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F150 Ecoboost question

Taboma

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I pulled that off and left it at the dealer :). You are blocking almost all the air to the intercooler with a front plate. it intake air temps get too high, that will also cut power and could even send the truck into limp mode.

I know my 12' EB had the plate mounted on the driver's side bumper, so offset from the intercooler. My 18' Raptor has it dead center blocking the IC, and the Raptor supplemental advises to remove for desert romping. I questioned my Raptor / Bronco R&D desert testing engineer, he claimed they proved center mount was a bad location, but marketing won the battle due to aesthetics and cured the problem with the warning to remove. :rolleyes: Seems customer OCD didn't like it offset. 😖
Is 18' the year it went back to center ?
 

LargeOrangeFont

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I know my 12' EB had the plate mounted on the driver's side bumper, so offset from the intercooler. My 18' Raptor has it dead center blocking the IC, and the Raptor supplemental advises to remove for desert romping. I questioned my Raptor / Bronco R&D desert testing engineer, he claimed they proved center mount was a bad location, but marketing won the battle due to aesthetics and cured the problem with the warning to remove. :rolleyes: Seems customer OCD didn't like it offset. 😖
Is 18' the year it went back to center ?

Yea I heard the same. '15 it went back to center. The cool thing is that it just clips on. You can remove it by hand with no tools.
 

Carlson-jet

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If i was running across the desert in high temps in a boosted application I would gas up with the best fuel available to keep the knock sensors from activating causing the ignition to retard creating more heat. It's a vicious cycle. I would also opt to down shift and rev her up vs lugging.
Old school but physics have not changed. Internal combustion is just that.
I would also make sure my injectors were performing up to capacity by running good fuel and and letting her rip every so often.
My pops bought his 63 1/2 Gallaxie XL 500 with about 8 k miles in early 64 used. The old man who owned it towed a trailer with it and lugged it. The valves had completely caked themselves due to his lugging it pulling the trailer. I know we are talking dual quads vs F/I but unburned fuel causes issues in daily driving and stacks up when a load is attached.
I'm a firm believer that hitting redline every so often keeps things in top order.
Maybe I'm just too old school to understand the physics of an engine design that has been around for 125 years.
 

ArizonaKevin

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I have a 2012 with 35’s and 67k miles. Transmission did get hot towing recently on grades in the 115 degree heat. I’m going to add the aftermarket AFE pan which adds 7 more quarts of fluid.

I have the exact same truck and had similar trans temp issues. If I had kept my toy hauler, I would have added an external cooler that bypasses the radiator. If the coolant is running at 200+ degrees, hard to control the trans temp.
 

DRYHEAT

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I think the new wave of large displacement NA gas engines in 3/4 ton trucks are the best compromise for most people today. It is literally $10K cheaper, and it will absolutely do the job for 90% of us. Modern diesel's fuel mileage sucks when towing. Everyone wants to drive up a 30% grade at 1/4 throttle with a diesel. If you want to pay $10K more to do that, deal with DEF, deal with yearly smog, Expensive maintenance items and failures, and still get crappy fuel mileage while towing a medium load, go ahead.

I say floor the gasser, get up the hill, and move on with life.
Now don’t go bursting my bubble with some kind of common sense compromise dammit! 😝😂

signed, old truck zealot
 

Taboma

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Yea I heard the same. '15 it went back to center. The cool thing is that it just clips on. You can remove it by hand with no tools.

My Raptor front plate is bolted on, go figure, a clip on would be easier solution to removing when offroading. 😖
 

johnnyC

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All the aero stuff on these truck is actually pretty important. The closer the air dam is to the ground, the more air goes through the radiator. When you lift the truck or remove the air dam you are taking away the low pressure area under the truck, and air goes under the truck instead of through the radiator.
you are absolutely right on what you said, another way to explain it is the front of the truck lets say is a brick going through the air it, creates air pressure against the face of the brick then you put a hole in it and the hole creates a low pressure zone which forces air through it( positive pressure on the face, negative pressure at the rear) this is what causes the radiator to work, if there are any openings in the sides of the core support it allowed positive pressure to be introduced to the rear of the radiator negating the positive pressure on the front causing reduced air flow. a air dam at the bottom of the front of the vehicle creates a larger positive area in the front of the vehicle increasing the flow through the radiator, also at low speed openings in the core support can allow the heated air in the engine compartment to actually wrap around and go through the radiator a second time...... the theory of this stuff can be very interesting
 

Ziggy

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Not normal. My 3.5 eco 4wd 35 inch tires. Full tow package. Just did powell, it was 122 in kingman. 100 in flag staff. Cruise control at 70 entire way.
Trans heated to 234 a few times. Eng temp never moved
Pontoon on trailer is anout 5000 and a sail.
Mpg was 8. I did not baby it.
36000 miles on truck also
36k miles?? 😮Hard to believe you kept a vehicle that long.😊🤣
 

riverroyal

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36k miles?? 😮Hard to believe you kept a vehicle that long.😊🤣
I know. Ive started looking but the ford monster gasser is not available without a special order. Prob make the switch around feb. I really like the F150, its great to drive and does what I need. 36k miles is a record though
 

Motor Boater

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I towed about 7500 pounds from Havasu-Phx last week. It was 114 ish and I had zero problems although it’s pretty flat. Yesterday loaded down for lake powell and I mean loaded. 113 degree hitting the big hill outside of Phx I got stuck behind a slow semi, by the time I got around him temps were going up and it went into reduced power mode. I turned the AC off for 2 minutes and it cooled down but I was on the edge of it going into reduced power mode all the way up the hill.

Now to be fair I’m asking a lot of this half ton. I have a huge cooler, jack, cases of water, beer & Gatorade, a generator, Lilly pad etc. Plus pulling a Howard 28 Bullett that is loaded with more stuff, food, drinks, paddleboards and 80 gallons of fuel. I really wish the fuel tank on the boat was empty and I didn’t have this generator in the bed of my truck. I think that would help.

It seems the trans temp is my biggest problem. I’m going to try and have ford tune this thing to get some horsepower back that I lost when I put 37’s on it then maybe address a bigger trans cooler.
 

pronstar

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I towed about 7500 pounds from Havasu-Phx last week. It was 114 ish and I had zero problems although it’s pretty flat. Yesterday loaded down for lake powell and I mean loaded. 113 degree hitting the big hill outside of Phx I got stuck behind a slow semi, by the time I got around him temps were going up and it went into reduced power mode. I turned the AC off for 2 minutes and it cooled down but I was on the edge of it going into reduced power mode all the way up the hill.

Now to be fair I’m asking a lot of this half ton. I have a huge cooler, jack, cases of water, beer & Gatorade, a generator, Lilly pad etc. Plus pulling a Howard 28 Bullett that is loaded with more stuff, food, drinks, paddleboards and 80 gallons of fuel. I really wish the fuel tank on the boat was empty and I didn’t have this generator in the bed of my truck. I think that would help.

It seems the trans temp is my biggest problem. I’m going to try and have ford tune this thing to get some horsepower back that I lost when I put 37’s on it then maybe address a bigger trans cooler.

Towing heavy on 37’s is definitely your issue.
I bet you would’ve had zero problems with a smaller tire like 33’’s.

A regear alone would likely solve your issue.


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chvynhra

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37's! Thats your problem. Have you re geared it? If not that should be the first thing you do.
 

Dkahnjob

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My son had a F-150 Ecoboost and had that exact same thing happen when towing his travel trailer up the grape vine. When he got home he traded it in for a F-250 6.7 Powerstroke diesel. Never looked back. The difference was incredible, not only in the added power but the capability of the heavy duty truck with heavy duty suspension.
 

Motor Boater

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37's! Thats your problem. Have you re geared it? If not that should be the first thing you do.

I ordered the truck with the max towing package and 3.55 gears but I could definitely benefit from a gear change. Looks cool though! LOL.
658FCC08-20D7-4049-A65C-9A3FBA86F937.jpeg
 

SixD9R

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Son of a bitch. I learn something new here all the time. I have a 2016 EB with a front license plate and never noticed how it blocks airflow. It doesn’t anymore because I just got rid of it. As mentioned, it was clip on. I’m in Pa. where it’s not as hot and I don’t tow heavy hardly at all but every little bit helps. In July I towed a loaded U-haul trailer back from Florida and maybe not having that plate would have made a difference in fuel mileage or something.
5D34F1C8-98B1-400B-B206-A447F83BE435.jpeg
 

Brokeboatin221

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F250/350=max tow package. Wish Ford would go back to real drivetrains. New bronco has me excited until seeing the powertrain options.
 

DLow

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I towed about 7500 pounds from Havasu-Phx last week. It was 114 ish and I had zero problems although it’s pretty flat. Yesterday loaded down for lake powell and I mean loaded. 113 degree hitting the big hill outside of Phx I got stuck behind a slow semi, by the time I got around him temps were going up and it went into reduced power mode. I turned the AC off for 2 minutes and it cooled down but I was on the edge of it going into reduced power mode all the way up the hill.

Now to be fair I’m asking a lot of this half ton. I have a huge cooler, jack, cases of water, beer & Gatorade, a generator, Lilly pad etc. Plus pulling a Howard 28 Bullett that is loaded with more stuff, food, drinks, paddleboards and 80 gallons of fuel. I really wish the fuel tank on the boat was empty and I didn’t have this generator in the bed of my truck. I think that would help.

It seems the trans temp is my biggest problem. I’m going to try and have ford tune this thing to get some horsepower back that I lost when I put 37’s on it then maybe address a bigger trans cooler.
Yeah, towing to Powell with a boat full of fuel sucks! That’s 500lbs you could have done without. Also, I always run 91 in my eco boost. Always. That was definitely pushing that little 3.5 TT to its limits.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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I thought max tow forced the 3:73 option ?

With the older 6 speed trucks it did. With the new 10 speed trans it forces 3.55, which is the shortest rear gear you can get in an f150 with a 10 speed trans.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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Yeah, towing to Powell with a boat full of fuel sucks! That’s 500lbs you could have done without. Also, I always run 91 in my eco boost. Always. That was definitely pushing that little 3.5 TT to its limits.

Yea if you are towing in adverse conditions, put the best fuel you can in the thing.

At the end of the day it is a half ton truck. If you want to tow 1/4 throttle up a 15% grade with a 10k load in 110 degree weather, spend another $25k on a F250 diesel.
 

LargeOrangeFont

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This is what worries me about my F150. I was super scared about towing in the summer months so I opted for the 400 HP 5.0 liter

In that scenario a NA 5.0 may be a better choice for the lay person.

The 3.5 is going into reduced power mode because of high intake air temps. The PCM is just protecting the engine. When it is really hot and you are loaded and towing going up a hill you are probably better locking the truck in a lower gear to keep the boost and intake air temps lower.

With the NA 5.0 this is not really as much of a concern, just floor the truck.
 

DRYHEAT

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Yea if you are towing in adverse conditions, put the best fuel you can in the thing.

At the end of the day it is a half ton truck. If you want to tow 1/4 throttle up a 15% grade with a 10k load in 110 degree weather, spend another $25k on a F250 diesel.
What’s this 1/4 throttle with the diesel truck thing, I’ve got my foot to the floor on my diesel every time I drive it.🤔😊
 

Bpracing1127

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Funny this thread came up. I’ll be taking my toyhauler home with my ecoboost on Monday. I’ll take the 40 and needles grade about 10 am or 105 outside. The toyhauler will weight about 7500-8000 lbs
 

Brokeboatin221

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I agree my forced induction 5.9 cummins never skips a beat and toys anything. 18mpg on 37s. Best part is no payment!
 

pronstar

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This is interesting, and might put things in perspective.

In the 10-speed, 7th is direct and 8-10 are overdriven

3437492A-45DA-4FDA-98D8-AF4E249A4C2A.jpeg


37’s without regearing is likely making 5-10 overdriven, useless for towing a load up a grade. Which leaves you with 4 gears that are useful for towing. The top few gears are way to tall to be useful.

Regearing will bring more useable gear ratios to the party...your drivetrain will thank you.
 

CLdrinker

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This is interesting, and might put things in perspective.

In the 10-speed, 7th is direct and 8-10 are overdriven

View attachment 919641

37’s without regearing is likely making 5-10 overdriven, useless for towing a load up a grade. Which leaves you with 4 gears that are useful for towing. The top few gears are way to tall to be useful.

Regearing will bring more useable gear ratios to the party...your drivetrain will thank you.
He should look at 4:30 or 4:56’s
 

CobraDave

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Did you just zoom in on the engine because the rest of the truck fell apart around it?

Asking for a friend. :)

Doesn’t matter about the rest of the truck if the engine doesn’t want to play. That’s ok, just pull over and unhook. This 6.7 will take it the rest of the way.


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