Ford Ecoboost motor

[splitting_lanes]

I should never read articles like this. I have a first gen 3.5 EcoBoost in my 2014, a single primary camshaft chain. Sigh. Fortunately, it's low mileage for an 11 year old motor vehicle... a bit over 70,000 miles. And it's taking me to Alaska in three months!

We’ll be fine. With all the people/skills/tools/spares in our group, we don’t need to worry.

 

[Centex]

We’ll be fine. With all the people/skills/tools/spares in our group, we don’t need to worry.

That's the kind of optimism we love to see!

 

[vermilye]

Jon, perhaps this was in-play for your second replacement, but if not, FYI the attached describes a cam phaser replacement cost-participation scheme that may provide some retroactive relief for your out-of-pocket expense.


Hopefully that was after the 2020 release of the upgraded / redesigned cam phaser parts, which seem to have greatly improved performance.

Well I got back to my local dealer & no help on reimbursement for the cam phaser replacement. I also checked with the Ford Ownership Care program (the folks that issued the Customer Satisfaction Program # 21N03 (the Cam Phaser replacement program) and there was only a 30 day window for reimbursement so I'm out of luck.

On the other hand, I now have 87K on the truck and no phaser noise (Knocking on wood!).

 

[Thrak]

Well I got back to my local dealer & no help on reimbursement for the cam phaser replacement. I also checked with the Ford Ownership Care program (the folks that issued the Customer Satisfaction Program # 21N03 (the Cam Phaser replacement program) and there was only a 30 day window for reimbursement so I'm out of luck.

On the other hand, I now have 87K on the truck and no phaser noise (Knocking on wood!).

My 2013 F150 has the 5 liter engine. Runs great. Just rolled over 100k on our trip back from New Mexico. Went there to buy our E19 trailer. The seller wanted to leave for Minnesota ASAP and my wife said we could be there in 3 days if that worked. Seller said yes so we jumped in the truck and traveled over 1,200 miles to buy the trailer. It's a 2020 with loads of extras and in immaculate condition. We are soooooooooooo happy! Hopefully the truck will give us many more miles with our "new to us" Escape 19. (Getting all new tires on the truck as soon as my next checks hit the bank. Kinda broke at the moment after dropping $33,500 cash on the trailer purchase...)

 

[Mike G]

My 2013 F150 has the 5 liter engine. Runs great. Just rolled over 100k on our trip back from New Mexico. Went there to buy our E19 trailer. The seller wanted to leave for Minnesota ASAP and my wife said we could be there in 3 days if that worked. Seller said yes so we jumped in the truck and traveled over 1,200 miles to buy the trailer. It's a 2020 with loads of extras and in immaculate condition. We are soooooooooooo happy! Hopefully the truck will give us many more miles with our "new to us" Escape 19. (Getting all new tires on the truck as soon as my next checks hit the bank. Kinda broke at the moment after dropping $33,500 cash on the trailer purchase...)

Yep, if I were going to buy an F150 I'd want the V8, too. They're easier to work on and have a bit less stuff to go wrong than the turbo models.

I drove 1300 miles each way to get my Escape 19, 2 years ago last month.

 

[Thrak]

Yep, if I were going to buy an F150 I'd want the V8, too. They're easier to work on and have a bit less stuff to go wrong than the turbo models.

I drove 1300 miles each way to get my Escape 19, 2 years ago last month.

Yep, we drove over 1,200 mile each way to pick up our E19 last week. Just the trip itself was over $1k but well worth it. I loved buying gas in New Mexico for $2.75/gal. I just filled up here at home. $4.39/gal is a "good" price.

 

[RGL2]

I should never read articles like this. I have a first gen 3.5 EcoBoost in my 2014, a single primary camshaft chain. Sigh. Fortunately, it's low mileage for an 11 year old motor vehicle... a bit over 70,000 miles. And it's taking me to Alaska in three months!

I have a good friend who put 300k miles on his first gen 3.5 ecoboost. He actually did a thorough cleaning of the intakes himself and being a handy Andy type did most of his own maintenance. He is now on his 2nd Lincoln Navigator, this one being the new model.

 

[JohnK-ESC]

I have a good friend who put 300k miles on his first gen 3.5 ecoboost. He actually did a thorough cleaning of the intakes himself and being a handy Andy type did most of his own maintenance. He is now on his 2nd Lincoln Navigator, this one being the new model.

I have a good friend who put 300k miles on his first gen 3.5 ecoboost. He actually did a thorough cleaning of the intakes himself and being a handy Andy type did most of his own maintenance. He is now on his 2nd Lincoln Navigator, this one being the new model.

How good it must be to have one good handy Andy friend among the purported millions. Now if I can only find a used first gen 3.5 Ford eco boost to replace our old reliable 200K+ miles 2011 5.3 V8 Silverado, and a good handy Andy to maintain it, I’d be so well set I might even consider a used Lincoln Navigator to replace our 2016 family Subaru Outback. Until then, I’m thinking we’re stuck with our boring, un-sexy, old, but reliable reliables. Cryin’ in my soup.

 

[GinoandLinda]

I agree that the Chevy 350 is probably one of the best engines of all time. When we lived in the mountains of New Mexico, I had a 3/4 ton 4x4 that was a work horse. When we downsized, it was between Linda’s Tundra and the Toyota-lasts-forever myth or the Chevy. We kept the Toyota. Well, we all make mistakes.

 

[huskersteffy]

I have a 2012 F150 3.5 Ecoboost with about 85K. No major issues here. Synthetic oil change every 5K or so.

I have noticed sometimes when towing and the transmission is in "Tow Haul" mode (button on end of shifter), it does not downshift quick enough for power when I really need it quick. Like when turning left and realizing oncoming traffic is moving faster than I thought. I suppose it is working as advertised. That is, not shifting so much when you are towing.

There is plenty of power for towing a 21C up a mountain and I also love the big fuel tank.

IF I were looking for a new truck, I think I'd go with the 2.7L. But, we've been doing this Escape camping thing for 9+ years and for some reason, it just isn't as much fun as it was when we started I can see us aging out at some point within the next few years.

 

[Ron in BC]

I drove 1300 miles each way to get my Escape 19, 2 years ago last month.

Heck, I do that in Winter to get a couple of hours of soaring.

I have noticed sometimes when towing and the transmission is in "Tow Haul" mode (button on end of shifter), it does not downshift quick enough for power when I really need it quick.

That's one of my pet peeves. It shifts down on long hills but then when the road levels out and you're ready to start giving it some gas it lingers in a gear lower than you'd like and is revving higher then you like.

I'd have a hard time going back to a non-turbo engine.

Ron

 

[Rossue2]

A 2013 Yukon with 5.3 engine was our first tow vehicle for our 21. It did a good job, however after 5 years & after a lot research and getting over the fear of a turbo motor we bought a new 2019 Expedition. Beginning in 2018 the only motor available for Expedition is the 3.5 EcoBoost. It is vastly superior in every way to the Yukon- especially comfort and power. At altitude is where a turbo motor really shines.

Being that my only other impressions of a turbo engine were the SAAB turbos in the 1980's with their coking the bearings issue I admit I was skeptical so I bought a Ford extended warranty of 7 years/100K miles for $1,500. I have 57K on it and doubt I'll ever need it. Cam phasers were done a year ago at 47K. Interestingly, I took it in to check hard downshifting from 4-3 coming to a stop. They said trans was OK, yet found cam phasers need replacing. I couldn't hear any brief rattle at cold startup, yet after they did the work the hard shifting stopped too.

We like it so much we got the 3.5 EcoBoost on our 2021 Transit T-250 AWD as well. It is actually a Gen1 engine as they are a bit smaller and can fit in same place a 3.7 normally aspirated engine fits.

The Yukon had the cylinder de-activation that was a bit annoying; if I were to consider another Yukon/Tahoe it would likely be with the 6.2 engine. GM has had their own issues with engines recently as well. So has Toyota with their version of the EcoBoost. I think the negative news tends to get a bit overblown to what really represents in the real world to the overwhelming majority of owners.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

I'm at 80K miles with my 2019 Ecoboost 3.5 D35, and the only problem so far was a cracked heater hose

 

[Mike G]

255k on my 2008 Lexus 4.7L V8. My wife still likes her 2000 Merc Mountaineer with the old pushrod 5L V8, and it has 221k miles. I guess we'll run them until something breaks that's too expensive to fix.

It pays to know one's neighbors. A few months ago I got to know a fellow close by who is a certified mechanic and works out of his home garage. Only charges $60 an hour. It takes a week or two to get something in front of him to fix because he's so busy, but it's worth it; my repair bills are way, way down lately.

 

[Thrak]

Heck, I do that in Winter to get a couple of hours of soaring.


That's one of my pet peeves. It shifts down on long hills but then when the road levels out and you're ready to start giving it some gas it lingers in a gear lower than you'd like and is revving higher then you like.

I'd have a hard time going back to a non-turbo engine.

Ron

I just push the button to disengage the feature. It shifts to where it should be and then I push the button again to re-engage. Any time the engine is revving more than I want when I have the "tow" feature engaged I do that. It's quick and easy.

 

[brianbw]

Same here.

 

[John in Santa Cruz]

My 2019 Expedition, I find if its holding a gear on a downgrade, simply rolling on the throttle gently and pretty soon it starts upshifting. it doesn't like it if I stab the throttle.