Which engine do you have and do you like it?
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Which engine do you have and do you like it?
I don't have one, but my buddy does. This is his 2nd F150 since I met him 15 years ago. The first one was a V8. The current one is the 3.5L Ecoboost IIRC.
He prefers it to the V8. It gets better mileage and has more oomph. He has towed with it and uses it to haul stuff. I've ridden in it a lot. It seems to do fine in the mountains at highway speed, no struggling at all.
Oh, and he's a former Ford Engineer.
Chris
Had a 2013 3.5 Eco. Put 50K trouble free miles on it before trading it on a F250 6.7. My good friend put 210K on his 2012 3.5 Eco before trading it. Got another friend with a 2.7 Eco in his 19’ F150 with about 30K on it and he enjoys it so far.
Change the plugs every ~50K, oil every 5K with a good synthetic and they are very reliable engines. They are thirsty when they tow though. If you’re in the boost, the MPG isn’t going to be that good. I’d look for a 17’ or newer (Gen 2) if you can afford it. The Gen 2 Ecoboost’s have both port and direct injection so they don’t have an issue with the intake valves coking up with deposits. The Gen 1s had a few issues with that (all DI engines do if they don’t also have port injection) and a few condensation issues with the intercoolers. With that said, my friend that put 210K on his ‘12 only changed the oil, spark plugs and air filter and never had an issue with intake valves gumming up. An additional benefit with the 17’ and newer Ecoboost F150s is they have the 10 speed transmission which is a big improvement over the 6 speed in the 2011-2016 trucks.
FWIW I’m looking to get back into a F150 with the 3.5 Ecoboost/10 speed. Don’t need the F250 to tow heavy anymore and am tired of DD’ing it.
Have 2014 3.5.
Tons of torque.
82k, no troubles.
ETA: Mine is only 6 speed, but is max tow config with 3.73.
>Which engine do you have and do you like it?
2018 2.7 or whatever the small one is.
With a bare truck I get an honest 24 MPG on the highway and 19 around town. With the tall topper 19 everywhere. By my standards, an insane amount of horsepower, but then most of our vehicles have been 4 cylinder :-).
Do I like it? I'll let you know in 20 years ... if all the whiz bang engine tech is trouble free, it will be great. If it proves expensive to maintain ... not so much.
Not a F150, a 2017 Ford Explorer Sport, 3.5 liter ecoboost. Love it, never thought I would say that about a Ford.
2017 F-150, 2.7L
I have 135,000 on it so far. I use Mobil 1, and have done the scheduled maintenance, which has not been much. Completely trouble free with plenty of power. I tow a 25’ boat a few times a year, it handles it well.
I plan to keep this for another 18 months or so. I may go with a 3.5 at that point, just for the extra towing capacity in case I get a different boat.
I had a 2012 F-150 XLT with the 3.5 Ecoboost. Traded it earlier this year at about 130,000 miles. No issues.
I now have a 2016 F-150 FX4 with the 2.7 Ecoboost. 39,000 miles. The 2.7 seems to run a bit smoother than the 3.5 I had.
FIL sold his Chevy 1500 4x4 V8 he’d had for ten years or so when MIL and he went to Samoa for a couple of years to run a teacher cert program, and bought an F150 with one of the eco boosts when they came back. They haul a single horse with it, plus feed and other homestead stuff.
Owned a 2016 F150 2.7 Eco, best truck I had, traded for F250 6.2L. The 2.7 had more ass than my 6.2L - but raw towing goes to the Super Duty!
A technician I respect a lot who does a lot of motor enhancing shall we say at a Ford dealer Said he would probably run an EcoBoost in a truck.
If you're towing it's low RPM turbo boost makes a huge difference but the 3.73 gears make it too snappy in many people's opinion off the line so unless you need Max tow get 355 gears. 5.0 get 3.73.
How you drive it as way more to do with the mileage than the motor..... around town in Cody Wyoming is much different than around town in Los Angeles. How you take off from stops and how much you idle can make a huge difference. No full size vehicle gets good mileage around town. Also the boost is addicting and it's easy to put your foot in it a lot. A Chev 5.3 would likely get better mileage.
I would get the 3.5 for resale unless it's just a driver the 2.7 should do a bit better on mpg's
I would be cautious buying used as turbochargers need maintenance and if oil hasn't been changed etc who knows how long it will last. Just like people who buy used diesels the tight tolerance motor and expensive turbos need their oil changed frequently and if they don't they wear and they're expensive.
Irregardless of tow ratings a half ton is only good for about 8,000 lb other than on-level ground. The trailer will push it all over the place due to the soft suspension and lack of brakes.
if you have heard of the class action lawsuit against the EcoBoost motors it is only for the smaller ones not the two seven and the three five.
in my recently purchased Transit work vehicle I chose the naturally aspirated 6-cylinder.... the 3-5 is an option.
my next work van will probably be all-wheel drive and I will probably get the EcoBoost.
Maintenance discipline ......and good luck!
I’m issued a 2020 ecoboost F150 responder truck. I’ve had it since July and I’m pretty happy with it.
I had a 2.7 2015 and liked it a lot. Sold it and replaced with an identical 2019 with 2.7. I am issued a take home F150 with the 3.5. I like them both, but the 3.5 definitely has more ass. I’m not disappointed with my personal 2.7 though. They tow very well, but they do drink the gas when towing.
2014 Ford F150 3.5 Eco. Good mileage for up to 50000 miles, 19.5 - 21 mph all round driving. Now at +80000 miles, 15 mph same driving. Changed plugs. Checked turbos. All "in spec" Not as happy as I used to be.
Note: when towing - mileage takes a big hit. 8.5 to 10 mph with covered trailer hauling two Harleys and gear or hunting gear.
Friend's 2012 5.0 F150 consistently out performs my truck.
FWIW
Since gears were mentioned it reminds me- make sure you check them on the spec sheet before buying. When I got my 2019, all the 3.5 trucks they could find all had 3.31 gears (which are way too tall IMO). So I stuck with the 2.7 with 3.55 gears. I’ve since put 34” tires on it, and will probably re-gear to 3.73 in the future.
A friend of mine has a 2014 with 5.0 V8 and we went on a cross country hunting trip towing a trailer. It got about the same MPG as my 2.7 gets when towing on flat ground. But the 2.7 gets about 4-5 MPG better when not towing. The 5.0 struggled the whole way, had had a really hard time in the mountains of CO. A turbo engine (or supercharged) will perform much better at higher altitude if that matters to you.
My Dad has a 2014 F150 with the 3.5 Ecoboost. 11X,XXX miles on it with no trouble.
I have a 2016 F-150 3.5L Ecoboost with 3.55. 44,XXX miles on it. It is a beast of a motor. I have hauled our JD 5425 with it and the thing broke the rear wheels loose going up a hill. No problems with it to date.
One con to it is with the lighter weight aluminum body it is not as “planted” towing heavy loads as my previous F-150s. However when it is unloaded it will absolutely fly.
Best truck I have owned.
2.7, love it. Towed 7k easily, can fit 3 car seats in back if need be.
2013 gen 1 3.5 owner here in the 6.5 foot bed supercrew XLT config. I was wooed by the noticeable power difference in the test drive compared to the V8. I do enjoy the turbo get up and go driving up the mountain passes to ski in the winter.
What I dislike. All gen 1 ecoboosts including some gen 2s have a particular flaw with cam phasers where there is gradual wear causing a terrible clacking noise on cold startup. Eventually it gets to the point where timing chain stretch occurs, the truck goes out of timing and a timing code appears and performance takes a dump. It's an extensive repair to fix and expensive.
I have had the clack randomly in the warmer months when the oil drains to the bottom of the engine away from the phasers, most commonly when the truck sits for a few days without use. I prevent it on cold starts by holding the gas peddle to the floor and let the engine crank to build oil pressure before letting it fire up. Eventually this trick will stop working and I will have to deal with the inevitable. There is a TSB about it for both generations.
While I still like my truck, I wish I would have gone for the simplicity and reliability of the proven V8. Turbos are neat but require more care and feeding.
If you wait for 2022, looks like there will be another engine option:
https://www.thedrive.com/news/37374/...ng-f150-report
6.8L pushrod motor.
Also, apparently, going to be a Mustang option. That'll be...quick.
2018 F-150 Supercab Lariat. 3.5L Ecoboost. 10 speed. Bought it new, in service 11/17.
Currently right around 65k miles. Honest 17mpg on the low end, 19 on the high end. The onboard computer lies and says it is 1mpg higher every time I check it.
Only issue so far has been "rattle on cold start". Timing belt tensioner went bad, this is apparently a common/known issue with these motors. During COVID, took like 9 weeks from diagnosis to fix at the dealer.
Warranty covered it and they gave me a loaner brand new F-150 for the three weeks it was in the shop. That one had the 2.7L Ecoboost, so it was good to compare. I like the grunt of the 3.5, and on paper, the gas mileage for the 2.7 isn't any better. I would recommend the 3.5.
I give it high marks, excellent balance of mileage and oomph.
If that 6.8L does anything like the 7.3 has so far, it'll easily make some pretty silly amounts of power with barely a kiss of boost. The challenge will be making the PCM and 10spd auto trans happy.
If they offer the 6.8L V8 in a Mustang with a 6-spd manual, Brembos, and without an excessive amount of too-cushy overcomplicated farkles in the packages required to get those things.... that might just push me into a Ford dealership.
In my humble opinion the S550 Mustang is a better chassis than the Camaro or Challenger. But the big potential really with the 6.8L isn't straight up HP because the Coyote 5.0L does that amazingly well if one's willing to build an engine. Like most of the 6.2L Camaros and 6.4L Challengers it needs an expensive bottom end build to allow it to hold 1000+whp
Considering the 7.3L Godzilla DNA, I'm hoping the 6.8L Ford brings out inherits the 7.3L's awesome bottom end strength so 1000whp is a matter of a power adder, fuel system/tuning, and a clutch instead of an 'all in' sort of build to get to that level.
Even if not, 6.8L's worth of V8 can spool modern turbos insanely fast :)
Makes me happy to see Mustang (or Ford in general) bucking their tradition of putting smaller engines in their vehicles than their competitors. They have done that since the 60s. Chevy just put the 5.7s in everything!
Expanding on my thought: 289,302, then finally 351, then back down to 302, then 4.6, 5.4, now back to 5.0 vs.....350/5.7. On the BB side: 428,429 vs (ignored the 396 and 427, not as common as the) 454. Just a trend I’ve noticed since being a musclecar guy for the last 30 years.
Wait.....I thought electric was the future.....(snarky sarcastic remark)
this thread s timely. I'm particularly interested in experiences from folks with the EcoBoost from the 2019/2020 Raptor and Limited...
Yes, very timely. I am looking at buying 2017+ F150 and good chance it will have ecoboost. My best friend has a 2018 F150 3.5EB and he has some of the dreaded "cam phaser" issues and his is low miles. Debating how long to keep current 2015 Ram 1500 Hemi now that it is over 100000 miles.
According to Ford dealers/mechanics I talked to before I bought my first 2015 2.7, the 2.7L is the best gas engine Ford makes. So far on my sample of two, it seems true. It is not simply a smaller 3.5, it has a completely different block design.
With the gracious advice and time of a certain unnamed forum member, I got an excellent deal on this 3.5 XLT s-crew 4wd with the Max Tow Package. It’s hard to explain exactly how much power the 3.5 Ecoboost has, it’s insane.
Attachment 64669
The towing/payload numbers don’t lie, plus no DEF bullshit. Did you see the Ford Trailer Backup Assist gadget?
https://youtu.be/0HLcJiPcumM
Ford did it right with the ecoboost and package accessories. Congrats
I put some serious highway miles on EB F150s.
PRO: Freakin sporty in Sport mode. First time I drove an unloaded 3.5L in S mode I had a grin from ear to ear. The 2.7L is no slouch either.
CON: I don't like the peaky torque or Ford's laggy response. Only 1.0mpg advantage in town or highway.
My current 2.7L is at 90k mi, has some oil burn off on startup. Our trucks are driven to 200k, most are 2.7L, not a single engine failure in the fleet. Although failing door position sensors and electronic e-brake stuff can drive you nuts.
Local dealerships won't take the earlier model 3.5L near 100k in trade due to timing chain stretch issues. Dealer mechanics have preferred the V8 for durability but it sounds like Ford has worked out the big issues.
Yeah, the EB Raptor is perky, but I hate the way they sound. I wish they'd offer an 8 again.
Yeah, can confirm...
Attachment 64702
I just want to point out, the payload is where my 2013 3.5 runs short (4x4, 3.55 gears). I know they did a much better job on newer trucks, based on looking at the door jambs at the dealership). My Lariat is something like ~1150lbs of payload... which isn't much.
I have posted about it in the past, pictured below is my 32.5' TT. Empty is 6200 lbs, max gross is 7100lbs (which means a tongue weight up to 1050lbs...). Yada Yada Yada I figure I am very close to my max payload with just the family in the truck. I would NOT want to tow a 9500lb trailer with my rig. I would be limited to myself in the truck since payload would be maxed out.
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/...c738323d_c.jpg
This is the first gen 3.5 and I don't hear any weird sounds. I hope it runs through at least 150k miles. I am at 90k.