Limp Mode - on HWY - Question

[JN66]

Morning Fellas -

I have a quick question, curious on some thoughts. No this isn't meant to be a bitching session on my car hitting limp mode or anything else...more on the dangers of it happening in traffic off of a track.

I was driving on the highway last Friday on the way to meet forum member Spectre and my car went into limp mode on two occasions. Scary on the highway in traffic - it was after about 45 minutes of driving. Weather was 18 degrees Celsius or so. I am taking the car in on Monday to see if the local dealership can pull some info...

I was thinking that this could be a real serious threat. Someone running into the back of you, not being able to pull away form a traffic light (our hwys here have traffic lights...on Vancouver Island anyway)....

Anyway, as mentioned, this isn't supposed to be a Track vs Tech, etc, but, rather just a different take on cars overheating in normal use and day to day driving and the dangers of that...when it was happening to me I was surprised that Ford hadn't recalled the vehicle yet...

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[zombiekiller]

Morning Fellas -

I have a quick question, curious on some thoughts. No this isn't meant to be a bitching session on my car hitting limp mode or anything else...more on the dangers of it happening in traffic off of a track.

I was driving on the highway last Friday on the way to meet forum member Spectre and my car went into limp mode on two occasions. Scary on the highway in traffic - it was after about 45 minutes of driving. Weather was 18 degrees Celsius or so. I am taking the car in on Monday to see if the local dealership can pull some info...

I was thinking that this could be a real serious threat. Someone running into the back of you, not being able to pull away form a traffic light (our hwys here have traffic lights...on Vancouver Island anyway)....

Anyway, as mentioned, this isn't supposed to be a Track vs Tech, etc, but, rather just a different take on cars overheating in normal use and day to day driving and the dangers of that...when it was happening to me I was surprised that Ford hadn't recalled the vehicle yet...

any codes? any check engine light? It sounds like there is something else going on with your car. while mine has gotten a little toasty on the street, I've yet to hit limp mode off the track.

 

[JN66]

any codes? any check engine light? It sounds like there is something else going on with your car. while mine has gotten a little toasty on the street, I've yet to hit limp mode off the track.

No codes yet. Only thing that happened was a 'reduced power' on the main dash. Something to the tune of 'Reduced power to let engine cool' or 'Reduced power to prevent engine from overheating' or something to the tune of that.

I did a quick run through of the gauges, engine oil, cylinder head temp and nothing seemed off.

Ford is getting the car tomorrow at 9am. I'll report back any findings.

I drive my daughter a lot in the car and it just got me thinking.

Hopefully something fixable is wrong with it though. No big deal then. Only other thing that had to be fixed thus far was the AC. Wasn't charging properly.

 

[mattlqx]

What was engine oil reading?

If it was limp because of transmission temp, there is no warning that displays. There was another person on here that reported seeing the warning and limping, that seems to be the oil temp getting out of expected range even with the oil cooler and it being preemptive. I think it's pretty conservative there, as in the cooler should keep engine oil around 250F max and it starts reducing power at maybe 270F? I don't know for sure, I've never had a problem with engine oil.

 

[zombiekiller]

No codes yet. Only thing that happened was a 'reduced power' on the main dash. Something to the tune of 'Reduced power to let engine cool' or 'Reduced power to prevent engine from overheating' or something to the tune of that.

I did a quick run through of the gauges, engine oil, cylinder head temp and nothing seemed off.

Ford is getting the car tomorrow at 9am. I'll report back any findings.

I drive my daughter a lot in the car and it just got me thinking.

Hopefully something fixable is wrong with it though. No big deal then. Only other thing that had to be fixed thus far was the AC. Wasn't charging properly.

yeah, that is not what i experienced when i hit limp mode on the track. Some folks have had thermostat issues. hopefully it is as simple as a sticky thermostat.

 

[JN66]

Interesting. Engine Oil was @ 100. Stopped at a light and took a quick video of the gauges.

Cylinder head was just above 80.

Certainly seemed like the car was being preemptive. I am very curious.

 

[JN66]

yeah, that is not what i experienced when i hit limp mode on the track. Some folks have had thermostat issues. hopefully it is as simple as a sticky thermostat.

That would be awesome. I love this car.

 

[mattlqx]

Interesting. Engine Oil was @ 100. Stopped at a light and took a quick video of the gauges.

Cylinder head was just above 80.

Certainly seemed like the car was being preemptive. I am very curious.

Yeah, those temps are nothing to worry about but it was probably reading coolant too hot (of which there is just the dummy gauge on the cluster for). Could be the thermostat which has been a problem for a few people.

 

[radioactive]

Off topic, but JN66 if you ever find yourself in the Cowichan Valley please give me a shout, I'd love to see your car. Much appreciated.
Good luck with the limp mode issue, I'm hoping and sure that it is nothing serious.

 

[smsgt350]

No codes yet. Only thing that happened was a 'reduced power' on the main dash. Something to the tune of 'Reduced power to let engine cool' or 'Reduced power to prevent engine from overheating' or something to the tune of that.

I did a quick run through of the gauges, engine oil, cylinder head temp and nothing seemed off.

Ford is getting the car tomorrow at 9am. I'll report back any findings.

I drive my daughter a lot in the car and it just got me thinking.

Hopefully something fixable is wrong with it though. No big deal then. Only other thing that had to be fixed thus far was the AC. Wasn't charging properly.

I have hit limp mode 4 times now in my tech gt350. The first 3 times with 2 or more people in the car driving a windy uphill stretch. The 4th time was at about 9pm on june 1 driving from Vancouver to Kamloops by myself, through the Fraser canyon. It kicked in as I was entering a tunnel with traffic behind me. The odd thing is It wasnt an overly warm night and I was traveling at highway speed by myself. I have had the car checked from the other times and they had said all is functioning normally. I had to do what I could with the 4500 rpm it allows you so I did slow the traffic flow as I had nowhere to pull over. Its a good thing I love this car so much or I would have lost my mind by now lol. I have only seen the engine power reduced warning once which was my third limp mode with two people in the car on a warm day uphill stretch.By the way the folks on this forum have been far more helpful than my Kamloops ford dealer...may as well give a gun to a duck.Kelowna Ford guys are eager to help but two hour drive every time ugh. [/QUOTE]

 

[HizliBullet]

hey why wasnt I informed about the meet I couldve swung by :shrug:

 

[JN66]

Off topic, but JN66 if you ever find yourself in the Cowichan Valley please give me a shout, I'd love to see your car. Much appreciated.
Good luck with the limp mode issue, I'm hoping and sure that it is nothing serious.

I'm up in Victoria man. Let me know and I can swing by anytime. Not a problem at all.

 

[crazyfish]

No codes yet. Only thing that happened was a 'reduced power' on the main dash. Something to the tune of 'Reduced power to let engine cool' or 'Reduced power to prevent engine from overheating' or something to the tune of that.

I did a quick run through of the gauges, engine oil, cylinder head temp and nothing seemed off.

Ford is getting the car tomorrow at 9am. I'll report back any findings.

I drive my daughter a lot in the car and it just got me thinking.

Hopefully something fixable is wrong with it though. No big deal then. Only other thing that had to be fixed thus far was the AC. Wasn't charging properly.

I had the reduced power and limp mode happen once in super heavy bumper to bumper traffic. I literally would move 10' every 5 minutes or so. No air moving through radiator. Coolant temp hit overheat threshold and put car into limp mode. This car has computer thresholds for water, oil, trans, engine head temp and more. Kind of funny I have pushed this car for 2 hours keeping it reving, running it up over 100 mph for quite some time and a quick jaunt to 162 in forth gear with no limp mode. Doing less than 5 miles an hour, limp mode. I haven't had the car at the track yet but from what I have been told is there is alot of computer intervention on this car to safeguard it. As for the dealer they just read the book and go from there.

 

[mrduster]

Morning Fellas -

I have a quick question, curious on some thoughts. No this isn't meant to be a bitching session on my car hitting limp mode or anything else...more on the dangers of it happening in traffic off of a track.

I was driving on the highway last Friday on the way to meet forum member Spectre and my car went into limp mode on two occasions. Scary on the highway in traffic - it was after about 45 minutes of driving. Weather was 18 degrees Celsius or so. I am taking the car in on Monday to see if the local dealership can pull some info...

I was thinking that this could be a real serious threat. Someone running into the back of you, not being able to pull away form a traffic light (our hwys here have traffic lights...on Vancouver Island anyway)....

Anyway, as mentioned, this isn't supposed to be a Track vs Tech, etc, but, rather just a different take on cars overheating in normal use and day to day driving and the dangers of that...when it was happening to me I was surprised that Ford hadn't recalled the vehicle yet...

Vancouver Island, I live in Campbell River with a tech car and have not experienced this (yet). I have driven it hard on Hwy 24 here with no issues. Sorry to hear about your problem with limp mode.

 

[JN66]

Vancouver Island, I live in Campbell River with a tech car and have not experienced this (yet). I have driven it hard on Hwy 24 here with no issues. Sorry to hear about your problem with limp mode.

Thanks. No problem though. Sounds like a possible thermostat issue. The fellas @ the dealership have been great thus far.

What colour scheme did you go with? I might have drooled over it in person @ the dealership

Oh, and I grew up in CR!

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