Ford 350/450/550 overheat

Does anybody know of any instances where a Ford Power Stroke Diesel engine in a Ford F350, 450 (Superduty) or new 550 has overheated or gotten hot because of limited air intake???

My question directly relates to those model diesel vehicles (ambulances, light rescues etc.) where people have put brush guards, grille lights, sirens and stuff in front of or in the grille. I was told (by a well known ambulance manufacturer) that you can't put anything in front of the grille because you block air to the diesel intake.

Rescue Lt. Kevin C. (aka Pokey)

Pokey,
Visit your local U-Haul Center (bear with me, i AM going somewhere with this).

Go ask the manager to pop the hood on ANY of their trucks built on a Ford E/F 350 chassis... take a look at the area in question behind the grill. You will notice the after market additions of an oil cooler, tranny cooler and engine block heater. If U-Haul can keep thier trucks running for 10 years or more with that much gunk infront of their radiators, then a pair of strobes and/or siren speakers is nothing.

U-Haul does NOT buy their chassis with the "ambulance package" becuase they manufacture all of their own vehicles. All that stuff (2nd batt, HD alt., etc) is added later by them. Now, look to the right of the engine, just left of the battery..see that big black tube? THAT is your air intake for the diesel engine... it does receive air from the grill area. Blocking that tube will just restrict air into the engine, which we all know is the quickest way to stall a deisel engine. It has no effect on overheating.

Maybe the manufactures rep was just trying to sell you a different set of options, because his cut was bigger.....




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Stay Safe And Stay Low

Brian