Normal Operating Temp and Low Coolant??

[barlowchiro]

I had the #8 injector and the LPFP replaced last month.

Over the last few days, I have noticed my temp getting to 195 when it never, ever got above 190 the entire time I have owned the truck.

The coolant in the Degas bottle was low, so I topped it off to the cold level mark.

When it does get to 195, it does go down rather quickly back to 190-192.

Just curious if this is the start of a bigger problem?

The top outlet on the degas bottle is plugged, I am guessing from my EGR delete. This plug does slide off rather easily when I pull on it. Should I put a screw down hose clamp on it?

Thanks!!!

[nlcougar]

Those temps seem pretty normal. I run 194-195 on my ECT's on a normal basis and 195-197 on my EOT's.

[barlowchiro]

Originally Posted by nlcougar

Those temps seem pretty normal. I run 194-195 on my ECT's on a normal basis and 195-197 on my EOT's.

Dumb question but what is ECT and EOT??

[04hdfatboy]

ECT=engine coolant temp
EOT=engine oil temp

[barlowchiro]

AAAHHHHAAAA...

The only thing that concerns me is the loss of coolant in addition to the increased temps. Hoping that the mechanic that had to drain some to replace #8 injector he didn't fill it back up!

[nlcougar]

^^^ What he said. You should never see a delta of more than 10-12 degrees between the two after you get up to normal operating temps. (IE running ~65 down the freeway).

[Big Angry Hillbilly]

Your truck warms up to 195, the stat opens, and coolant flow from the rad into the engine lowers the temperature slightly.

If you had the injector and stuff changed at a dealer under warranty, perhaps they changed thermostats in the truck when it was there (also a warranty item) if they noticed they'd gone for a dump?

Odds are you did have some coolant loss because you need to pull the degas bottle and a couple other hoses out of the way to get the rocker cover off, and it may have had a little bit of air in it or something after it was topped up again. Sometimes these can be tricky to bleed. Even using the RADKITPLUS filling system (which apparently isn't reccomended anymore) you can have the level drop some over the next couple days of driving.

Hope this sheds a little light on it.

[04hdfatboy]

Originally Posted by Big Angry Hillbilly

Your truck warms up to 195, the stat opens, and coolant flow from the rad into the engine lowers the temperature slightly.

If you had the injector and stuff changed at a dealer under warranty, perhaps they changed thermostats in the truck when it was there (also a warranty item) if they noticed they'd gone for a dump?

Odds are you did have some coolant loss because you need to pull the degas bottle and a couple other hoses out of the way to get the rocker cover off, and it may have had a little bit of air in it or something after it was topped up again. Sometimes these can be tricky to bleed. Even using the RADKITPLUS filling system (which apparently isn't reccomended anymore) you can have the level drop some over the next couple days of driving.

Hope this sheds a little light on it.

Will a little air in the system work its way out eventually?

[Big Angry Hillbilly]

Yep. It's not generally a HUGE issue in these engines, there's a long drawn out procedure in the shop manual for bleeding the cooling system but I don't think I've ever needed to use it, they're usually pretty easy to bleed.

If worse came to worse if you backed the cap off a hair and drove it around, that would get the air out of the system pretty quick.

Typically the space you're seeing in the degas bottle after you've ran it and it's dropped after you've had the system open is the space that the air was taking up somewhere in the system is now being taken up with antifreeze, causing the level in the bottle to drop.

The worst trouble I've had bleeding any engine is if the system is TOTALLY empty, block water jackets and everything. It can be avoided by pouring coolant into the bottle slowly, as this allows the air to come out of the degas bottle opening as it fills from the bottom.

I like the RADKITPLUS vacuum cooling system filler, but apparently it's not endorsed on the 6.4 anymore, since Ford seems to think the vacuum causes the seals to come off the thermostats. I've used it on hundreds of trucks, and never had an issue.

Part of being able to do a 6.4 rad swap in a little under 40 minutes, from start to finish