Overheated Engine to 401 degrees

[TexasRattler]

So, I was going down the freeway when I realized my temp was rising. I was on a bad part of freeway with no place to pull over. By the time I got off the free way and stopped it was registering 400 degrees. Plastic connection blew apart. It probably wasn’t at that temp but 2 minutes max. How likely am I that any other damage occurred?

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[mxwrk]

Which engine, and what plastic connection broke exactly?

 

[JExpedition07]

Posted in the 3.5 section so I’d presume 3.5 EB. Semi likely that the aluminum heads are warped slightly if that’s true, 400 is no joke. For now I’d fix the cooling issue then observe for any coolant consumption over the coming weeks. The truck didn’t try and cut power or go into limp mode? Not sure how the 3.5 EB cooling system handles an overheat but the 5.0 cuts half the cylinders and alternates them as air pumps to try and keep from a catastrophic failure per my owners manual. The 3.5 may not be able to do this, all I have is the owners manual for my 5.0. Anyway, that’s a lot of heat for even old cast iron heads.

At low load on the freeway I’d cross my fingers. There is a decent chance no damage occurred, but on an aluminum engine there is also the reverse as a possibility.

 

[TexasRattler]

As soon as it happen I got off throttle and tried to coast it as much as possible off freeway into parking spot. Brother in law is mechanic. He met me and we tore into it and local parts place told me it’s a ford only part. Our plan was to fix. Drive for an hour and check for head gasket leak and milky oil. Am I missing anything?

 

[TexasRattler]

It did say reducing engine power to protect engine after about 250. It went from 220 to 400 in less than a minute.

 

[powerboatr]

wholly bat dooo dooo
i sure thought the pb, like the non pb 3.5 had a failsafe to shut down cylinders as well
to help keep things in check
engine didnt shut off? 400 would scare me, but stopping quick might have helped
keep us posted
thats some scary stuff 400

as a side note my bus blew a clamp at the bottom of a return coolant line
i was tooling along at 65 and the whole world lit up on the IPC, cruise shut off, flashing lights, alarms
etc
i pulled over pretty quick
temps only got up near 225
my over flow bottle ...low fluid sensor tripped the alarms, its only about 2Inches below normal
i still had full radiator , despite the spray coming from under the engine


my point is maybe the coolant return bottle took one for the team to alert you

did you loose all the coolant or just that down to the heat ex changer?

 

[TexasRattler]

Lost it all. Bone dry.

 

[Polo08816]

Posted in the 3.5 section so I’d presume 3.5 EB. Semi likely that the aluminum heads are warped slightly if that’s true, 400 is no joke. For now I’d fix the cooling issue then observe for any coolant consumption over the coming weeks. The truck didn’t try and cut power or go into limp mode? Not sure how the 3.5 EB cooling system handles an overheat but the 5.0 cuts half the cylinders and alternates them as air pumps to try and keep from a catastrophic failure per my owners manual. The 3.5 may not be able to do this, all I have is the owners manual for my 5.0. Anyway, that’s a lot of heat for even old cast iron heads.

At low load on the freeway I’d cross my fingers. There is a decent chance no damage occurred, but on an aluminum engine there is also the reverse as a possibility.

Nope, 400+ is no joke. My N55 launched a rod through the engine block and also took out my steering rack in the process at VIR. My engine oil temperature registered 290F (normal range is 220-250F) when that happened according to my data logs.

But I'm surprised you went from a normal temperature of 220-260F to 400F in less than 2 minutes. It took longer than that for my car to reach that temperature on the track (when I suspect the oil pump is what failed).

 

[TexasRattler]

Well if memory serves me right the dash started blinking at 230-240 and was at 400 by the time I exited. Which wasn’t but a couple miles

 

[tbinmd]

400 is just were the temp sensor is located. The block/heads were well over 400, if you had no coolant.

 

[Polo08816]

Well if memory serves me right the dash started blinking at 230-240 and was at 400 by the time I exited. Which wasn’t but a couple miles

400 is just were the temp sensor is located. The block/heads were well over 400, if you had no coolant.

Just get your truck running and trade it in unless you’re going to get it covered by warranty.

In fact, if you’re under warranty, you’re better off letting the engine turn into kibbles and bits to get the replacement under warranty.

 

[TexasRattler]

That’s what I’m scared of. Ironically just bought an extended warranty. But haven’t had the inspection done to activate it.

 

[powerboatr]

a 2023 ...how many miles on it...even if your extended warranty is not in place... the basic warranty should cover the engine ...

 

[lrb_35128]

As soon as it happen I got off throttle and tried to coast it as much as possible off freeway into parking spot. Brother in law is mechanic. He met me and we tore into it and local parts place told me it’s a ford only part. Our plan was to fix. Drive for an hour and check for head gasket leak and milky oil. Am I missing anything?

I'd consider performing a leak-down test to ensure nothing unwanted happened to the rings.

 

[Dakar09]

As noted, if you're under warranty they should be fixing the part that broke. Why not have it towed to the dealer and let them evaluate it?

If a warrantied piece broke, dumped all your coolant, and got you over 400 degrees it should be in their service bay immediately. I like to fix my own stuff, but this is a very clear case of "your part broke and may have toasted my engine". Get all of it logged and on record even if they give you the "all clear". This way something happens in the future (if you keep the truck), there is a record of the precipitating event.

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