Ford Ecoboost Problems

Terryallan wrote:
Ford already has a bulletin for the problem. Don't know what it is.

Ford has had several bulletins out on it. My son sued Ford under the lemon law and took a very large out of court settlement. His is one of the 95 complaints. Every time his started up a hill, it got the shutters and it was in for several service bulletins workups. He think it is a problem with the twin turbos not properly balancing. He love it other the the shutter problem. Has no problem pulling his Glastron DS215 at a grand total weight of about 5000 lbs -- except when it sees a hill and starts shuttering. He says he love it except for the ecoboost and for that reason would not wish it on anyone. But if they could fix it, he'd be real happy.

What I find interesting is that the recall for the Fusion eco-boost was a software update (you know- "the engine catches fire"... "Oh- let's tell it not to do that.", and I suspect the same will be true of the V6.

We have one (only tow a utility trailer) and have had no problems. No matter how much testing is done, it takes real-world application to find all the bugs in anything.

Okay, here is my take. It used to be it took cubes to make HP and torque because of the way an engine was aspirated and timed. Thermal efficiency (if I can remember my thermodynamics) is around 35%. With the advent of turbo, variable timing, direct injection and a host of other improvements, I am guessing they are getting the efficiency up around 50%, closer to that of the diesel cycle. If you do the same technology on the 5.0 or the larger engines, you should see a like rise in thermal efficiency and power output.

As far as problems, the Ford 5.4 had it's share. Plugs blew out of the block in the earlier ones, and in the later ones, you couldn't get them out without breaking them. After quite a few years of production they resolved these problems as well as a one piece spark plug. I don't think you hear a lot about plugs breaking because owners usually don't change them. When you do, it is quite problematic (and expensive if you take it to a dealer).

Each engine series has it's shakedown problems. Changes are expensive until a problem is identified as a real problem, not just an isolated oops. Recalls and TSB's are very expensive, so they need to get them right.

Sorry for rambling.

mlts22 wrote:


I might stand corrected on this, but in a lot of engine applications, there is no substitute for cubes.

Yes, because where would we be without the Fiat 4cyl 28.3 liter 300hp behemoth or the Bugatti 12.7 liter 275hp etc etc? :) Time moves on and smaller engines become more efficient reliable and powerful. Although nothing sounds as good as a big block :)

The EB is a decent engine, but a V6 is a V6, no matter how you force air down its throat. For general MPG, the EB engine is amazing, and the engine keeps its HP at higher elevations compared to a normally aspirated gasser. However, for towing tasks on the long haul, I much rather have the 6.2 because it is a relatively simpler engine with fewer parts that can fail.

I might stand corrected on this, but in a lot of engine applications, there is no substitute for cubes.

How long did it take for the Workhorse recall to be issued. I wanted to go to Alaska andcouldn't because of the brake problems. Now we are not able to go that far on a trip. NHTSA works slow but, they are government so what do you expect.

RWDIII wrote:

fla-gypsy wrote:
95 complaints for 3 model years. Not sure how many 3.5 EB's they sold in that time but it has to be more than 100,000. Want to guess how many other motors during that period had 100 or less complaints? Or does anyone have reliable information on the numbers?

96 out of 400,000 sold in 3 years, less than 1/25 of 1%

The NHTSA says IT has received 95 complaints… the article doesn’t say how much data about reported problems was turned over to them from Ford as required by law… it is also common for recalls to expand as time goes on… this is especially true on complaints that linger for years and span different models…

The correct question is in fla-gypsy post… does anyone have reliable information on the numbers…

I would bet those having the problem feel it is a serious safety defect and that the NHTSA has been sitting on their laurels and taking their good old time in issuing a mandatory recall… when it yours only one number matters and the total number is immaterial…

Locally, lots of Folks have the eco boost. The design service life of the turbo is only 150,000 miles. Don't know all the problems but a lot are in the bays.
Lots of People are favoring the 5.0 and 6.2 instead.

fla-gypsy wrote:
95 complaints for 3 model years. Not sure how many 3.5 EB's they sold in that time but it has to be more than 100,000. Want to guess how many other motors during that period had 100 or less complaints? Or does anyone have reliable information on the numbers?

96 out of 400,000 sold in 3 years,less than 1/25 of 1%