2017 Ford Ranger - Overheating HELP!

[erad]

My friend has, I think, run over a Chinaman who was holding a black cat under a ladder at the time of a thunderstorm... He was towing his juggernaut caravan (23 ft I think) up Brown Mountain and the thing overheated. It went into limp mode. Took him 2.5 hours to get up from the first hairpin to the lookout. After that, the road is easier and it was probably colder and he made it home OK, but rather cheesed off. Needless to say, I am giving him heaps (I may get troubles myself now, but I couldn't help myself).

So the problem... He took it to the local dealer and they reckon there was nothing wrong. They have replaced the temperature sensor as a precaution, but other than that did nothing as far as he can tell. They reckoned the viscous clutch was working OK. That was my prime suspect. He is going to try it out again this weekend (Brown Mountain again), but is naturally concerned that it may go into limp mode again. Has anyone here had experience with this, or know of any problems?

[nj swb]

Auto or manual?

Engine overheat or trans?

If auto, was he driving smart or Dumb?

[spiderpig]

That is a big van and a big mountain to tow it up. Be interested to hear the responses to NJ's questions.

[old Jack]

Auto or manual?

Engine overheat or trans?

If auto, was he driving smart or Dumb?

Also if it was an engine overheat then was the engine actually overheating? coolant bubbling in overflow tank or overflowing from overflow tank? Reason I ask is if the engine coolant temp sensor is over reading then dash temp gauge will over read and the Engine ECU will detect an "overheat" and put the engine into limp mode.

OJ.

[erad]

This guy is not technically minded, so I cannot say for sure how he was driving, other than to say he would have been doing it safely. Except where the bloody thing stopped on a double line, in pouring rain and fog at dusk. He certainly would have had his lights on.

He got addled by the sudden stop - it just stopped. Apparently, the engine was still running but there was no power. My first though was transmission, but he insists that it was engine overheating. Having said this, the dashboard display requires him to actually select engine temperature to be displayed, and he didn't do this - he panicked. He turned the A/C off, and this in turn caused the windows to fog up. More panic... Needless to say, when he tries again on the Brown Mtn, he will have the engine temperature under strict observation.

I suggested to him that he run the A/C so that the electric fan would at least operate, but he reckons there is no electric fan for the A/C. I will have a look when he gets the car back from the dealer. It is an automatic transmission. He insists that the it has an adequate cooler - Ford says so! I did ask him if the transmission lights were flashing but he said that they weren't, so it probably was the engine overheating. He would let it cool down and then try to drive off again, but it only went something like 200 or 300 m before it shut down again. There is 10 km of climb, at least 7 of it being rather steep. And his phone didn't work until he got to the lookout. He doesn't use Telstra. I'll have to check my telstra service next time I go up or down the mountain....

I'll keep you posted as to what happens. The dealer still hasn't really fixed the cruise control. It is something about the forward collision avoidance not working. If they cannot fix that I wonder what can/will/have be done about overheating....

[Ian H]

A mate of mine has a Ranger and had the same problem on our recent trip and he wasn't towing. The car went in to limp mode on a slight gradient on the Western Highway and when we pulled up, there was coolant dripping from somewhere up under the bonnet near the left hand front wheel. It turned out to be two hoses rubbing together which had worn a pin hole in one and the coolant was coming out of it causing the car to overheat and go in to limp mode. We eventually put some water in it and he got to Ballarat OK. The guys at Ford Ballarat who fixed it said it was a known issue. They have replaced that hose and cable tied them apart so they don't rub.

it doesn't sound like you mate had that problem but it's worth checking anyway.

[Dicko1]

Tell your mate to install an Ultragauge so he can monitor the auto and engine temps for a proper read out. He can also set the alarms to go off at the required settings. He wasnt towing in full auto, I hope. The ultragauge will also show codes. I wouldnt tow without one as the auto temp in full auto gets bloody high..

[vladguan]

Sounds like your mate should not be travelling alone if he is that inept and panicky and lacking in knowledge of cars. However, in saying that, there apparently is no A/C condenser fan as there is no mention of it in the manual and no fuse/relay for it and here is the instructions on overheating from the manual:

If the engine temperature continues to rise, the fuel supply to the engine will reduce.
The air conditioning will also turn off and the engine cooling fan will operate.
When this happens, immediately:
• Stop your vehicle as soon as possible.
• Turn off the engine to prevent severe engine damage.
• Wait for the engine to cool down.
• Check the coolant level. See Engine Coolant Check (page 226).
• Have the vehicle checked by an authorized dealer.

[nj swb]

A former boss (client?) just bought a new BT50 to tow his van (about 2.5t fully loaded). I hope this overheating isn't a design flaw.

[wasarangie]

OK here is something to look at. There is a wire harness under the engine cover which runs over the timing cover at the front of the engine . The top bolt of the cover wears the loom and you get all sorts of false errors. It was supposed to be fixed from MY16 on but some are still showing the problem. If there is wear you can see it by looking under the loom. Some have had issues without breaking the insulation on the loom. So testing is the only option. Would not hurt to mount it out of the way of the bolt anyway.

May not be your mates issue, but worth a look.

[wasarangie]

Oh forgot this one.

Have all the updates been done on the ECU? there was an issue of over fueling that should have been addressed with the update. Caused engine over heat alarm/limp due to exhaust temp. If you pushed the point it would stop you dead in your tracks, but engine still idles.

They reckoned the viscous clutch was working OK. That was my prime suspect.

Could still be the issue. Get a photo of the temp gauge when it does stop and show the techs, just that it may not store a code for some reason, and photos are proof to the dealer. Ford knows that they have an issue with supposedly OK fans but do replace under warranty for this reason.

[Peterng]

I agree with the overheating auto trans theory at this stage.
Being an bushy mechanic..
I'll throw my 2c worth in.
Has your mate got experience of towing with an auto before?
When an engine overheats, you can see and smell the radiator additive boiling and if it gets bad, well the motor will start to "knock" and play up something horrid.
When the drive line components are cooling down, you can hear the "Clicking" sounds of the metal cooling in the drive line.
The point you made that the engine was still operating, but there was no forward movement...points to a transmission problem.
The gear box over heated and with the transmission ECU sending info to the main ECU detecting an overheating situation within the drive train, the main ECU put the vehicle into limp mode, simply to protect the driveline components.
This senario would have happened quite early on in the journey, if the driver was in "D" mode and not the sports mode where the torque converter can be locked into a set gear and you have to manually change gears to increase your speed.
It was mentioned that the vehicle only got to the first sharp bend going up brown mountain, before the issue arose..
Whilst in D mode, the 6 speed gear box would have been chasing gears and hence contributing to an overheating situation...whilst even before Brown Mountain.
The gearbox changes today can so smooth, it can hard to pick for a novice, only by looking at the rev's can you pick it out.
Plus placing your hand on the drive tunnel you can feel the heat from the drive train.
The gearbox temps would have already have been high prior going up brown mountain...the increase in terrain just pushed the temps over the "Preset ECU temp modes"..
Remember, the vehicles' gearbox is pulling not only the weight of the vehicle...ie 2000+kg, it is also pulling 2000+kg of dead weight..
In respect to the vehicle only travelling 200 to 300 mtrs before going into limp mode again, points to a transmission, for if the engine was rested well after an overheating episode..the distance would be far greater than 200mtrs, before the engine started overheating again.
Gearboxes take bit longer to cool down than engines..generally.

So with some dealership mechanics in the way taught today (own personal thoughts)...if the computer says "No" and doesn't point to the problem...well, they will not go looking for it...investigating why and how did the gearbox play up?
Chasing gearbox faults...especially suspect ECU electronic component problems under warranty...it is time and money dealerships don't want to go there.
You can back it in, next time this happens, and the vehicle goes to the dealer under warranty, the dealer will swap out components hoping to chase the problem.

Anyway, if this does happen again, get your mate to bite the bullet and head off to a professional Auto Gearbox shop who knows what they are doing and have the experience.

[old Jack]

I had this problem on a forum members Challenger.
Engine would go into limp mode whilst towing 1800kg uphill with no signs of engine or transmission overheating. No warning lights except the trans would lock into 2nd, gear display was constant (not flashing) and engine power was reduced by the Engine ECU. MM thought it was a auto temp issue but all was ok then they thought it was a radiator problem, tried to blame bullbar for lack of airflow through both heat exchangers. ATF temps were ok on Scangauge but coolant temp was reading 15C higher than actual coolant temp and once engine coolant temp sensor was replaced all problems went away.

OJ.

[erad]

Mate picked his Ranger up today. They have been trying to fix the cruise control as well. Apparently it showed a code to say it had shut down, but they could not positively isolate the cause of the shutdown???? I make no comments on that one.

They have replaced a sensor in the top of the engine. Again, no idea as to which sensor. The service guy told him to keep the A/C on when climbing the mouintain next time. For the extra 2 or 3 kW of power used, it certainly isn't going to make much difference if it is going to overheat or not.

To answer some of the other comments, as far as I know, he does use sport mode when climbing. Certainly when going downhill he does.

This Ranger is different from the earlier Mazda BT50 clones (he had one before this Ford). It is only 3 months old. It is smaller - probably 150 mm shorter and about 50 mm narrower I would think. I am not sure about the mechanicals and electronics, but the advertising blurb suggests that it is all new, so any comparisons to the BT50 may not be relevant. The BT50 may be back on the cards for him soon.

Regarding automatics overheating, that was my first guess, but he said that the transmission lights did not flash - I would expect that if there was a tranny problem they would. He is insistent that Ford have cured tranny overheating problems by fitting extra coolers since early 2016. I don't know and really don't care that much because those vehicles don't interest me.

Regarding viscous coupling fan clutch, I think it is a possible cause. For a start, 200 - 300 m before it overheated again, taking off up a steep hill with no cooling fan - possible. Also, the engine apparently kept running but no power. This means that the thermostat would eventually close to maintain temperature and he would then only have the margin from the cut-in point to the engine cutout caused by overheating sensor - probably not much range. At this stage, they have not replaced the visocus fan clitch.

He has lost confidence in this vehicle. He reckons he is going to sell it ASAP. I have tried to convince him that after all it is only a machine and machines can break down. He will probably keep it for another few months and then trade it in on something else - he is talking of another Ranger. Figure that one out - I cannot.

[old Jack]

Did he actually open the bonnet and confirm the engine was overheating or just believed the gauge?

Did the check engine light come "ON" ?

OJ.