Ford 3.3L vs the 3.5L

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Idk but I have driven both in the f150. I like the 3.5 better. The 3.5 does not require allot of throttle input to get moving. The 3.3 is ok on power but only in the high rpms. I can definitely feel a power difference when driving the 3.3 vs the 3.5. the 3.5 just has much better cruising power and seems like it would get better mpg considering you don't have to push the throttle as hard. That's just speculation though. I haven't looked at any mpg numbers
 
Supposedly the 3.5 water pump design was tweaked around 2012. Anyway it is hard to find many reports of failures after that. And for whatever reason the pre 12 models seemingly most plagued by failures were the Edge and Flex.

I don't know if the 3.3 uses a similar design or not.
 
210k miles on my mom's 2010 Taurus with the 3.5. Still original water pump. I'm not sure if they are prone to failure on her model or not.

I'm going to jinx her now but nothing has failed on the motor at all yet. Only repairs have been a couple wheel bearings, some front end work just recently and a couple electrical problems.
 
Originally Posted by KCJeep
Supposedly the 3.5 water pump design was tweaked around 2012. Anyway it is hard to find many reports of failures after that. And for whatever reason the pre 12 models seemingly most plagued by failures were the Edge and Flex.

I don't know if the 3.3 uses a similar design or not.


Yeah I heard that but what exactly they did is a mystery.
Thanks for the info.
I have seen many 3.3 L pictures but this area is not shown usually.
 
Originally Posted by caprice_2nv
210k miles on my mom's 2010 Taurus with the 3.5. Still original water pump. I'm not sure if they are prone to failure on her model or not.

I'm going to jinx her now but nothing has failed on the motor at all yet. Only repairs have been a couple wheel bearings, some front end work just recently and a couple electrical problems.


Good for her. As a precaution keep an eye on the oil so if it does fail you can get to it quickly.
Last I heard many independents are $1100. For the job
 
Ouch. I didn't realize it was that huge of a job and also didn't think about the possibility of leaking coolant into the oil.
 
Originally Posted by Zee09
Normally aspirated motors here.
Does the new 3.3 have the same water pump design as the old 3.5?
I've read about the 3.3L but haven't seen anything about this.


The 3.3 is an F150 only engine and if anything it shares the same waterpump as the RWD 3.5 which is not the same as the transverse 3.5. In the RWD applications of the 3.5 the waterpump is external to the engine. It's only on the transverse (not F150 and Mustang) 3.5's that it's timing chain driven.

They are 2 separate engines with different waterpump designs!!!
 
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You're welcome. Seems that the 3.3 is just a derivative of the 3.5/3.7 so it makes sense they kept most of the bits similar.
 
My last work trip to Denver I had a 2018 F-150 XLT with the 3.3L. I was actually pretty impressed with it. Up in the hilly roads, I did have to put the transmission in sport mode and had to rev the engine pretty high. Where it was flatter on the highways, it did pretty nice though. MPG was OK, but most of my trip was up in the hills on bad roads (revving high). I think it was somewhere around 16mpg. Down here in flat Texas, I think it would be just fine.
 
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