High Temps Warning, Boosted

[B22-2023]

After a warning or two on the cluster while on a long highway haul with full load and headwinds, I decided to look into a cooler thermostat.

https://www.lethalperformance.com/reische-performance-ford-50-170-performance-thermostat-gen-2.html

While the CS Fab radiator has reduced high running temps, I’m still seeing peaks unnecessarily at 20 lbs boost and tuned at 91-93 octane; I didn’t have my HUD up to see the coolant temp at that time. . But generally seeing up to 221 ECT and 243 oil temp at the high end during serious trail grinds.

After I install I’ll share results.

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[projectbadlands]

You are seeing high coolant temps when spooling? Or high oil temp?

 

[GreyZ]

A lower temp thermostat will not help. It is 100% open at 200F anyway. So moving to a low temp tstat will not decrease the max running temp at all.

 

[GreyZ]

Did you block off the huge holes in the rad shroud after you removed the oem intercooler? If you did not that will drastically affect cooling.

 

[Incinr8]

Any ideas on the best way to do this?

 

[CatMonkey]

I disagree it won't help. I've been running a 170° thermostat for almost a year and my typical coolant temps stay in the 185° range. It might get up to 195° on a high speed run, but cools back down after a minute or so. I have no idea if fan temps are altered in the ProCal tune, but the short while I ran it without a tune didn't seem to change anything. Even on the coolest of days, it'll hover around 180°. In summer I always have the a/c on and the coolant fan runs when the compressor is cycling. As long as the truck is moving, the fans don't offer much additional airflow, where fan cycles don't much matter.

That big air dam in front of your intercooler in your avatar can't be helping your intake air temps which will promote heat as well. You might want to look into a high mount heat exchanger.

I'd recommend a coolant refill tool to refill your system after changing the thermostat. There's an EGR cooler that adds a bit of time to what should have been a simple thermostat replacement on my 2023.

 

[Hemisfear]

Show us a pic of the front of your Bronco...I've been packed to the gills with a RTT on top, driving uphill in Death Valley in 120deg temps with AC with no issues!

 

[BlueWaffle]

Man, when is the cooler thermostat BS gonna give up? Lol. Shits a bandaid at best, and a good way to lose both power & efficiency at worst..

 

[CatMonkey]

Ford sets their coolant parameters for these engines to run well north of 200° coolant temps. Cylinder head temps usually climb from there. Running hot Is all about gas mileage on a conservative tune. When is that a good idea for a tuned, boosted application to prevent detonation? Sorry, I don't see a downside in the hot, humid south. I'll take a 185° operating temperature over 210° any day.

 

[B22-2023]

Man, when is the cooler thermostat BS gonna give up? Lol. Shits a bandaid at best, and a good way to lose both power & efficiency at worst..

I can’t think of a high output Ford motor I’ve had where it wasn‘t at least part of a solution worth investigating. Eco boost may be a different animal for sure, but easy enough to test, and cheap.

Show us a pic of the front of your Bronco...I've been packed to the gills with a RTT on top, driving uphill in Death Valley in 120deg temps with AC with no issues!

Not great flow to the upgraded IC maybe, but plenty to the radiator.

 

[indio22]

After a warning or two on the cluster while on a long highway haul with full load and headwinds, I decided to look into a cooler thermostat.

https://www.lethalperformance.com/reische-performance-ford-50-170-performance-thermostat-gen-2.html

While the CS Fab radiator has reduced high running temps, I’m still seeing peaks unnecessarily at 20 lbs boost and tuned at 91-93 octane; I didn’t have my HUD up to see the coolant temp at that time. . But generally seeing up to 221 ECT and 243 oil temp at the high end during serious trail grinds.

After I install I’ll share results.

20 lbs boost? Is that occurring in regular driving, or are you slamming the throttle racing other vehicles? I often have the dash display showing boost, and don't think my Bronco 2.3L has ever gone past 10 lbs boost, and in typical driving maybe hits 5 lbs occasionally if that.

 

[Hemisfear]

I can’t think of a high output Ford motor I’ve had where it wasn‘t at least part of a solution worth investigating. Eco boost may be a different animal for sure, but easy enough to test, and cheap.


Not great flow to the upgraded IC maybe, but plenty to the radiator.

There’s your problem right there, your bumper is blocking your airway to the intercooler and rad!

 

[RHeinz]

Your radiator is cooling your engine. The thermostat is installed to limit low engine temperatures. It has nothing to do with rejecting engine heat at high engine outputs.

 

[Brian_B]

Not saying OP is wrong or anything - he's clearing distinguishing between coolant and oil temps - but for some here there may be some confusion

I don't have a monitor hooked up so I can't see what Coolant temp is precisely, but I've never seen the coolant temp indicator budget from 4 bars (just short of middle of the gauge). I don't know of any built-in display on the IPC that shows what actual coolant temp is.

You can see oil temp in the Off Road section. That isn't the same thing as coolant temp though. My "normal" oil temp is anywhere from 195-225F, depending on how hard I'm pushing, what the HVAC system is doing, etc.

I could very well believe that a long haul at a steady 20psi boost could overwhelm the cooling system. May be time to consider manually downshifting or re-gearing lower to get to a lower boost value, holding at very near max boost for a sustained time is just gonna be hard on a lot of things there.

With that said, yeah, I could see a cooler T-stat holding the oil cooler down a bit longer, but I think if you are maxing out that 20psi boost thing indefinitely, you are gonna overwhelm that too - you need a bigger/more efficient oil cooler to go with it. All the T-stat is going to buy you is a bit more time before you get back up to just about the same temps you've been hitting - just a function of that oil cooler.

 

[RaefordRider]

20 lbs boost? Is that occurring in regular driving, or are you slamming the throttle racing other vehicles? I often have the dash display showing boost, and don't think my Bronco 2.3L has ever gone past 10 lbs boost, and in typical driving maybe hits 5 lbs occasionally if that.

I hit 18 the other day when I tromped on it. If I was doing regular loads with 20lbs of boost I'd move to a powerstroke...

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