electric fan would use for a quick burst of coolant and cooling fan? It would deem the thermostat useless because there would be no flow until a certain temp was reached then the clutch would regulate flow. With all of the knowledge and can do available here, is a hybrid fan possible?
icanfixall
Official GMM hand model
One thing we do not want to be doing is pushing lots of cooler coolant into a hot block. Cast iron will handle plenty of heating up and cooling down but it wont handle that fast. The worst place for heat in our engines is the exhaust logs. Pulling a long grade heavy they wil glow red hot. As we crest the top and back out of the fuel they cool done faster that you could stop and have a look see. They do this very well but sometimes they crack too. I'm thinking those that crack have some oil dripping on them so they cool quicker in that area. So quickly cooling out engines is not a good idea but having enough coolant and radiator is important. We are asking lots from our engines hauling heavy lots of the time.
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