EcoBoost Makes Ward's 10 Best Engine List

[BurbMan]

Read the full story here. The article talks about the "heavily revised" second gen design so sounds like they fixed some of the issues that plagued early adopters.

I'm still a fan of big displacement but it's getting harder to argue with results....

[blofgren]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
So Wards takes a car or truck or whatever and drives it 500 miles and they can say if it's a good engine or a bad engine? :h

Wow, these guys are GOOD! :B

I still haven't decided if my Dmax is any good and it's got over a 100K on it.

Look at Wards #4 pick here. Oops; dang I hate when that happens! :B

LOL, now that's funny! And this is coming from a former 6.0L owner! :B

[Groover]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
So Wards takes a car or truck or whatever and drives it 500 miles and they can say if it's a good engine or a bad engine? :h

Wow, these guys are GOOD! :B

I still haven't decided if my Dmax is any good and it's got over a 100K on it.

Look at Wards #4 pick here. Oops; dang I hate when that happens! :B

I agree. I own two, one for 4 years with over 75,000 miles on it and the other nearly two years but I am not yet ready to declare them a success even though they have both been excellent engines so far. The problem I have with reviews is that generally by the time we start getting some meaningful reviews the product has been discontinued or changed so much that the reviews are irrelevant.

[Ralph_Cramden]

Turtle n Peeps wrote:
So Wards takes a car or truck or whatever and drives it 500 miles and they can say if it's a good engine or a bad engine? :h

Wow, these guys are GOOD! :B

I still haven't decided if my Dmax is any good and it's got over a 100K on it.

Look at Wards #4 pick here. Oops; dang I hate when that happens! :B

They can LOL. I put as much faith in those rag reviews as I had that I was hitting the recent Powerball and Mega Millions jackpots.

[DSteiner51]

BenK wrote:
Me to...am a big block fan, but know am in the minority that is shrinking...

It boils down to PSI on the piston top for any ICE

Small displacement crammed with big block amounts of air and fuel behaves like a big block, as the PSI force to the crank is in the same ball park as a big block. Know folks don't understand why their tiny displacement gets similar/same MPG towing same/similar trailer as a big V8...telling that they don't understand this crammed amount of fuel/air into a small cylinder thing...

Issues 'have been' blowing holes in the pistons, bending connecting rods, bending cranks, wearing out crank journals, blowing holes in cylinder walls and the biggie...keeping a small surface area block/head cool while producing big block amounts of power.

There just isn't enough surface area on these small displacement ICE's to manage the amounts of heat...unless expensive to design, test and build measures are taken

Part of the why there is a engine oil spray inside the block jetting to the bottom of the piston/rod/crank. Would assume the journal bearing dia & width is in the order of a big block's...and bet even larger, as that amount of power is spread over 4 journals or 6 journals vs 8 journals.

Minor stuff that will kill these small displacement ICE's quickly is engine oil PSI/GPH. If the oil film is lost and the journals go metal to metal too often...catastrophic failure very soon... A misfire one time too many on these small displacement with big block amounts of fuel/air can destroy itself in a hurry. Betcha they go into any of the levels of limp mode more easily/often than my big block

Duty cycle rating for towing heavy is way different than when using the same TV as a 'car'. Folks who compare racing vs towing miss that point and/or do NOT understand duty cycle rating

Still waiting for the used and rebuild market reports. As how much is left to rebuild is still a big question to me

Exact same thing can be said of diesels. My 6.6L put out a whooping 115hp then the factory decided to turbo it heavier oil jet cooled pistons, oil coolers etc and wow 135 hp! They later took the same engine and intercooled the intake air and got 200hp.

Then I come here and see, “no replacement for displacement” while they drive the same size engines putting out 400 hp. That comment to me means the person attempting to be an authority is yelling, “I AM EXTREMELY IGNORANT!” I watched it happen successfully on diesels and now I get to watch it on gas and see no reason why it wouldn’t work. I bought used and had a list of requirements but EB or v8 wasn’t on the list. Next time EB will be.

[Turtle_n_Peeps]

So Wards takes a car or truck or whatever and drives it 500 miles and they can say if it's a good engine or a bad engine? :h

Wow, these guys are GOOD! :B

I still haven't decided if my Dmax is any good and it's got over a 100K on it.

Look at Wards #4 pick here. Oops; dang I hate when that happens! :B

[VernDiesel]

It’s all relative. That guy had way more repairs at 200k than I did at 300k with my Ecodiesel. Used a lot more fuel and didn’t have to tow nearly as much. The coming f-150 diesel will likely blow it away by comparison. Although the gasser is a rocket ship and the diesel won’t be, if that is important for your trucking needs.

[dockmasterdave]

Ford has been working on a v8 ecoboost. I haven't seen anything about it going into general production though.
If you want a 3/4 ton with an ecoboost, look at the heavy duty payload, or heavy duty tow option F 150. Well over 2000 lb payload and over 12,000 trailer rating.
Which probably realistically, means "comfortable tow " to about 10,000.
They have a 3.5 in the new expedition with 400 hp and close to 500 ft lbs of torque, but they make about 85% of that at 2000 rpm.
I'm pretty sure, if these things were the junk some people think they are, the Dodge and Chevy fans would be blowing up the internet about it. ( crickets )
I was weaned on Chevy, but bought an ecoboost and wouldn't consider changing it. By far the most capable, and fun to drive motor I've ever owned. @ 40,000 miles with about 20,000 towing one trailer or another, including through the NC mountains and the devils whip.
The automatic engine braking on the hills was pretty cool.

[FishOnOne]

demiles wrote:

spoon059 wrote:
I was a fan of the Ecoboost when it came out, even though I haven't owned one. I might be getting an Ecoboost Interceptor sedan in the next week or two at work though.

My camper takes me out of half ton range though, so I'll be interested if/when Ford gets comfortable putting these in 3/4 ton trucks, even if that means a slightly reduced tow rating.

Ram offered the 5.7 engine in the 3/4 ton truck, with a slightly lower payload and a slightly lower tow rating than the 6.4 or 6.7 engines. Same frame, I would expect same or similar axles and brakes. If Ford offered a 3/4 ton with 2500 lbs payload and 13,000 lbs towing with the Ecoboost engine, that could sell a bunch. People that don't like loading a F150 up that high and like the "overbuilt" design of the 3/4 ton, but want lower torque than the 6.2 gas without paying the premium for the 6.7 diesel.

Again, it comes down to cost. If Ford could offer the Ecoboost in a 3/4 ton for a good amount cheaper than a diesel, I think they would sell.

Diesel engines and NA PI higher displacement engines still have the advantage in fuel consumption in HD trucks at GVWR and GCWR. Downsized GTDI engines have to run rich to control heat and until fuel quality and technology allows them to run lean DI with higher compression ratios you probably never will. Some believe these small engines have about run they’re course and to meet up coming EPA requirements alternative fuel hybrid power is where the trends are pointing.

Next years' Ford Super Duty will have a 7.3L gas engine so there will be not Eco Boost in a Super Duty.

[FishOnOne]

tragusa3 wrote:
I've got 65k on mine with about 30k of it towing. No problems.

I looked on AutoTrader a year ago and saw a few examples of the 3.5 with 200k on them and a dozen or more over 150k. No way to tell if they towed at all.

Here's a 200k mile 3.5 EB with just basic maintenance.

Link

[demiles]

spoon059 wrote:
I was a fan of the Ecoboost when it came out, even though I haven't owned one. I might be getting an Ecoboost Interceptor sedan in the next week or two at work though.

My camper takes me out of half ton range though, so I'll be interested if/when Ford gets comfortable putting these in 3/4 ton trucks, even if that means a slightly reduced tow rating.

Ram offered the 5.7 engine in the 3/4 ton truck, with a slightly lower payload and a slightly lower tow rating than the 6.4 or 6.7 engines. Same frame, I would expect same or similar axles and brakes. If Ford offered a 3/4 ton with 2500 lbs payload and 13,000 lbs towing with the Ecoboost engine, that could sell a bunch. People that don't like loading a F150 up that high and like the "overbuilt" design of the 3/4 ton, but want lower torque than the 6.2 gas without paying the premium for the 6.7 diesel.

Again, it comes down to cost. If Ford could offer the Ecoboost in a 3/4 ton for a good amount cheaper than a diesel, I think they would sell.

Diesel engines and NA PI higher displacement engines still have the advantage in fuel consumption in HD trucks at GVWR and GCWR. Downsized GTDI engines have to run rich to control heat and until fuel quality and technology allows them to run lean DI with higher compression ratios you probably never will. Some believe these small engines have about run they’re course and to meet up coming EPA requirements alternative fuel hybrid power is where the trends are pointing.

[tragusa3]

I've got 65k on mine with about 30k of it towing. No problems.

I looked on AutoTrader a year ago and saw a few examples of the 3.5 with 200k on them and a dozen or more over 150k. No way to tell if they towed at all.

[spoon059]

I was a fan of the Ecoboost when it came out, even though I haven't owned one. I might be getting an Ecoboost Interceptor sedan in the next week or two at work though.

My camper takes me out of half ton range though, so I'll be interested if/when Ford gets comfortable putting these in 3/4 ton trucks, even if that means a slightly reduced tow rating.

Ram offered the 5.7 engine in the 3/4 ton truck, with a slightly lower payload and a slightly lower tow rating than the 6.4 or 6.7 engines. Same frame, I would expect same or similar axles and brakes. If Ford offered a 3/4 ton with 2500 lbs payload and 13,000 lbs towing with the Ecoboost engine, that could sell a bunch. People that don't like loading a F150 up that high and like the "overbuilt" design of the 3/4 ton, but want lower torque than the 6.2 gas without paying the premium for the 6.7 diesel.

Again, it comes down to cost. If Ford could offer the Ecoboost in a 3/4 ton for a good amount cheaper than a diesel, I think they would sell.

[Bedlam]

To say V8's don't have cooling problems would be turning a blind eye. A number of engines later in life had their firing order changed for just this reason.

I am surprised at the life of turbos in cars and trucks today but have also been wary of just how long they will last and what the extra heat and pressure loads will do to the rest of engine over extended time.

The boosted 4-cylinder can now replace the older normally aspirated 6-cylinder and the boosted six replaces the eight. I'm still waiting to see if they will do a boosted eight for commercial use...

[Samsonsworld]

I have about 60k on my 2013, about 10k of that towing about 9500lbs. No issues to speak of. I changed plugs at 40k. Needs a brake job. Been a solid truck and gets a heck of lot better economy around town than any v8 I've ever owned. It's my all time favorite engine.

I should note that I have a 2.7l and 2 2.0l EB's in my fleet that have also been trouble free, but they are lower mileage.