MDD
Member
Hi everyone,
Strange observation today on a road trip from SC to FL. I noticed that on small hills in SC or even bridges going up an incline that the numerical temp would indicate as I went up the incline. I doesn’t Indicate with the numbers at all normally. Typically the temp number would pop up ~230F then at the top of the hill or on the down slope, the temp would decrease with 10 sec to 225-226F and then the numbers would disappear. The max I saw was 236F. The temp gauge would not move at all or so imperceptibly as to be useless (So, must be “normal”, right?). This occurred in 10th gear and during boost. I replicated later when gently passing in boost but not dropping gears. I could not replicate when locking out gears and really hammering the throttle.
Coolant was at warm max, front shutters completely open and this all occurred between 75 and 85F. Truck had just me and maybe 100 lbs of gear. Truck is stock. Also, fan seems to work in both low and high speeds. The number does not pop up at idle with AC. I tested with a 10 min idle at a gas stop after coming off the highway. If the indicator pops up at >226F then the engine must be running ~220sF. Seems pretty warm. No CEL or other lights.
I searched this forum and didn’t see anything. On a wider search of the F150 forums I found many instances of this. Most times it seemed that it was after a cam phaser repair. I had mine repaired under warranty in Feb and have road tripped a couple times and have never seen this. Many on that forum report multiple parts changing and sometimes fixing and sometimes not. I’m not going down that road. My local dealers shops are not very competent in my experience. I have a local shop I like but this will be very hard to replicate/diagnose since it requires an extended road trip. And most ford shops apparently say this is “normal” blah blah blah.
Popular theories on that forum are thermostat not operating correctly or blockage in the cooling system. Some guys apparently live with this for months. Hoping ya’ll can provide some insight!
Strange observation today on a road trip from SC to FL. I noticed that on small hills in SC or even bridges going up an incline that the numerical temp would indicate as I went up the incline. I doesn’t Indicate with the numbers at all normally. Typically the temp number would pop up ~230F then at the top of the hill or on the down slope, the temp would decrease with 10 sec to 225-226F and then the numbers would disappear. The max I saw was 236F. The temp gauge would not move at all or so imperceptibly as to be useless (So, must be “normal”, right?). This occurred in 10th gear and during boost. I replicated later when gently passing in boost but not dropping gears. I could not replicate when locking out gears and really hammering the throttle.
Coolant was at warm max, front shutters completely open and this all occurred between 75 and 85F. Truck had just me and maybe 100 lbs of gear. Truck is stock. Also, fan seems to work in both low and high speeds. The number does not pop up at idle with AC. I tested with a 10 min idle at a gas stop after coming off the highway. If the indicator pops up at >226F then the engine must be running ~220sF. Seems pretty warm. No CEL or other lights.
I searched this forum and didn’t see anything. On a wider search of the F150 forums I found many instances of this. Most times it seemed that it was after a cam phaser repair. I had mine repaired under warranty in Feb and have road tripped a couple times and have never seen this. Many on that forum report multiple parts changing and sometimes fixing and sometimes not. I’m not going down that road. My local dealers shops are not very competent in my experience. I have a local shop I like but this will be very hard to replicate/diagnose since it requires an extended road trip. And most ford shops apparently say this is “normal” blah blah blah.
Popular theories on that forum are thermostat not operating correctly or blockage in the cooling system. Some guys apparently live with this for months. Hoping ya’ll can provide some insight!