Warning To All Ford Ecoboost Owners

Status
Not open for further replies.
Originally Posted By: itguy08
Originally Posted By: Ed_T
"There is no evdence that cooked turbos or cats are an issue on the Ecoboost."

Listening to the FordTechMakuloco video, I thought I understood him to say that pouring cleaner down the hatch has been destroying these items according to Ford Engineering. Did I miss something?


That is not a normal operation mode for ANY engine. And nowhere in any Ecoboost owner's manual does it say to "pour cleaner in the intake". You can safely pour whatever you like as far as additives in the gas tank.

So therefore doing something outside the normal operating mode and experiencing failure is not a defect or even an issue to concern yourself with.

Don't use things like Seafoam, Berrymans, etc in the intake and you will have nothing to worry about. Plenty have hydrolocked their engines with Seafoam through the master cylendar vaccuum line. But those don't make cool headlines for you.

Where is this "proof" that EB's are regularly spitting cats and puking turbos when driven and used as intended?

As my removed comment said, this looks like a troll, walks like a troll, and grunts like a troll.


I'm really not sure why you feel you must resort to personal insult. I don't work for Ford, nor for any of its competitors. I haven't owned a Ford vehicle in decades.

As stated in the video, there are problems with Ecoboost. Not sure why this affects you the way it appears to.

I view the information shared as valuable to those who presently own Ecoboost, or are considering purchase.
 
Last edited:
would just like to mention the topic title was changed after I posted.

Was originally inflammatory and wrong.
"ecoboost frying turbochargers melting cats"

maybe time to open a walnut valve blasting business?

Originally Posted By: Rand


needs a new title badly, did you even watch the video?

IF you use seafoam or do other types of induction cleaning you may blow the turbo seals etc.
 
Last edited:
The title was changed by Bill in Utah I assume. The original was not inflammatory unless one read more into it than what it said. The videos which followed clearly explained how and why the turbo's etc. could fry. People make assumptions and leap to conclusions all the time.
 
That makes sense, the intake cleaning products cause the EGT's to spike and could possible fry a turbo. The little baby turbo's they use on these things, that they stick so close to the exhaust ports must heat right up.
 
Seems strange that there is not some sort of filtration or "catch can" type setup to remove oil and what not from the crankcase gasses before heading back into the engine. When most diesels went to CCV systems around 2007, the OEM's put filtration units on to keep oily junk from going back into the engine and piling on the valves and creating this mess. Never cease to be amazed at how the auto OEM engineers cannot figure this kind of stuff out. You would think engine designers would swap technical stories at get togethers and learn from each other. They actually did go to college didn't they? I learned of oily PCV stuff some time ago and run PCV catch can's on my auto/pickup engines. Amazing the amount of gunk that gets caught.
 
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: supton
I found it odd that the tech said something about how they were finding this as miles racked up. Didn't this mill get hundreds of thousands of miles and hours of testing? I hate to give into my typical FUD but that is contradictory messages.

Yes, but like anything, not just the Eco-boost, testing can only do so much...
smile.gif
. It is the public that really lets you know how good something is.
smile.gif



Very true. The owners knew they were buying a new technology and would be doing the long term field testing on them.

Sounds like he got his running OK by pulling the intake I guess and got his running fine again. Talking with a guy last week who said he was glad he went with the 5.0 engine until EcoBoost technology is proven. Sounds like BMW has the same kind of issues years ago with their DI engines. Ford will figure it out over time and get it solved on future engines before they get sold.
 
A few comments.

The guy who made the video is not a troll. His videos on many Ford repairs are excellent and have been very useful to a weekend mechanic like me working on my own cars.

That being said, I take these types of videos from a mechanic with a grain of salt. I draw the line at videos that actually show me how to repair something versus discussion and speculation on something he's been told...

Just think about the "advice" some mechanics and parts sellers have to offer on oil and oil filters...
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_T

I'm really not sure why you feel you must resort to personal insult. I don't work for Ford, nor for any of its competitors. I haven't owned a Ford vehicle in decades.


When you start a thread with the title "ecoboost frying turbochargers melting cats" and link to a video that shows nothing of the sort in normal operation I'd consider that a troll post.

You or a mod have since changed the title...

Quote:
As stated in the video, there are problems with Ecoboost. Not sure why this affects you the way it appears to.


I'm only familiar with the 3.5 and there are not many "issues" with it:
1. 2011-13 F150's have a "too good" intercooler that can condense water and the engine will suck it up resulting in a misfire and possibly nuked cats. There is a TSB that fixes that.

2. 2011-13 F150's, some are having timing chain stretch issues and rattling cold starts. Seems to be no rhyme or reason to that but they seem to be rare.

3. Early build car (SHO, Flex, MKS, MKT) Ecoboosts had issues with knock sensor wires chaffing due to missing loom on the wire.

This is from hanging out at various SHO and F150 forums. Can't speak for the 4-banger Ecoboosts but the 3.5 is quite reliable.

Quote:
I view the information shared as valuable to those who presently own Ecoboost, or are considering purchase.


Far enough but the original title was very misleading.
 
Originally Posted By: MNgopher
A few comments.

The guy who made the video is not a troll. His videos on many Ford repairs are excellent and have been very useful to a weekend mechanic like me working on my own cars.


The guy who made the video is a great guy and definitely not a troll. He tends to help out in at least one of the F150 forums I visit and I also like his videos.

I know I was thinking of Seafoam through the intake on my Ecoboosts as they age and that video made me think twice. They are running great and I'm sure they have deposits. Nothing like VW/Audi levels so I'm not worrying. Same with the GM DI units.
 
There's no guarantee that your DI engine is going to have valve deposit issues. I don't know what it is that causes it to happen to some and not others though.

But there is one expense that's removed from these engines... timing belt service. So the money you save there *might* have to get spent at 100k miles to clean the valves.

So at the worst, you're breaking even. If anything I personally would rather remove an intake manifold and soak the valves in chemicals than change a timing belt, especially on a FWD car.
 
Originally Posted By: Mykl
There's no guarantee that your DI engine is going to have valve deposit issues. I don't know what it is that causes it to happen to some and not others though.

But there is one expense that's removed from these engines... timing belt service. So the money you save there *might* have to get spent at 100k miles to clean the valves.

So at the worst, you're breaking even. If anything I personally would rather remove an intake manifold and soak the valves in chemicals than change a timing belt, especially on a FWD car.


BMW is charging through the nose for cleaning, and denies warranty coverage, according to a forum thread I read. $2,500 was the quote.

The whole carbon buildup problem seems ridiculous and ludicrous in this day and age. And the potential follow-on problems (e.g. Ecoboost) are expensive to fix on top of affecting customer satisfaction and trade-in values.

Ford's present cure is to replace cylinder heads every 20k miles according to the video. Not gonna happen, that's why their engineering dept. is likely furiously working on a cheaper cure I am sure.

In "normal operation" if one is lucky the only problem might be a gradual reduction in power output, probably going unnoticed by the average driver. Hopefully at least in the case of Ecoboost, normal operation does not include cleaning by way of liquid treatment. I would imagine that more than one has suffered at the hands of the neighborhood quicklube. Warranty work ka-ching.
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_T
BMW is charging through the nose for cleaning, and denies warranty coverage, according to a forum thread I read. $2,500 was the quote.

The whole carbon buildup problem seems ridiculous and ludicrous in this day and age. And the potential follow-on problems (e.g. Ecoboost) are expensive to fix on top of affecting customer satisfaction and trade-in values.

Ford's present cure is to replace cylinder heads every 20k miles according to the video. Not gonna happen, that's why their engineering dept. is likely furiously working on a cheaper cure I am sure.

In "normal operation" if one is lucky the only problem might be a gradual reduction in power output, probably going unnoticed by the average driver. Hopefully at least in the case of Ecoboost, normal operation does not include cleaning by way of liquid treatment. I would imagine that more than one has suffered at the hands of the neighborhood quicklube. Warranty work ka-ching.


I guess some BMW dealerships are just trying to take advantage of the situation then. I've never heard of this service going for more than $700 and the only people who need it more frequently than every 100k miles are OCD about their cars and can't stand the thought the something isn't as perfect as the day it was when they bought it even if it doesn't affect how the car performs. I'm guessing that the price to do a BMW would be roughly that if you found an independent specialty shop.

I didn't watch the video, but if the guy claims that Ford intends to replace the cylinder heads every 20k, he's not worth listening to because he's insane.
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_T
I think he said that they don't now have another course of action, but are working on alternatives.


Then I have to wonder the same thing everybody else is wondering.... what's so special about the carbon on Ford's valves that it can't be handled via walnut blasting or chemical cocktails?
 
Originally Posted By: Ed_T

BMW is charging through the nose for cleaning, and denies warranty coverage, according to a forum thread I read. $2,500 was the quote.


Most US BMW dealers charge between $400-$800 for walnut shell blasting.
 
Been saying the same thing and getting blasted for it. Seems I am not the only one with this opinion.


Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
The moral of this story is that if you keep a vehicle don't start with a DI engine until these problems are solved for sure. What ever gain there might be with such an engine it might not be worth the risk. If you change cars before the warranty then it probably makes no difference except for the possible down time at the dealer. I certainly would not buy a used vehicle with a DI engine. For me, simple is better. I can live without the latest whatever.
 
Originally Posted By: Mykl

I didn't watch the video, but if the guy claims that Ford intends to replace the cylinder heads every 20k, he's not worth listening to because he's insane.


Agreed.
 
Been saying this too. It did not take long for the problems to show up...



Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: supton
I found it odd that the tech said something about how they were finding this as miles racked up. Didn't this mill get hundreds of thousands of miles and hours of testing? I hate to give into my typical FUD but that is contradictory messages.

Yes, but like anything, not just the Eco-boost, testing can only do so much...
smile.gif
. It is the public that really lets you know how good something is.
smile.gif
 
Originally Posted By: millerbl00
Been saying this too. It did not take long for the problems to show up...



Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: supton
I found it odd that the tech said something about how they were finding this as miles racked up. Didn't this mill get hundreds of thousands of miles and hours of testing? I hate to give into my typical FUD but that is contradictory messages.

Yes, but like anything, not just the Eco-boost, testing can only do so much...
smile.gif
. It is the public that really lets you know how good something is.
smile.gif



Bingo.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top