Eco Boost owners, F-150?

[lanyard]

I haven't pulled the trigger on any vehicle yet. Life of being a contract employee means life is certainly uncertain. So, no Jeep Truck in the near future, apparently college tuition for the kids and $5k a year in athletic fees are more important than my self gratification.....

So, looking at used F-150 crew cab 6.5' boxes and checking to see if any of you internet jockeys have enjoyed the EcoBoost.

My father in-law slagged them, but my brother in-law said he missed it after flipping to a Ram.

There's a lot of "Eco Boost Sucks" posts on the internet, but I can't seem to find much that indicates it's a turd. Hell, I had two of the 2.9l v-6's back in the day and supposedly those were the worst engines ever.

Thanks in advance for any actual experience. I don't mod my engines, just try to keep the oil changed and proper air in the tires, etc.

[deet]

I'm only about 18 months into owning a '17 Expedition with the EcoBoost. So far, great. Before buying I read enough online to convince me it was a safe bet. Plenty of guys with well over 100,000 on the first years of F150's with them, some with over a quarter million miles, and lots of happy campers.

As a lame boring dad I love that we're getting 22+ mpg on road trips, 17 running errands around town, and still 14 while towing my 4500 lb boat/trailer on long trips. My 5.4L F150 gets not much better than 14 even without towing a load.

Lots of power. Lots. Super quiet while cruising but it's an animal when you need it to be.

All that said, the 5.0 V8 gets rave reviews and I have a handful of friends and coworkers that are super happy with that engine. It's not bad on fuel either.

[Mallard_maniac]

their initial run had some of issues (turbo problems i think). pretty sure it's done now. with the 5.0 being as good as it is I don't know that you could talk me into an eco boost.

That said dodge and chev have their problems too. Buddy just did a wheel bearing in an 18' chev with 10,000 on it. If you're in a spot where you are having to buy used, toyota and nissan are your friend. Even with the added mark up. If you held a gun to my head and made me pick a brand new domestic, it would be a 5.0 ford. A used one..... I'd maybe take the bullet if I could pickup a tundra or titan.

[Nershi]

Buy a tundra. Gas mileage sucks but they are bullet proof. I just got one. Check out used prices in other states. Used truck prices in MN are 25%+ more than some of our neighboring states.

I’ve only heard bad things about titans. One of my clients buys a new titan every year. He has had a major issue with all 4 of the Titans he has bought. Always covered under warranty but that isn’t gonna help if you buy used.

My uncle has had two ecoboosts and hasn’t had any major issues. He says it tows his 18 foot boat well. I’ve drove it a few times and it is a nice truck. Engine runs a lot different than a standard truck which took a little getting used to.

[Duckman23]

I currently have a 2018 F-150 with the 5.0. I personally haven't had any issues with it but I have 2 co-workers that have the same engine and they are both using oil. 1 quart for 1000 miles. I stayed away from the eco-boost for reasons like timing chain issues and also turbo problems. Buying vehicles seems to be more of a flip of a coin, you just hope you get a good one. My last F-150 was a 2008 with the 5.4 engine. Other then oil changes and brakes and tires, the only thing i replaced was the alternator in 10 years.

[emptymag]

I’ve got a 2015 Silverado crew with “standard” box which is 6’. It seemed like a good idea to get the longer box. Hind sight 20/20, this thing has a turning radius about 1/2 mile. It plain sucks in 90% of parking lots/drive throughs ect. I’ve resorted to parking in the back and walking most places. Short box with a topper and some kind of homemade removable device that splits the box into 2 levels will be next.

Ive always had Chevy so I can’t comment personally on the eco boost but, several friends have had the eco boost, they all have the 5.0 now and claim to like it better.

[kwackkillncrew]

I have had a f150 ecoboost for 4 years and have had pretty good luck with it. no major issues yet. Tows my 24' raider no problem through the mountains down to homer and back. I was getting 23 mpg on the highway until i put 265's on it now i am down to 18 or so. Next truck will most likely be a 250 so it gives me the chance to pull a bigger boat if the opportunity to do so ever comes about.

[maplelakeduckslayer]

I haven't pulled the trigger on any vehicle yet. Life of being a contract employee means life is certainly uncertain. So, no Jeep Truck in the near future, apparently college tuition for the kids and $5k a year in athletic fees are more important than my self gratification.....

So, looking at used F-150 crew cab 6.5' boxes and checking to see if any of you internet jockeys have enjoyed the EcoBoost.

My father in-law slagged them, but my brother in-law said he missed it after flipping to a Ram.

There's a lot of "Eco Boost Sucks" posts on the internet, but I can't seem to find much that indicates it's a turd. Hell, I had two of the 2.9l v-6's back in the day and supposedly those were the worst engines ever.

Thanks in advance for any actual experience. I don't mod my engines, just try to keep the oil changed and proper air in the tires, etc.

I'm your huckleberry...2011 F150 Ecoboost with 250k miles still my daily driver...owned since brand new...ask away.

Quickly...theres a known issue with timing chains/cam phasers... apparently when they cast the engines...lot of sand got left behind up through around 2015 years. This clogged the oil ports...so cams couldn't adjust... wearing chains and throwing timing off. This shows itself on a cold start(sitting for 24 hrs in between starts), you will hear a rattle on startup. That's the timing chain banging. Doing a cold start like this is the #1 thing you need to do on a "test drive" before buying. I went with my buddy to test drive his '14 before he bought it...I heard it right away...dealer did the fix then sold it to him.

Transmission...pretty solid..mine finally got weak this past Winter with around 230-235k on it. I put a used one in out of a salvage with 42k on it.

Maintenance will be a little more on the forced induction. The higher cylinder pressures eat plugs a lil faster...I do them every 50k miles...super easy like $30 and 30 min. Also, they like to build up gasoline in the oil as most direct injection vehicles do...full synthetic (I do amsoil every 5-7k) or cheap oil on short 3k intervals is a must, no paying attention to the oil light which will go approximately 7-10k which is way too far on this engine.

Mileage...well #1, it's a **** truck. Everyone has different expectations. Mileage played 0 role in me buying this truck...the power towing did. Having said that...my mileage since day 1 I've never reset...towing, idling using it as my office, rush hour, etc, is 15.2 mpg over 250k miles. Most don't think that's good, however considering the idling and towing I do I think that's a great number. And that's with a leveling kit, ripping off the stupid air dam under the front bumper, and having much heavier slightly bigger tires than stock. In perfect conditions... relatively flat roads under 65 mph, warm temperatures...I can get 22-23 mpg. Like a Maple Grove to Bloomington drive with no stop an go...over 20 easy. Over 65 mph the mileage plummets, which is why many complain about the mileage. Going 75 probably only get about 16-17. Winter these numbers are worse, they run very rich in cold temperatures.

Everyone worries about turbos...turbos are really not that complicated and are pretty bullet proof. Every semi has one traveling cross country with hundreds of thousands of miles. No issues with mine aside from a small drip from one of the coolant lines running to it.

The #1 selling factor for me on this truck was the way it towed. Hands down, outside of a heavy duty diesel, best towing truck there is. Gobbs of power. And you know how a diesel just builds boost to pull you up over a hill instead of downshifting? Ya same exact thing on the Ecoboost. I had the dealer give me a 48 hr test drive before I purchased and I hooked it up to every trailer at the office. Bobcat trailers flat beds whatever...towed like a dream. Better than my dad's supper duty with the 6.2 gas. Better than any other gas vehicle I have towed with it ridden in while towing something

Whatever else you wanna know or want an opinion on, let me know

[maplelakeduckslayer]

Forgot to say, on the timing chain thing, they didn't know all that when mine started rattling...all they replaced was the timing chain, not phasers. So $2500 later still had the issue and they told me too bad. Literally 2 months later the new service bulletin came out saying to replace phasers as well...ugh was I pissed. So I decided to just drive the thing and see if it would implode or keep going. That was at 100k miles and obviously still going

[lanyard]

Forgot to say, on the timing chain thing, they didn't know all that when mine started rattling...all they replaced was the timing chain, not phasers. So $2500 later still had the issue and they told me too bad. Literally 2 months later the new service bulletin came out saying to replace phasers as well...ugh was I pissed. So I decided to just drive the thing and see if it would implode or keep going. That was at 100k miles and obviously still going

Thanks MLDS. Your reviews seem fairly on point with things I've found regarding service bulletins, maintenance, towing, and fuel consumption.... and it's precisely what I was looking for.

For the most part, I'm not over particular between the EcoBoost and the 5.0. I'm more interested in the right characteristics at right price..... I don't want the, "oh, it's perfect but the wrong engine!", I want "that's the one" regardless of EB or 5.0.

I don't tow enough, but the extra torque and increased 0-60 is attractive, particularly when towing the boat. Under load, I think it was Car and Driver, had the EcoBoost at 2 seconds faster with 6,500 lbs trailered. The next boat will likely be close to 4k lbs at dry weight, so planning on 5k lbs plus passenger weight seems reasonable.

I found an excellent one, but need to get the cash flow timed out right. I would REALLY like to be out of the Ford Fusion for hunting this year. It's just time for us to be friends, not partners.