New to the forum. Need help with my cooling system.

[Tony Grasso]

Someone pls help me. New to the forum.
I'll make it as concise as possible.

I have a Ford Ranger 2019 XLT 2.3L with 51k miles.

Doing a Cross-Country trip with a truck camper on the bed of the truck.
Before the trip I had coolant flush perfomed by a shop and changed all the fluids. Bleeding/burping procedure done right after.
Payload capacity of my truck: ~1500lbs. Weight I was carrying: (between me, wife, dog, stuff and camper) ~1700lbs.
Started in Delaware, drove about~ 5-6hs west (in separate 2/3hs trips). I was in west PA in a very steep hilly section and I got "Engine Coolant Over Temperature" warning. Never had it before, my temp gauge jumped from the middle all the way to H, for about 10secs and without giving me time to pull over it went back to normal. Note there was no smoke or any smells. I thought it just made sense for the amount of weight I was carrying.

Made my way to Cleveland Ohio, and on the highway I got that warning probably 10 times but nothing seemed to be happening until in one of the warnings my truck didnt let me gas it, so i pulled over, put the code reader and i had Code P1299: (Cylinder Head Overtemperature Protection). This time I pulled over until it cooled down and went straight into a mechanic. (The truck drove normally the whole time, I see a lot of people talking about limp mode but Im not sure if mine went into it)

1st mechanic: Didnt find any leaks.
2nd mechanic: Ran a bunch of tests, didnt find anything, told me it might be a faulty CHT sensor. So I replaced it. Tried the truck again on the highway, overheating happened again.

At this point I though it was the payload, (mechanics said that wasnt the problem but could have caused the overheating) so i put the camper on a trailer because I can pull way more than I can haul.

Tried again on the highway, overheated again.
Took trailer off, just me on the now empty truck, overheating warning again.

Went to another mechanic, they ran a pressure test on the cooling system, didnt find anything on the cooling system but found this hose (picture attached down below) disconnected. I looked up what that hose does and it looks like its an anti-rotation device that also protects the wire next to the clutch fan.

Went to Ford dealership and they told me that that hose was part of the clutch fan and wanted to charge me $1100 to replace it. Crazy right?

So I zip tied it myself thanks to other posts on the forum. (2nd picture attached down below) Thinking I solved the problem, went back to the highway and still overheated.

Things to consider:

•Coolant is new (only 1k miles) and is full. •There are no leaks on the system
•Bleeding procedure was done so no air pockets.
• CHT sensor was replaced

Has anyone had a similar problem?
I cant seem to figure it out.
I've been "stuck" in Cleveland for over a week now sleeping in Walmart parking lots lol.

•I'm guessing the thermostat might be stuck closed so im going to get it replaced and see if that fixes it.
•Could also be a semi-clogged radiator?
•Water pump not working at high temp?
•Could it be something with the clutch fan? It works when truck is on and no wiring seems to be damaged.

Thank you for reading, I'll post updates soon, but I would appreciate feedback, if any questions to help you better understand, just write them down, I'll be looking. Thanks again.

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[My12SecRanger]

my first thoughts are thermostat issue, I have never seen a water pump fail on a 2.3 since working here at ford, plenty of issues with the clutch fan assembly

 

[airline tech]

Some possible issues:

1. Clutch Fan and or wiring to it, the harness may not show visible damage but the wiring may have been strained and damaged - therefor the PCM cannot properly control the speed of the fan under a load.

2. Pressure Tests - Did that include the - CAP?, bad cap is often overlooked when testing and not tested.

3. improper bleed of the system, the heater core can be troublesome and hold air pockets.

4. Bad T-Stat, not fully opening and or cycling closed when it should be open

5. Partially clogged Radiator and or Heater Core
or Leaves and Debris (In between the condenser and radiator) restricting air flow.

6. Bad Head Gasket, sometimes a coolant pressure test will hold, its the cylinder pressure pushing into the cooling system (pushing air into the system) - Greater Pressure over 21 lbs and it creates unintended air into the system - this plays havoc with proper circulation.
They have a test kit with a solution that checks for combustion leaks, a quick test for on the road a thorough test should be done though. (Cylinder Leakage Test)

7. Since the CHT has been replace - possible bad ECT sensor, need to verify with Scan Tool PID data on a cold engine - Do they match readings within a few degrees?


Most of the above can be checked with a Scan Tool and view the related PIDs to actually see what's happening - The Fan Clutch will need Bi-Direction control to command it through full operation speed.

But for broke down on the road - I would replace the T-Stat and Coolant Cap, but with the Fan Clutch showing evidence of (support hose damage-failure) that would also be a high on the list of things to check but as I said the only way to fully test it is with a scan tool.
The T-Stat and Cap would be my first things to try (if in your situation) - I have been there, my hunch is that the system was working fine and you did preventive maintenance (which is good) but the cap has a O-Ring that tends to swell and when it does it gets damaged when removing it. That would be the easiest and cheapest thing to try, as the T-Stat is buried under the Throttle Body, IDK for sure if you can get it out without pulling the Throttle Body.

Hopefully you can get back on the road soon.

 

[TJC]

Airline Tech covered the bases well (as usual).

If you don't have access to a bidirectional diagnostic tool you can try this quick cursory check of the fan circuit. When first starting the truck in the AM do you get the "garbage truck rush" of the fan spinning up and then settling down after a few seconds? Might want to wiggle the fan cable while the fan is engaged to validate continuity. And steer clear of the fan!

 

[emesel]

Probably not you problem, but:
I also have a 2019 and tow a 4500 pound trailer. I was having overheating issues on steep grades, mostly out west. Dealers found nothing; replaced temp sensor and t-stat but didn't fix. I pulled off the grill and found a bunch of debris, see link https://www.ranger5g.com/forum/thre...unk-debris-bugs-vegetation.30090/#post-687020. Still had problem after removing debris, but seemed better. I now watch temp with ODB monitor when on steep grades and manually shift to avoid overheating.

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