New to 'strokes, seems to be running crazy hot

bismic said:

You can make the OEM clutch kick on manually. It is an easy mod. Maybe that's a way to test it.

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How do I do that?

I'd be interested in trying it....

I'm going to swap out my coolant filter today; it's been a little while since I've swapped it out, so I'm due for a new one. Just not convinced that a plugged coolant filter could keep it from cooling. It sure won't help, but I doubt that's the issue.

To turn on the fan with a switch:
Add a switch to the dark blue wire in the fan connector at the top of the fan shroud. This connector is a five wire connector and the dark blue wire receives a GROUND connection from the PCM when it decides that the fan needs to be turned on. After turning on the switch to send GROUND to the dark blue wire, the viscous fan clutch heats up (it will take 20-50 seconds or so to fully heat up) and the fan will engage and run with a lot of sound!. After turning off the switch, the viscous fan clutch will still be hot, so it takes a minute or so for the fan to slow back down. Again, the dark blue wire is for GROUND only, not 12 volts! Also, the heater in the clutch draws about 1.25 amps or so. You can use a 16 gauge wire and a small toggle switch. Just make sure you do not cut the blue wire such that the PCM can't ground it when it wants to

http://www.justanswer.com/ford/1grjp-create-bypass-switch-turn-off-fan.html
The diagram in the link above is from 33-1 of the Wiring Diagrams manual

Grounding the Dark Blue wire will engage the fan full on. The PCM does monitor fan speed and may set a code but should not cause any ill issues as long as you do not cut the wire where the PCM cannot engage it when it wants to.

Hey bismic - thank you! I'll give that a go. I've got some time coming up next week, so maybe I can get in there and play around with that.

Let's say the fan doesn't come on - at all - even with the manual override switch. What's that mean? Time for a new fan clutch? Do I need special tools for that? Something to get that fan off of the crankshaft snout?

Darn thing is running crazy warm.

This is what I was running with a cab full of kids, and nothing else. At all. Seems ridiculous warm. Wasn't even an outrageously warm day. Mid 80's.

Sorry if you have done these things already (I scanned the thread but did not go back and read in detail).

The suggestion to go back to stock tuning before troubleshooting is an excellent one!

Make sure your coolant level in the degas bottle is good (it looks low to me). When you inspect the level, look down into the bottle and make sure there isn't any sludge or solids in there. Drain a gallon coolant sample and test it for antifreeze concentration and look for rust or sand or contamination. You can filter it through a towel or cloth and reuse it if you are clean with it. Since the radiuator is fairly new, then none of this is probably an issue, but who knows.

If you have an EGR removal and you no longer have an EGR valve plugged in, sometimes this messes with the cooling fan operation. If this is your issue, buy an EGR valve and just plug it in. Secure it in an out of the way place in the engine well.

Throw a new thermostat in it (even if you have done it, I would probably throw another one in).

Carefully clean the fins on the A/C condensor that are in front of the radiator (soap and water at low pressure).

Could be you have a weak water pump. IMO, that would be the last thing to try. If you can overheat fairly quickly at idle, but then get out on the road and get air moving and it seems to be cooling a little better, then the issue may be the water pump.

The EGT's are too high,IMP it is the fault of either the tuning or the turbo or both. I am not a Sinister fan.

bismic - thank you for your thorough and specific comments! I really appreciate your guidance. I'll see if I can work my way down the list and hit on something that makes a difference.

I'm not sure how to return to a stock tuning position, but I'm willing to give it a try if you coach me through it. There's all sorts of things that have been done to this truck, and to get it back to square one would likely be time well spent. That way I'd know exactly what was done.

To be honest, the nature of this diesel beast intimidates the crap outta me. I feel like I'm in over my head. That may just be the fear talking there....but this engine seems so crazy complicated in comparison to what I'm used to working with. I'm trying to monitor so many things when I'm driving it/working on it, that I'm not sure if it's the right truck for me. Crazy thing looks incredible, sounds super incredible, and runs like a flat-out MONSTER....as long as things are dialed in. Currently, as you can tell, they're NOT dialed in. The more I learn, the more they (diesel engines) intimidate me! How do they fit that much into such a tight engine bay!

Working on someone else's mods is always so frustrating as well. I have no idea what's been done, what hasn't been done, what was done correctly, what still needs done....the cycle just goes on and on for me. It can be a money-sucking vortex of diesel smoke - that I know little about.

I can check the coolant overflow bottle. I think I can chase down the EGR valve details (I was told it's all set up with EGR ******), and I can clean the condenser fins. All that is probably quite manageable by a hack such as myself. I'm guessing that the thermostat is right on top of the engine (as it might be on other gasoline V8 engines), and that if I can dig down to it, I can get that swapped out as well. The water pump may be more than I can handle - I've never done it on an engine like this, but hey - this could be my first time! Haha

Quickly, as this post is turning into a book, the EGT's are always hot/high. Always. They're so high that I didn't even think of the 820 in the photo as a discussion point. Why is that? Is that a result of the Sinister turbo? Is that why you don't like them? What should I be expecting to see?

What would normal coolant and oil temps be as well? What do most of you all see in your rigs? Am I completely off the charts with this thing?

To return it to stock, you need the tuner that has the stock program in it. I am not familiar with Edge products so you probably need to get with the previous owner on that.

Typical coolant temps are 190 to 210 when not working your engine hard. Your engine will begin to "defuel" when the coolant reaches 221*F. The engine also will begin to "defuel" when the oil temps reach 253*F.

My coolant temps are typically 192 to 200 *F. My oil temps are typically 5-8 *F above the coolant temp (after the engine has fully heated up).

One way to check the temperature sensors is to check them all after the engine has been off for 12-24 hours. ECT, EOT, TFT, IAT1, and IAT2 should all read within a degree (or so) of each other) after this "cold soak" period.

With a steady 65 mph, level highway run, your oil temps should never get more than 15 degrees higher than the coolant temps.

1300 degrees is a pretty good max limit for the EGTs. VERY short bursts to 1400 are tolerable. IMO this is your turbo, but it could be that you have an injector dumping excess fuel.

Changing the thermostat is easy. Drain a gallon of coolant and have at it.

What does defuel mean? Can't be good.

How do I check temperature sensors after allowing them to cold soak? I have much to learn.... Haha

cptmoney said:

What does defuel mean? Can't be good.

How do I check temperature sensors after allowing them to cold soak? I have much to learn.... Haha

Click to expand...

The truck cuts out fuel which lowers HP to help in cooling the truck down.


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Cold soak
turn key on (don't crank)
read sensor values

Anything over 230 on the oil temperature will start to melt the standpipe in the filter housing . Not good.

Topped off the degas bottle. Check.

Chased down the EGR and see this:

Is than an EGR ******? I see the harness hooked up. Do I need to yank the actual component to know if it is in fact an EGR ******? Can you tell from this pic?

Why went it let me post the word "d ee l ee t e" here. That's weird.

cptmoney said:

Why went it let me post the word "d ee l ee t e" here. That's weird.

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Keeps the E PE A away.


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cptmoney said:

Topped off the degas bottle. Check.

Chased down the EGR and see this:

Is than an EGR ******? I see the harness hooked up. Do I need to yank the actual component to know if it is in fact an EGR ******? Can you tell from this pic?

Click to expand...

That's the EGR valve. To figure out whether or not it's d elete d look on the passenger side of the motor below the intake. If the EGR is still intact you will see a round or rectangular tube running from the front part of the intake, parallel with it towards the back of the motor.


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sootie said:

Anything over 230 on the oil temperature will start to melt the standpipe in the filter housing . Not good.

Click to expand...

melting the oil filter standpipe starts above 300 to 320 *F. While 230 is high, it isn't enough to melt the plastic.

OK, boys (esp bismic!) - is this the blue wire I'm after?

It is more "royal blue" than dark blue. That is the one.

OK cosmic and crew: I'm going in. I have just a bit of spare time, and I need to move a buddy's truck in the next few days - so I've gotta get this thing going.

Just splice in a grounded wire to that royal blue wire, flip the switch and let the clutch warm up, and she should roar to life. That's about it? Any ground work OK? Even just to the battery? Even to just test out my fan.....

Hopefully that spins the fan to life. And if so, what does that tell me? Something is failing to signal the fan to come on?

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Errrr - that should have said "bismic and crew" - my apologies, bismic!

I'm not seeing how to edit the post, either - so it's permanent, looks like. My bad.