How is the ford 3.5L V6 - Natural Aspirated F150 engines

[Fordiesel69]

I know the 3.7 is a great engine as long as it is installed with the replaceble water pump. How is the 3.5L non turbo used in 2015 and 2016?

 

[StumblingElk]

No personal experience but I see several of them in my area with around 200k miles. They do have some water pump problems if I recall

 

[dnewton3]

- The 3.3L/3.5L/3.7L are the "Cyclone" series from Ford.
- There's no significant distinction (other than displacement) for an engine in the same comparable application.
- As time progressed, they had both PFI and DI applications. (I think perhaps the current 3.3L in the F150 has both?) The engine you're referencing is almost assuredly PFI.
- Overall the engine series is very reliable in N/A forms, in longitudinal applications.
- Even in transverse apps, the n/a engine is still quite reliable. (It's just uber expensive to replace the water pump due to its internal location).

 

[cb_13]

Reliable.

If only they hadn’t repackaged the water pump to be behind the timing cover on transverse applications we’d be talking about the Ford Cyclone engines as one of the best V6s of all time.

 

[dnewton3]

If only they hadn’t repackaged the water pump to be behind the timing cover on transverse applications we’d be talking about the Ford Cyclone engines as one of the best V6s of all time.

Agreed, but it had to be done in terms of packaging; to make it fit into the planned applications. I would have preferred a remote location; drive it off the back of a cam (it's been done before with some success). OR ... even drive it electrically (also done with success in some vehicles today). But Ford chose the internal location . Otherwise, you'd be right; hands down one of the best v-6 engines of all time.

OP - generally the longitudinal Cyclone engines are, well, fantastic in terms of reliability and ease of service. What little might go wrong would be super easy to get to and inexpensive to replace.

 

[cb_13]

IMO they should have ran it off the cam just like they did on the previous 3.0. That’s why I’m not an engineer though, I don’t have a desire to change things that already work

 

[Fordiesel69]

This is excellent to hear. My 3.7L in my taurus has 200k on it and runs excellent. Water pump will be due any time now as its original.

 

[4WD]

- The 3.3L/3.5L/3.7L are the "Cyclone" series from Ford.
- There's no significant distinction (other than displacement) for an engine in the same comparable application.
- As time progressed, they had both PFI and DI applications. (I think perhaps the current 3.3L in the F150 has both?) The engine you're referencing is almost assuredly PFI.
- Overall the engine series is very reliable in N/A forms, in longitudinal applications.
- Even in transverse apps, the n/an engine is still quite reliable. (It's just uber expensive to replace the water pump due to its internal location).

The 3.3L has the dual point fuel injection - looked at one in 2018 and already did then …

 

[KCJeep]

This is excellent to hear. My 3.7L in my taurus has 200k on it and runs excellent. Water pump will be due any time now as its original.

Water pump is probably best viewed as a maintenance item between 100-150k IMO.

We will either trade for another one or have the wife's done around 100k. Most likely just trade since we tend to drive much nicer vehicles now than the first 20+years we were married. She won't hear of anything but another Edge, but she'll have to make friends with the 2.0 next time around unless I can find her a minty 2018 with the 3.5.

 

[Hermann]

The 3.3L has the dual point fuel injection - looked at one in 2018 and already did then …

My 2018 F-150 with the 3.3L had both types of injection

 

[meep]

I’m not sure what the take rate of the 3.7 is, but I’ve not heard a single complaint. I remember reading testimony from a 3.7 owner that unless you’re towing something big on the interstate, it’s the engine he felt made the most sense for how most f150s are driven most of the time. Great if the truck is doing DD or commute duty and regular home/yard projects.

I have the 2.7 and quite like it, but also wanted the additional power for towing. One drawback of the 2.7 is it does have some turbo lag, and with the 10 speed, the driver has to learn how to throttle the engine and let it catch up, which sometimes feels unresponsive if you’re having to hustle in traffic. The 3.7 might feel less ambiguous, albeit with less juice to pour out.

 

[NormanBuntz]

After reading this thread, I'll stop considering a used Ford Edge with the 3.5 NA engine. That water pump design looks like a nightmare.

 

[svtrit]

When I started my current role, I was provided a 2017 F150 with the 3.5L NA. I didn't realize it wasn't turbo'd until Spring, when I drove with the windows down and didn't hear the whistle. I felt it had plenty of power. It got 18MPG in the winter and 20-21MPG in the summer.

I put 30,000 miles on that truck, and my boss (who had put 70,000 on it before me) has taken it back for his use, with 100,000 miles on it. I got a 2024 F150 3.5L Ecoboost in the exchange.

The only complaint I had was that it seeps oil from somewhere on the front side of the engine, so it smells like burnt oil at times. Otherwise, that is an excellent engine for an F150 that is not going to pull trailers very often. It doesn't use any oil at all.

It has almost twice the HP that my 86 Dodge D150 with a 318 V8 had, and I pulled trailers with that, but I think we are now all spoiled with the high HP engines of today.

 

[crashz]

Agreed with the posters above. I had a 2014 x-cab 4x4 with the 3.7 as a company owned work truck for a few years. I put nearly 50k miles on that and it always ran great. That truck did things that I would never do in my personal trucks. In fact, I was told it was a V8 and believed it until I popped the hood. I towed a 1/2 full water trailer for over 100 miles with that rig and stopping was the the only concern.

The only minor complaint of that truck was that version of Sync. Kinda crappy even back then.