Pulled the trigger on a new F150 today.

[Sysop]

Hill decent control downshifts for engine braking, plus uses real braking.

 

[downsizingnow48]

My 2012 is the same but it is not an engine brake as such it is the electronic transmission that automatically downshifts. Depending on grade load and speed it can be very aggressive. Mine goes all the way down to second gear going through the coast range on Hwy20. It is very useful indeed.

 

[Sysop]

That is the engine braking most are speaking of. It gets activated in Tow/Haul mode.

The hill decent control is a button on the dash included in the 2015+ FX4 package. It is primarily intended for off-road use, it downshifts for engine braking but also applies the brakes as needed.

 

[downsizingnow48]

When I think of engine brake I have in mind either a compression release brake (jake brake) that changes the timing of the exhaust valves, or an exhaust brake, that constricts the flow of exhaust.

 

[Sysop]

Engine braking on a gas engine is from closing the throttle body and restricting the intake of air, nothing more.

 

[jajiu]

I bought a left over 2016 F150 w/3.5 eco boost on president's day. I was going to get a 2017 but was turned off by the "stop/start" technology used. I rented a car with it in England for a month while on business there and HATED it. There are ways around it, but it is annoying and I wouldn't even look at a vehicle with it.

 

[Sysop]

One of the nice things about a Ford, is there are lots of hidden software settings that you can enable and disable to make the truck operate how you want. You can completely disable the auto-start/stop, the double-honk when you close the door if you get out with the engine running and the key in your pocket, and many other useful things to make the truck less annoying and more useful.

 

[KennyG]

I bought a left over 2016 F150 w/3.5 eco boost on president's day. I was going to get a 2017 but was turned off by the "stop/start" technology used. I rented a car with it in England for a month while on business there and HATED it. There are ways around it, but it is annoying and I wouldn't even look at a vehicle with it.View attachment 516303View attachment 516304View attachment 516305

There is an easy switch to defeat the start/stop and it automatically goes off when you attach a trailer. I find it works very smoothly, better than a Peugeot I rented in France. Of course I have a couple of hybrids so I am used to it.

 

[vulcancowboy]

So far, I'm not a fan of the stop/start feature. May do the hack to the switch to disable it.

 

[Sysop]

No need to hack the switch. There is an option in the application FORSCAN that allows you to make the default disabled. All you need is a Bluetooth OBDII adapter paired with a Windows computer.

All of the information you need is here:

FORScan Tutorial - Google Docs

And here is a discussion thread about it:

https://www.f150forum.com/f118/forscan-software-enable-disable-features-your-truck-348987/

I highly recommend it to make the truck work the way you want, without actually physically modifying things. I put actual temp readouts on my engine and transmission gauges, enabled my fog/driving lights to remain on with high beams, and got rid of many of the annoying horn honks that occur. You can set the windows to open from the fob/remote, set the mirrors to auto-fold when parking, have the mirrors dip to the curb when parallel parking, and all sorts of other things not generally available on a F150.

You can even use it to enable features the truck didn't come with, and purchase the needed modules yourself. Hill Decent Control and the OEM trailer brake controller are two common things guys are adding to lower tier trucks. Buy the module from Ford (or online), plug it in, enable it with FORSCAN, save a trip to the dealer.