2013 Ecoboost overheating

[dfreddrickF150]

I read a forum about Ecoboost here and someone said no one had posted about their Ecoboost overheating while towing, so here is one. As we were leaving for vacation yesterday, my 2013 F150 Ecoboost started overheating. I had pulled my 7000# trailer before with no issues but not yesterday. I was running about 65 mph when I got a warning on my dash that I needed to slow my speed to lower the temp but it was intermittent. I stopped and checked the fluid level and It ran at normal temps for a little bit, then go up quickly. I had an engine flush done 3 weeks ago in anticipation of this trip. It would go up and down but never returned to the normal temps until I slowed to 45 mph. I turned around, went home and disconnected the trailer, then took the truck back out on the road and I got it up to 80 mph with no issues. My suspicion is that the thermostat is sticking but I have never had one act like this. However, I did find a YouTube video where the guy had the exact same problem and thermostat was the fix.

Taking it back to the shop that did the flush tomorrow and will let you know what they find!

[MitchF150]

dfreddrickF150 wrote:
Did you ever have the Ecoboost Shutter…..cutting out badly?

That is a "known issue" as you say, but your original post was about "overheating" wasn't it??

Lots of Ecoboost owners drill the pee hole and also put on a "catch can" to help with all of this extra goo that ends up in these engines..

I've been following these Eco issues since the Eco came out in 2011 on a couple of F150 forums over the years..

I originally swore I would not get a V6 Ecoboost when I was looking for my next F150 after my 97 F150 with the 5.4 in it.

But, I found a Max Tow 2013 F150 on a lot and it had the Eco in it and it also had 20" OEM wheels on it....

I ended up buying that rig and 103,000 miles later and ZERO issues with it, I'm glad I did..

No pee hole, no catch can, no tunes... I have done some suspension and tire upgrades (still OEM 20" wheels), it's now a great tow vehicle for my needs..

Just like my previous post, I do have to monitor my temps using an after market device and app, so I guess that can be a deal breaker for the general public..

In the end, just gotta know your vehicle and know what it likes and does not like and go from there?

No idea on your past towing experience, so there is a big learning curve as far as I'm concerned...

Mitch

[2112]

I had the shutter once. Even after reading about it I had no idea what was going on when it happened. It freaked me out and put me in an unsafe situation.

I drilled the hole and it hasn't happened again. But I rarely go WOT.

[dfreddrickF150]

Did you ever have the Ecoboost Shutter…..cutting out badly?

[joshuajim]

My ‘13 Ecoboost HDPP did the same over heat when towing my 8000” trailer up 6% grades. Previously I had towed up long grades twice as steep without issue. Changed thermostat and issue resolved.

Change the cap also as they fail with age. I’m on my second replacement. Loss of pressure results in considerably lower boiling point.

[BenK]

DIY’ers drill a 1/32” hole at the very most low point in the inter cooler plenum so condensed water will drain. Higher PSI in there pushes it out faster

Ford had a similar hole as an OEM solution in later models

dfreddrickF150 wrote:
The cooling system checks out. The last two dry runs the motor has been missing badly at higher speeds (65). They call it the Ecoboost Shutter. In humid climates, condensation builds up in the intercooler and on high demand sucks it up into the intake. There are some shade tree fixes but Ford has not given an official fix for it. Still searching!

[dfreddrickF150]

The cooling system checks out. The last two dry runs the motor has been missing badly at higher speeds (65). They call it the Ecoboost Shutter. In humid climates, condensation builds up in the intercooler and on high demand sucks it up into the intake. There are some shade tree fixes but Ford has not given an official fix for it. Still searching!

[mkirsch]

On an 8 year old truck it is plausible to have cooling, water pump, thermostat issues regardless of engine.

I certainly hope you are not trying to blame this on the Ecoboost.

[LITEPHIL]

If the thermostat was sticking, it would more than likely over heat and not just run warm. Also running hot at speed is usually a radiator flow problem and would be more noticeable when towing.

[Grit_dog]

Lwiddis wrote:
IMO a radiator flush without a thermostat replacement is an incomplete exercise. Possibly hoses too.

On a 2013? LOL

[theoldwizard1]

Rent a cooling system pressure tester from an auto parts store. With 5he engine COLD, pump up the tester. Your system should hold pressure for at least 30 minutes. Overnight is even better.

Early 3.5L engines would leak coolant into the oil pan. Too much would ruin the engine.

[MitchF150]

If you just put it in D and T/H mode and just go to town on it, you just put too much boost into it for several minutes longer than it liked... That'll raise the coolant temps to trigger the overheat (limp mode) condition.

It's supposed to do that when it overheats so you don't end up with a nuclear meltdown.... Your truck did exactly what it was supposed to do when you were just pumping the boost to it.

These Eco's have great power. Just not great cooling when under boost for extended amounts of time (several minutes)

> 10 psi raises the temps the ECU reads so while you can usually get away with it for a couple of minutes, if you are just pumping that boost for longer than that, it's gonna trigger that limp mode.

That occurs around 250*. Then the ECU puts it in limp mode and tries to save itself.

I also tow a #7000 TT, but I monitor some additional vitals that the 'dashboard' does not and I also drive the truck by manually locking out the OD gears and not trying to be the first one to the top of the hill... 🙂

I'll bet that once you let off the pedal a bit, the temp dropped pretty quick.. That means the T-stat is working and you just reduced the boost so it was not a nuclear reactor.. That's what the turbos do when they are making all that great power..

Just not enough cooling to handle it.. Sucks for sure. I deal with it every time I tow, but now know how to monitor and use it and can still pull the grades at an easy 50-55 mph while keeping the temps no more than 225*

I know I'll raise heck for it, but it's just the fact and I would still not trade my Eco for a V8...

Good luck! Mitch

[time2roll]

jdc1 wrote:
The thermostat would not know if you had a trailer or not.

Some fail to open 100%. Towing can make a difference.

For the OP... if you can tell if the engine takes longer to warm up it could be indicating thermostat is stuck partially open. Getting harder to tell with the dampened gauges and the warm summer.

[Lwiddis]

IMO a radiator flush without a thermostat replacement is an incomplete exercise. Possibly hoses too.

[NamMedevac_70]

Do you have an auxillary transmission cooler and extra fan??? I have used in 3 different Ram 1500 and 2500 trucks the green bottle of Rislone Hyper Cool water wetter coolant with dramatic cooling results in extreme hot weather running the AC in city stop and go traffic. Better than the Red Line water wetter I used to use.

Sometimes in older vehicles the lower radiator hose will collapse or partially collapse under high heat load stress but yours probably has the spring inside the hose. My last issue of truck overheating was due to air bubble inside the radiator but a radiator flush solved that problem.

Check your radiator cap pressure and they can do a thermostat check for intermittent operation.