When I start the van cold in the morning it’s about 85 degrees outside. I let it idle for about a minute then drive to the stop sign at the end of my block. It’s about a 35 second drive at 25mph. By the time I get there, the temp gauge is at running temp, right under 210. Once it’s there it never moves either direction until I park it and it cools down. Is this normal or is this a bad temp sensor?

If it’s the sensor, where is it located on the 2013 6.0L?

 

I don't think it should warm up that quickly. Make sure the water pump hasn't failed.

Sensor should be on the front of the driver side cylinder head, near cyl #1. It should read 3 to 4 kohm at room temp, and 200 ohm in boiling water.

 

The temperature should rise until the thermostat opens and then it should drop again for a while until the radiator is fully warmed up.

 

my temp gauge doesn't drop. It just rises and stays there.

 

the drop is unperceivable from the gauge. The gauge is a blunt tool. it can be seen when graphed on the scan tool.

to the op
the pcm checks the rationality of the coolant temp sensor. on a cold start....it compares the ect value to other thermisters on the vehicle..ie ambient air, intake air, trans fluid temp and if they are all pretty close..its passes. imo if you are not seeing a dtc and have no other related symptoms...your fine

 

This makes alot of sense, thank you.