[dbrcng931]

ok sorry in advance for how long this might be.
First off my truck: 05 F250 6.0L 80000 miles. Banks 6 gun tuner, exhaust, intercooler, intake, airbags.
I just bought a new fifth wheel(07 raptor) 33' 10,010 claimed dry weight. I was pulling it across interstate 40 through arizona into californa. The temperature in cali was about 105* going through the desert.
Now to the story. Any of you who have driven that way know of the hills and win. Up two long hills I lost speed from 72 down to about 35 and into third gear. I was only at about half throttle cause every time I gave it any more the engine temp would run to high (230*) if
I kept my foot half throttle, with the rpms at about 2500, the fan would keep it down (220). I was passed by every semi, a car pulling a van on a uhaul trailer, and a (97) chevy suburban pulling what looked to be about a 28-30 ft travel trailer. I had some coolant puking going on. I put about 3/4 of a gallon back in, even had the a/c shut off and the windows down. is something wrong or is that just the best my truck will do? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif any comments would help. Thanks- Dan

 

[ryandye]

Something seems wrong to me.

 

[ROBERTSTAVES]

Yeap....that doesnt sound right,I pulled my 06 3612 Raptor (16,000lbs loaded) last summer up two long grades, in 113 degree weather, on the floor,at 54mph and 210degrees was my max.There is so many factors though that could be your problem.

 

[28magicat]

Mine was doing the same thing... Sorry to say but you probably have blown head gaskets. Mine would run fine around town or unloaded but as soon as you started leaning on it hard it would puke coolant. About 2-3 minutes into a big climb it would lose power, EGTs would go way down and so would boost. My opinion is that the gaskets and/or bolts had been compromised but would seal until things heated up to a certain point. Once that point was reached, something would move such that the gaskets would no longer seal and I'd be stuck crawling up the hill. Would reach the top, back off, and a couple miles later everything would be back to normal boost and power (until the next big climb). I called a number of dealers in town until I found one that would install some ARP head studs (that I furnished) during the warranty repair for an additional $200 in labor. By that time the motor had ingested enough coolant so that the turbo had gotten gummed up, so they cleaned that out as well. Last trip with the repairs went very well, truck pulled great and didn't lose power even on a very long climb.

Good luck!

-Brian

 

[dbrcng931]

My truck never lost boost, with my foot half throttle is stayed about 20ish. my egts were right aroung 1100 give or take a few hundred here or there( located in the drivers manifold) my engine fan would kick on right at 218* every time, according to my banks PDA.

 

[28magicat]

Yeah, that does sound a little different than what mine was doing. My egt's would go down to about 900ish and boost would drop to 15psi give or take, coolant temp ok according to the stock gauge. When I would stop and check under the hood, nothing seemed overly hot to the casual inspection. Does the stock system defuel at some set coolant temp? 218 doesn't seem all that high for a pressurized system. Maybe one of the Ford techs will chime in...

 

[dbrcng931]

I had my banks down to stock setting, i knew in that heat that stock was the way to go. My stock gauge eevn moved from it's normal position to right about to the edge of normal range twice, thats when my banks temp gauge said 230* and even 234* once.?? seems hot to me...

 

[28magicat]

Yep mine was having its issue even with a stock tune. With all your coolant loss it still points to either EGR cooler or head gaskets, but my money would be on the gaskets because once the cooler fails it's done (at least when mine failed earlier, it was completely blown, dumping raw coolant into the intake and producing huge clouds of white smoke/steam). The gasket issue can be intermittent depending on how hard you're working the motor at the time.

 

[AutoJim]

230F or even 234F coolant temp isn't going to kill it.

But the fan should be fully-engaged by then and pulling it down.

Can the Banks PDA control fan engagement?

That's one of the things that worries me about the aftermarket codes and chips combined with the Visctronic fan -- there's temptation to muck with the fan cal to "make more power", and that can lead to problems when towing. But I don't know if Banks did so.

Check your heat exchanger stack for bugs, dirt, grass, small desert critters, too, while you're at it. That's become an annual maintenance item for me.

 

[dbrcng931]

The banks system was turned down to stock from the way before I hit the hills. The fan sounded fully engaged when it hit 220 i usually stayed there but twice it spiked up. should i just run it there or back out like i did?

 

[AutoJim]

Okay, sounds like the fan is doing what it's supposed to be doing.

Still check the exchangers for crud buildup. Just don't hit them with a power washer as it'll flatten the fins, making it worse. I use a shop vac to get the loose stuff, then Simple Green and a garden hose (hose from rear to front) to get the rest.

Hmm... you're reading the temp off the Banks, so the sender is the OEM one in the right spot... Ah-HA! Got it! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif

The EGR is working and that's putting heat into the coolant above and beyond what the engine is kicking out. That's mostly a function of the part-throttle operation. Next run, try staying in it for a bit and see if it stabilizes. If it keeps climbing, back out before coolant temps hit 240F, but I suspect it'll stabilize once the fan gets things caught up.

But I'd still clean the exchanger stack.

 

[dbrcng931]

where exactly or what exactly are you talking about when you say heat exchangers?

 

[Casey_1]

He means the A/C condensor, the trans cooler, the intercooler, and the radiator.

 

[ZBODaytona]

did it blow coolant? if it did your head gaskets are probably gone...mine is in the shop for that right now. According to my shop it is a problem with the 05's.(they had 3 stock trucks there with the problem and also said they have done a bunch)..mine would run fine driving in town but if i romped down on it or had a load thats when the coolant would come out.

 

[dbrcng931]

Yeah it blew coolant. I added about 3/4 of a gallon of coolant. any chance of a thermostat? not opening fully or gunked up.??

 

[AutoJim]

[ QUOTE ]
where exactly or what exactly are you talking about when you say heat exchangers?

[/ QUOTE ]

Those big finny things right behind the grille that exchange heat from the vehicle to the atmosphere.

As far as the thermostat goes, I don't think that's the problem or you'd be seeing it at high speeds as well. It still sounds like an airflow restriction situation combined with EGR operation to me.

 

[ZBODaytona]

[ QUOTE ]
Yeah it blew coolant. I added about 3/4 of a gallon of coolant. any chance of a thermostat? not opening fully or gunked up.??

[/ QUOTE ]

well mine blew more than that under the load i had with it...probably max for the truck. Took it easy on the limp home, after a refill. then checked it again later that day with a small easy drive, no coolant loss but the top raditor hose got rock hard... there was no white smoke and I saw on here if no white smoke probably the head gaskets not the egr and since there was good pressure build up in the hose i knew that it was most likely the head gaskets. My truck would run fine if driving it easy and no coolant loss, though the top hose still got hard. So I took it too the dealer and they had the same thoughts....mine is still there and i haven't heard exactly what it is....but the head of the service department and the head diesel tech thought it was the head gaskets....guess they are still working on it, but i know it is a big job and they had three stock ones there with the same problem... they both said when under a big load the 05 seems to blow the gaskets, though he did say they have fixed over 20 (maybe even more) non have come back yet...

 

[AutoJim]

Ummm... when the system pressurizes as the coolant expands, the top hose will get hard. It's supposed to do that.

 

[ZBODaytona]

some but not enough to blow coolant...i know what 16lbs is supposed to feel like...and last i checked that is a maximum....

 

[AutoJim]

Okay, let's back up a second.

16 lbs is the relief rating on the pressure cap, give or take a 2-3 lbs. At this pressure, it vents to the atmosphere. Or at least it's supposed to. Some coolant may escape at that time depending on its proximity to the cap when it vents.

If you're concerned that there's too much pressure in the system, check the cap operation as its relief valve could be stuck closed. In the grand scheme of things, though, more pressure is good up to the point where you pop something, probably a hose/clamp joint. Each psi of pressure raises the boiling point of coolant 3 degrees F. So a truck with a higher system pressure would be more resistant to overheating/boilover than one with a lower system pressure.

This does NOT mean we should all find 25psi pressure caps for our trucks, of course. That would be silly. The system is designed to operate within the envelope provided by 16 psi above atmospheric pressure (272F boiling point for 50/50 EG/W coolant).