As some of you may recall, I posted a thread back in 2012 when we got our first batch of EcoBoost's. Link Time for an update.I talked to the fleet manager yesterday. He said he doesn't like them in the fleet, because he has to deal with increased maintenance. They have had a few issues, mostly carbon build up and turbo issues. Now, he's not a Ford hater, in fact he's about as big a Ford fan as you'll find, and is a trained Ford technician. He recently bought a new personal vehicle, a 2014 F150 but he went with the 5.0L, even though he's an RVer (tows a TT).To combat the carbon issue, they are using several BG Products for intake cleaning, apparently designed for the purpose. They use it at exactly 1/2 the interval that they do with the non-turbo cars.The EcoBoost cars are popular with the front line members, they like the power and the awd.All are around 60,000 - 75,000 miles, and are used hard as you can imagine. Lots of idling, lots of abuse. I was in one the other day that had 4100 hours on it and almost 2500 of that was idling hours. It was a cold winter.We have an F150 (k9), and several Taurus Police Interceptors that are EcoBoost, the rest are NA awds Explorer (Police Utility) and Taurus cars. The Crown Vics are slowly being phased out as they get miled out. That makes me sad.

My friend stopped to tell me something and his was ticking. I never heard that sound earlier.chevman

I looked at your link and you say you're a LEO. Does that term refer to any law enforcement officers, such as jailers, dog catchers, meter maids, crossing guards and building inspectors, or just to coppers?

As a retired LEO myself, I can also surely attest to the abuse most fleet vehicles in that profession take.Mind you, I was of the mind set that the vehicle was actually part of my life line, so to speak, that would get me or whomever I was working with to safety and or emergency aid should the need arise. So I therefore always checked fluid levels and made sure my vehicle for the day was good to go.But so many others just jumped in and drove them. Never checked anything, never took care of them at all. I once got a vehicle that had absolutely no oil on the dipstick it was so low. Or fluid levels gone or way down in other parts of the engine system. It is nice that you do have the hour meters on them. Mileage in these vehicles as any basis for scheduled service is just not usually a workable option, as the vehicle for our agency would sit a lot, idling all day in the hot southern summer heat, running the AC for the agents. And I know most all in the profession miss the Crown Vics. I had one assigned to me as the only user of the vehicle later in my career, and enjoyed it immensely.

We would put on about 130 miles per shift chasing our radio. That amounts to about 400 miles a day and about 150K miles per year. They surveyed them out at about 1 1/2 years. Wonder how these new ones hold up? We had the old plymouths with the 440s and 4 barrel carb. You could hear the carbs sucking air before you could hear the siren:B Wonder how these small vehicles are for jumping in and out.

Doesn't seem like it relates to the kind of use folks here would give it. Its problems are probably related to the endless hours of idling.

EcoBoost Police vehicles update | Good Sam Community

82 Replies

Bedlam
Moderator
Mar 24, 2015
Dubai is always pushing the limits and when they fail, Abu Dhabi usually has to bail out their extravagant spending.
Tvov
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2015
Turtle n Peeps wrote:
Crown Vics DID have problems with excessive idling - just like any car can. In talking to mechanics, 2 basic things would happen: 1 - after idling for possibly hours, the officer would get a call, jump in, and roar off -- the engine going from idle to redline rpms instantly. That is tough on any engine. 2 - biggest reason for problems according to mechanics I talked with, was the departments trying to "save" money by not using the proper oil which I believe was supposed to be synthetic. Departments realized cheap oil would save a decent amount of money at budget time, so they went with that. The synthetic could handle the crazy idle-to-full-acceleration much better than dino oil.

So what if anything failed in the engine? Or did it just not run right? The only thing I could think of is the cam advance?

I was at a large shop once that had a maintenance contract with the state police. The mechanic had the top of the V-8 from the Vic taken off and all the valves and camshaft were coated in sludge. He told me about the idling issue and cheap oil - another aspect of that was heat build up in summer, which is why sometimes you'd see police cars that were doing traffic duty with their hoods popped open. He said he spent almost everyday doing a tear down of V-8s due to oil issues - which he said would almost entirely be solved if they used the correct oil at the correct intervals. Other mechanics have told me similar. As with many cars, the Vic was great as a general purpose police car as long as correct maintenance was done.
jus2shy
Explorer
Mar 24, 2015
BenK wrote:
What is the diff between a "traffic" unit vs "patrol" unit ?

Read a long time ago...over in some European countries...they have Lamborghini's as pursuit vehicles !

Assume pursuit is to catch'm.... :B

Gotta be more than just go...but...extreme handling too

You ought to see what Dubai is rocking for a police force.
Bedlam
Moderator
Mar 24, 2015
The Dutch had safety orange and white Porsche's on the highways and the UAE was running green and white large Mercedes and Porsche's (looked like German Police).
BenK
Explorer
Mar 24, 2015
What is the diff between a "traffic" unit vs "patrol" unit ?

Read a long time ago...over in some European countries...they have Lamborghini's as pursuit vehicles !

Assume pursuit is to catch'm.... :B

Gotta be more than just go...but...extreme handling too
The_Mad_Norsky
Explorer
Mar 24, 2015
Speaking of light bars and battery drain.

While still working, got a call from a nearby port of entry. They had received a delayed hit on a stolen vehicle out of Montana, which they had unfortunately already released and was down the road before they found out.

So I am not far away and soon meet the vehicle in question. I am driving a full sized Ford Bronco 4 X 4 with light bar. Agency vehicle assigned to me.

I turn around, stop the guy (I am alone in vehicle, miles away from any help and out in the middle of nowhere). Got him out of the vehicle (plugging my 12 gauge into his ear really adjusted his attitude :B )cuffed him and put him in the cage on the Bronco.

To find out I no longer have radio or any communication at all. The agency Bronco didn't have alternator enough to keep things charged up while light bar running and now all was dead. The motor had never been shut off, was still running, but just not enough juice to transmit.

And cause I was so far out, my walkie talkie would not reach either.

Things got tense as I could hear my radio, but not enough juice to transmit. Finally about three sheriffs deputies showed up, took over the situation and all ended well.

Funny part I later found out was the poor slob was driving his own vehicle. Not really stolen as reported, but seems a custody thing going on with his now ex-wife in Montana filing a stolen vehicle report out there. Poor guy did get a little excited with my felony vehicle stop procedure.

So yep, those old light bars would draw the juice!
ib516
Explorer II
Mar 23, 2015
I decide what we get for Traffic vehicles since I run the section. The patrol vehicles (general duty) are bought based on tender IIRC.
Bionic_Man
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
IB, do you know how the decisions are made on what to purchase for the fleet? Reason I ask is I have been told by an Indiana Sheriff that there is quite a delta in the prices of the Caprice vs Charger vs Taurus, with the Ford being the most expensive by a significant margin (not sure if that is true, just what I was told).

Also curious on how they decide on the power package? The 3.6/3.7 NA V6 engines all seem to have better performance than the old Crown Vics. Seems that there would be a cost savings to go that way vs EcoBoost or V8s?
Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Mar 23, 2015
Crown Vics DID have problems with excessive idling - just like any car can. In talking to mechanics, 2 basic things would happen: 1 - after idling for possibly hours, the officer would get a call, jump in, and roar off -- the engine going from idle to redline rpms instantly. That is tough on any engine. 2 - biggest reason for problems according to mechanics I talked with, was the departments trying to "save" money by not using the proper oil which I believe was supposed to be synthetic. Departments realized cheap oil would save a decent amount of money at budget time, so they went with that. The synthetic could handle the crazy idle-to-full-acceleration much better than dino oil.

So what if anything failed in the engine? Or did it just not run right? The only thing I could think of is the cam advance?
Tvov
Explorer II
Mar 23, 2015
This actually developed into an interesting thread from a rough start!

Just some random thoughts to throw out here:

The Caprice that came out in the '90s was pretty much a disaster in Connecticut. I don't know about other places, but here they wore out tires in under 10,000 miles, front ends had to be re-aligned constantly, and they just had problems. A few departments just parked brand new Caprices and kept driving their old Crown Vics until they could get new Vics. That is just what I saw around here.

Crown Vics DID have problems with excessive idling - just like any car can. In talking to mechanics, 2 basic things would happen: 1 - after idling for possibly hours, the officer would get a call, jump in, and roar off -- the engine going from idle to redline rpms instantly. That is tough on any engine. 2 - biggest reason for problems according to mechanics I talked with, was the departments trying to "save" money by not using the proper oil which I believe was supposed to be synthetic. Departments realized cheap oil would save a decent amount of money at budget time, so they went with that. The synthetic could handle the crazy idle-to-full-acceleration much better than dino oil.

In talking with local LEOs, they like the SUV vehicles especially for storage space, except they aren't quite as nimble. The Chargers I've heard have an issue with visibility - the officer sits low in them, and does not have great 360 view. The Taurus issue is with space, as someone else posted - they basically are 1 person cars due to electronics taking up front passenger seat.

Idling of vehicles... I'm with the local Vol Fire dept, and we can't leave our engines shut off for long if they aren't plugged in. All the electronics will drain the batteries (anywhere from 2 to 6 batteries depending on the engine) very quickly. Yes, the engines have "master" switches to shut down most everything, but there is just so much electronics these days something will still be "on". Our "rule of thumb" is to not leave an engine shutoff for more than 1 hour unless plugged in (when they are parked inside the firehouse they are plugged into shore power 24/7).

A couple Halloweens ago we had a "trunk or treat" at our town green. Ambulance crew showed up with a well decorated ambulance as a "hearse" type thing with a skeleton, etc. They shut down the rig while at the event. When time to pack up, engine won't start. No problem, it was expected - all EMS vehicles in my town have jumper plugs sticking out of their grills! A paramedic SUV pulled up, plugged into the ambulance, and it started. Turns out that the ambulance dept had so many complaints over the years by townspeople about the idling of their vehicles, they started shutting down vehicles when stopped and they would routinely need to be jumped. So now they specify the jumper plugs on all new vehicles. And they also go through batteries quickly... but all in the name of not "bothering" people.

Same event - local police officer went to start his car (I think it was an older Crown Vic) that he had shutdown for the event. Yep, it wouldn't start. Again, no problem - turns out all our police cars carry standard jumper cables in the trunk - NOT to help people, but to jump start each others police cars if needed!

The new LED light bars draw very little power compared to old strobes, but it is still a drain over time.

Another forum I go to where there are a lot of police officers posting - they use the term "LEO" all the time. I have basically never heard the term "copper", from police or anyone else, except in old movies. I think the local police would just laugh if someone tried to use that term in a disparaging way towards them...

Someone mentioned idling diesel engines - my 2000 F250 7.3 had an automatic idle boost the would raise the rpms a little during extending idling. Our fire engines have either a manual over ride throttle or newer auto throttles that boost the idle rpms for extending idling. I've been told various reasons for this, but I was told not to let the diesel engines sit at low idle for too long.

Wow, sorry about the book I just wrote! I should probably get to work now that I've solved all the problems here...