Normal engine and transmission temps?

[Ducati1098]

FWIW driving around today, 84*f outside. Oil got up to 230 and trans 221. So just curious I pulled over and sure enough the radiator shutters or what ever they are called are closed. Checked a couple more times through out the day and they are always closed. This doesnt seem like a good thing to me. What exactly does normal operation look like with these?

Those temperatures are completely normal. The transmission is just barely high, but certainly nothing to worry about. The transmission normal operating range is 206-215. Maybe have your local dealership just double check the transmission fluid level. That’s a common way for transmission temperature to be a little higher than normal.

As far as the active grille shutters, There is an upper and lower grille shutter. The upper is primarily used to reduce aerodynamic drag while the vehicle is moving and also used to provide faster heat delivery to the inside of the cabin. The lower section of the grille is used to manage charge air temperature. You are most likely looking at the lower grille, which when pulled over on the side of the road has no reason to be open.

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[AlohaRover]

Thanks, definitely the upper section. Not the lower section where the intercooler is.

 

[AZMikeL]

A quick update on temps and engine programming:

Did a trip to southern UT last week, with plenty of up-hill climbs on the highway. Was not towing, but Bronco was cubed out with the family and all supplies. I generally use cruise control on the highway, and did so up all the hills. I observed the following:

• The programming highly favors turbo-boost over revs up steep grades. This makes sense for a diesel, but just seems to generate excess heat in the gas motor.
• Pulled fine up steep climbs - I lucked out and was able to do 65-70 up I-17 from Black Canyon City to Sunset Point*. Temp up at the top of the hill was around 235 with boatloads of turbo boost the whole way up.
• On subsequent climbs, I left the cruise on, but manually kept it in a gear that resulted in < 5lb of boost. Temp rarely got above 220.
• On the way home, I pulled 4,100 RPM up the hill out of Verde Valley and just touched 220 at the top. That stretch is 6+% uphill for 10-12 miles and gets steeper as you go. We used to call this meltdown hill back in the 70's and 80's when all cars had lousy cooling systems, and you would see an overheat pulled off every 1/4 mile or so.
• This thing cools down amazingly fast. Seems to only take about 1-2 minutes to drop down to the normal 200-205 on the highway. By contrast, my Superduty would take a full on 15 minutes to cool down from a hard climb (in it's defense, there was 16k lbs back there)

So, even though there is no mechanical fan, you're better off pulling down a few gears to keep the boost lower and revs higher in order to keep those temps down.

* This was a true miracle as the stretch of I-17 between Black Canyon City and Sunset point HAS to be the worst stretch of highway on the planet to drive. Speed + hills +curves + idiots = Unpleasant driving experience! Coming back down that hill at 10:00pm on Sat night was only able to go around 45mph. Lot's of the last item on that list on the road!

 

[xpathf1nderx]

195F rock solid on 32F and 100F outdoor temps...just road driving.

Battery voltage fluctates though..13>2 to 14.7 vdc

 

[Jsullivan]

Hello, just picked up my 2.7l and it seems like it really likes to run hot. 200 miles on the odometer, 75*f outside, at 6000' elevation, driving around town 35-45 surface roads and the engine oil is at 215 and the trans is at 210.
Is that normal?
This isnt sitting in traffic, but driving down the street.

My 03 Yukon typically runs around 185 trans temp. When towing the trans has gotten up to 220 pulling 5000lbs up I70.

Thanks

I think your question has been answered pretty in debt.
Mine usually runs 195 Oil, 185 Trans.
I always thought 212 was required to keep moisture out of the system, I guess not.
One quirk I have found, and it is consistent.
When I turn off the air/heat both temps jump 10 deg.
When I fist noticed it I watched it closely and sure enoiugh when I shut the temp control off the oil and trans temps rise.
I thought of a lot of reasons but none make sense.
1. The sensors could be affected by the A/C Compressor.
2. There could be a by pass to the heater heat exchanger where with the A/C or heat on it is taking heat away from the engine.
3. The front vents might close thus not cooling.

No big deal just can't figure out why!

Edit, this AM driving to work (35 miles one way) I checked it out again.
With the Defrost on the Temps were 196 eng, 183 Trans.
I shut the temp control and fan off for maybe 5 miles and again the Eng jumped to 205 and the trans to 194?
Turned the defrost on and the temps of engine and tranny dropped after 5 miles or so.
It was 58* outside temperature.

Try it for yourself it's puzzled the @@ out of me.

 

[chtucker]

Drove over highway 2/stevens pass in Washington@ 92 degrees 2.7 FE, saw 230 oil and 299 transmission... that's the hottest is has gotten

 

[Ducati1098]

Drove over highway 2/stevens pass in Washington@ 92 degrees 2.7 FE, saw 230 oil and 299 transmission... that's the hottest is has gotten

I think you mean 199 for the transmission. If it was 299 that thing would be cooked lol

 

[chtucker]

I think you mean 199 for the transmission. If it was 299 that thing would be cooked lol

Yep dam fat fingers

 

[MikeM]

Ours just crossed 3000 miles and in Texas, where the road temps are really high, the tranny temps and oil temps stay below 200 for the most part. Wheeling in the hot weather we get up over 200 degF. I would give your vehicle to the first oil change (did mine at 3k) to see how it will run longer term. Our average running temps dropped and the gas mileage has improved a good bit as well. It is vital these engines get regular high quality oil changes with the right viscosity.

 

[BroncoKing610]

Does anyone know what the idle temperature should be?

I was idling earlier for 15-20mins before driving and the temperature slowly creeped up 210-212, which I felt was high for idling. Air temp was 74 and it was night/not in the sun.

 

[Alanp970]

My 2.3 Base Squatch auto runs much hotter than the 2.7 Outerbanks Squatch I rented in Moab over 4th of July week. The 2.7 had a tow package so maybe that was a big difference but even in 100+ heat it typically stayed 185-195 degrees while wheeling and maxed out at 203 for a very short time. My 2.3 (no tow package) runs a minimum of 200 degrees all the time and very mild wheeling will push it to 210-215 quickly (although I don't think I've ever seen any higher). Anybody know if the tow package gives added cooling and if it can be easily installed on a non tow package Bronco?

 

[telenerd]

Normal. Even when I am in 4 low for several hours on the trail I see similar temps as posters. Nothing to worry about. I even have full belly pan skids and my engine and tranny temps didn’t even rise hardly at all from stock.

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