Buying a new Truck

[toppop52]

I think it will be a fine engine and work well, just remember times past when all companies try to give us everything and the bag of chips too, only to discover a situation nobody thought of causing problems.
As for the power/dyno results, engine dynos are of limited usefulness because the cannot simulate real world driving and abuse and they can be manipulated to show anything the tester wants by arbitrarily applying load at some particular point in the test as well as by varying temps, humidity, etc... All stats published are meant to enhance someone's position and should be taken with a grain of salt.

One person argued that Eco Boost was not a great performance enhancer since it gets 360 h.p. with twin turbos, and the GM 3.6 gets 323 h.p. naturally aspirated. Well 37 horsepower for the cost and complication doesn't seem like much, but when you compare 400 ft lbs+ for the turbo engine vs 260 or so for the NA then it seems like a better deal.

If it proves reliable then I believe it's a bargain.

 

[dodge man]

I think we drove the OP off. I still want to see pictures of his new truck.

 

[toppop52]

I'm sorry! I would also like to see the truck, and apologize for expounding way away from the original purpose here.

 

[jejeosborne]

One person argued that Eco Boost was not a great performance enhancer since it gets 360 h.p. with twin turbos, and the GM 3.6 gets 323 h.p. naturally aspirated. Well 37 horsepower for the cost and complication doesn't seem like much, but when you compare 400 ft lbs+ for the turbo engine vs 260 or so for the NA then it seems like a better deal.

If it proves reliable then I believe it's a bargain.

I am not into racing so HP doesn't have a lot of weight to me. Since HP is a calculated value using torque and rpms, HP increases quickly when an engine makes good torque at a high rpm level. I have not seen the 3.6 liter curve but it obviously doesn't mind being wound up since the peak torque is so low in comparison to the HP. Probably a great engine for a car. If they use it in a truck, a low gear ratio would be beneficial.

To thegoose,
Where are the pics and how is the truck doing?

 

[TheGoose]

I'm still here. I'll post a pic of the truck soon.

I loved my 5.3 motor I had before. It gave me great service and if GM made a 4 door truck with a 6.5' bed I would probably own another. I really like the concept for the eco-boost and I'm gonna find out whether or not it's as reliable as a V-8.

 

[toppop52]

I am not into racing so HP doesn't have a lot of weight to me. Since HP is a calculated value using torque and rpms, HP increases quickly when an engine makes good torque at a high rpm level. I have not seen the 3.6 liter curve but it obviously doesn't mind being wound up since the peak torque is so low in comparison to the HP. Probably a great engine for a car. If they use it in a truck, a low gear ratio would be beneficial.

To thegoose,
Where are the pics and how is the truck doing?

The GM 3.6 is an older design, been around since about '05 with multiple changes, it's basic architecture is what GM is testing for turbo truck and super high performance car versions. One tester is an Arcadia AWD with twin turbos purportedly with over 400 h.p. and torque numbers, but in test vehicles numbers are easy to come by. I believe Ford was brave in being the first to bring this engine to trucks and time will tell us how well it works.

 

[TheGoose]

Update: I have owned this truck now for just about 4 years and just under 70K miles and I can easily say that this is one of the most disappointing vehicles I have ever owned. It seems like this truck has had problem after problem and if I could I would get rid of it.

Synopsis: Up until about 50K miles, the truck never gave me any trouble with the exception of the tires and a shudder/shimmy. I noticed that the truck always idled rough and took it back to the dealer one time but they didn't fix it. They supposedly upgraded the computer but the truck always idled rough. The factory tires were junk and were bald in the 20K mark. Since I never rotated the tires I didn't press ford and I wanted All Terrain type tires but I'm certain that the front end alingment was bad and the factory tires were absolute junk. I believe they were good years and the were showing steel at 20K. There has always been a shudder in the truck when starting from a dead stop.

At 50-60K miles the brakes went out. Front pads were toast. Also, the drivers side seat developed a tear in the fabric. I did the brake job myself (a bit of a long story there) with new pads/rotors on the front and new pads on the back. Also during the 50-60K mark the truck began to experience a serious miss/shudder under acceleration. The accepted cause among ecoboost enthusiasts is water in the charge air cooler.

At 65K miles the EPAS (electric power assist steering) went out. I had the truck towed to the dealer for repair, which cost $1800 out of my pocket. Please note that this truck was bone stock and had never been wrecked or abused or driven through high water or anything to cause this problem.

At about 68K miles I changed the spark plugs to see if it would help the shudder/miss. I was shocked at the state of the old plugs. They looked like something out of a two stroke boat motor. I gapped the new plugs about .030. The engine now does not miss or shudder under acceleration. I change my own oil and I use Mobil 1 full synthetic. The last truck I owned the original plugs lasted over 90K miles and my car went 120K+. Luckily, the plugs were easy to change.

Also, at 69K miles the brakes went out again. The replacement brakes were terrible about squealing in reverse. After trying several times to fix the squeal problem I had the dealer examine the truck. They told me that there was nothing physically wrong with the brakes and they sometimes squeal like this, especially first thing in the morning. The truck also felt really rough when stopping. I then had them change the front rotors and pads and replace the back pads and re-surface the rear rotors. This cost a little over $600. The brakes no longer squeal and they are not rough like they were.

About the same time I was having the brakes looked at the A/C went out (about a week before). I mentioned to the service manager about the A/C and they said they would check it out for me. They told me that the evap coil was out and it was an $1800 repair. I declined the repair. The only reason I knew the A/C went out is because we have experience a very hot winter here and temps are in the low 80's to high 70's.

I would get rid of this truck ASAP if I could afford to but I normally keep/drive my vehicles 8-9 years and I just bought a new car last year. I have zero confidence in Ford after this debacle and I would recommend any of you considering ford to NOT get an ecoboost engine and stay with a regular V8.

Mine never got the mileage advertised and I normallly avg. about 15 mpg on mostly rural highways and light city driving (only 4 lights in my town). The engine and truck when running good had gobs of power and towed wonderful but none of this mean anything when your maintenance costs are as bad as this truck has been.

 

[TheGoose]

I would also encourage anyone who owns or plans to own an Ecoboost Ford truck to drill the hole in the CAC to let out the water that accumulates there and get a catch-can to prevent the crud that comes out of the crank case from being recycled back into the intake. I am certain that the "junk" in the PCV is what fouled the plugs so early. I am also certain that if I could examine my intake manifold it would be similarly fouled to my plugs. I own 3 Ford trucks, a 150, 250, and 350 but I probably won't own another.

 

[Diamondpilot]

Wow, sorry to hear. My 2012 has 71K and still original brakes. I changed the plugs at 60K for a miss and it fix it. Other than that a set. Of tires around 40K and a heater blower control module, $75, is it.

I would definitely buy again.

Chris

 

[toppop52]

Update: I have owned this truck now for just about 4 years and just under 70K miles and I can easily say that this is one of the most disappointing vehicles I have ever owned. It seems like this truck has had problem after problem and if I could I would get rid of it.

Synopsis: Up until about 50K miles, the truck never gave me any trouble with the exception of the tires and a shudder/shimmy. I noticed that the truck always idled rough and took it back to the dealer one time but they didn't fix it. They supposedly upgraded the computer but the truck always idled rough. The factory tires were junk and were bald in the 20K mark. Since I never rotated the tires I didn't press ford and I wanted All Terrain type tires but I'm certain that the front end alingment was bad and the factory tires were absolute junk. I believe they were good years and the were showing steel at 20K. There has always been a shudder in the truck when starting from a dead stop.

At 50-60K miles the brakes went out. Front pads were toast. Also, the drivers side seat developed a tear in the fabric. I did the brake job myself (a bit of a long story there) with new pads/rotors on the front and new pads on the back. Also during the 50-60K mark the truck began to experience a serious miss/shudder under acceleration. The accepted cause among ecoboost enthusiasts is water in the charge air cooler.

At 65K miles the EPAS (electric power assist steering) went out. I had the truck towed to the dealer for repair, which cost $1800 out of my pocket. Please note that this truck was bone stock and had never been wrecked or abused or driven through high water or anything to cause this problem.

At about 68K miles I changed the spark plugs to see if it would help the shudder/miss. I was shocked at the state of the old plugs. They looked like something out of a two stroke boat motor. I gapped the new plugs about .030. The engine now does not miss or shudder under acceleration. I change my own oil and I use Mobil 1 full synthetic. The last truck I owned the original plugs lasted over 90K miles and my car went 120K+. Luckily, the plugs were easy to change.

Also, at 69K miles the brakes went out again. The replacement brakes were terrible about squealing in reverse. After trying several times to fix the squeal problem I had the dealer examine the truck. They told me that there was nothing physically wrong with the brakes and they sometimes squeal like this, especially first thing in the morning. The truck also felt really rough when stopping. I then had them change the front rotors and pads and replace the back pads and re-surface the rear rotors. This cost a little over $600. The brakes no longer squeal and they are not rough like they were.

About the same time I was having the brakes looked at the A/C went out (about a week before). I mentioned to the service manager about the A/C and they said they would check it out for me. They told me that the evap coil was out and it was an $1800 repair. I declined the repair. The only reason I knew the A/C went out is because we have experience a very hot winter here and temps are in the low 80's to high 70's.

I would get rid of this truck ASAP if I could afford to but I normally keep/drive my vehicles 8-9 years and I just bought a new car last year. I have zero confidence in Ford after this debacle and I would recommend any of you considering ford to NOT get an ecoboost engine and stay with a regular V8.

Mine never got the mileage advertised and I normallly avg. about 15 mpg on mostly rural highways and light city driving (only 4 lights in my town). The engine and truck when running good had gobs of power and towed wonderful but none of this mean anything when your maintenance costs are as bad as this truck has been.

You are not alone, and don't let anyone tell you differently. Some people have had good experiences, but those that have done much towing, run in the mountains a lot, etc... have had many of the problems you describe, and nobody got close to the advertised MPG. I just retired from latest career, service manager at a medium sized dealership. We didn't work on the Eco Boost but we saw a lot of them with issues, we didn't buy them and if one was traded it was sold to another dealer.