Ford Ecoboost Engines

I believe we are into the 8th (or perhaps 9th) year of the Ford EcoBoost engines. I have talked with people who have them or have had them. Some of the common comments I pick up on is the EcoBoost feature does seem to deliver better mileage over the V8 engine offerings they had in their prior trucks. I have heard when towing, the EcoBoost tends to be thirstier than their prior trucks with V8 engines. Torque and performance has impressed those who have these engines.

My father in law just traded off his 2014 F-150 with the 2.7 EcoBoost engine, and went back to a V8. The engine was in need of a new camshaft and had some bad valves in the head. This all happened just after the warranty expired. His prior F-150 with Ecoboost was traded for this 2014, when the truck was not quite 3 years old, and it gave him no problems. His 1999 F-150 has nearly 300k on the odometer, but is on its 3rd engine (5.4 liter V8), is his "beater truck" for daily use and dirty tasks such as hauling livestock in a stock trailer. The truck he had prior was a 1990 F-250 with the 7.3 liter diesel, which suffered from erosion of the cylinder walls and was ingesting coolant. He has been and will always be a die hard Ford owner. I am less biased, as I have driven products from all 3 domestic auto manufacturers.

Here is my question. What are people seeing or experiencing on their own with their Ford trucks with the EcoBoost engines? I am curious about fuel economy, performance, long haul towing, but especially longer term durability. Are you finding these engines need more repair or maintenance? What about turbo failure? Etc. I don't know anyone personally who has been able to talk firsthand as to how their Ecoboost enginers are holding up beyond 100k, 150k, 200k, or more. It is pretty rare if I don't drive a car or truck beyond 150k and even beyond 200k. I have one car nearing 300k and had one we drove to 312k.

I had a 1995 f150 that had a 300 straight six in it with 378,000 miles on it and the guy I sold it to is hauling watermelons with it still. Ford should have kept making those they were bullet proof and man could it pull. I got a 2016 f150 with the 3.5 non turbo non eco boost 6 speed auto regular cab long wheel base and I was skeptical about buying it after having old purple "the 95 nickname" for 20 years. Last week I loaded my 1967 3000 diesel tractor on my 16' trailer and went to pick up two old concrete mixers a woman gave me. With those and the tractor it pulled it just fine except that the tractor sat to far back and lightened the back end of the truck some. I get 21 to 23 miles to the gallon and so far I'm very satisfied. I'm like you and wondering about the longevity of if after 100 or 150k. I'm wondering about the 10 speed autos they have in them now also.

I can't answer your question. But where I work has been buying F150s with 2.7 ecoboost and people like to drive them. I think that small displacement turbo engines will be all that is available in a few years. For 2019 GM will have a 2.7 turbo 4 cylinder engine in there full size trucks.

I have been looking at the F150 Super crews with the 5.0 V-8 and the 10 speed automatics. I had a chance to drive one 650 miles on a trip a while back and it averaged 21 MPG. I really liked the power. I talked to my friend, A Ford Dealer and he is driving basically the same truck with a 3.5 Ecoboost, He says he cannot tell much difference in the two in all around driving, but for some reason he seems to like the Ecoboost better. I also have a friend that works in that dealership as a mechanic. He says that they have had very few problems with the Ecoboost.

I tend to agree the small displacement turbo engine is here to stay. I just bought a VW Passat last year and I am highly impressed with the fuel economy and the power of the engine in that car. I just cannot help but wonder about it in trucks, which can and are used for hauling or towing heavy loads.

The Ford eco-boost engine is not a small engine turbo'd for more power. It is a heavy built engine designed to pull and work from the start. They are a fairly long stroke engine with large bearings to take the load. When they first came out the big one would outpull the diesel at the time.

Well the ONE question you ask (Longevity) I cannot attest to. BUT I am on my forth one. I buy the larger one and run 75 thousand miles and trade. MY 2017 already has 31,000 miles. On the 75,000 mile trades I have not had one instance of engine problem. Run from Tennessee to Texas a lot running 75 unloaded can average 21mpg. Around here in Tennessee lower speeds (65) they will stay around 22.5 mpg. I have a mid weight 7000 lb car hauler and when I put 3 or 4 thousand lb load on the trailer millage drops to around 16 but will run with the load. I just like the thought of new dependable truck so I trade about ever two years. Looking at the cost per mile it works for me.

I had two F-150's with the 300-6 in them. Was an O-K engine once they put fuel injection on it. Had a '78 with a Carter YF-1 carb, was always something wrong with it, poor mpg, about 14, maybe 15 with a tailwind. Not an abundance of power either. Had 3.50 gears and no over-drive, engine ran 2600 rpm at 65-70 mph. Ordered out an '87, first year for EFI, it wasn't trouble free either. MPG was just a tiny bit better, maybe half a mile per gallon, bit more horsepower, rated 140 to carb'd engines 125, but 130-135 more like it. Same gearing, 3.55 with no overdrive. '78 truck had a 9 inch rearend, no problems in 93,000 miles, '87 had the 8.8, not really strong enough even for underpowered half ton. SON tore up his Super-heavy duty 8.8 in his '93 F-150 Lightning 4 times.

Put 300,000 miles on my '96 F-250 4x4 7.3L PSD, Best truck ever made. SON's trying to take it to 400,000. Has 3.55 gears and ZF 5-spd, averaged 18.5 mpg running 72-75 mph to/from work 120-150 miles a day.

Had a 2015 Edge with non turbo 3.5L V6, gutless unless you floored it, with cruise on it would downshift 2 gears on some hills, mpg suffered. Ford bought that Edge back, water leak in drivers side front firewall. New Edge has 2.0L 4 cyl Ecoboost, pulls hills much better than the V-6 with 1.75 times more displacement. EcoBoost gets 1-2 mpg better than the 3.5L V-6, 25 vs 23.

Replaced my '96 F-250 with a 2018 RAM 1500 with a 5.7L Hemi. Haven't drove it much, getting almost 16 mpg in local city & rural driving, did have one trip about 360 miles, got 16+ mpg at 75-80 mph. I like it, not getting used to the rotary knob gear selector but it's not a deal-breaker. Has an 8-speed ZF auto trans that shifts quick and firm. First auto trans in ANY car/truck I normally drive.

The first ones were not trouble free, we had a lot of them traded in for Chevy's and Dodges. We took the fords to the car auction. I hope the newer ones are better.

We have 1 Ecoboost - a 2014 Platinum XLT 4X4 Crew Cab. In the winter the check engine light is on half the time - Ford has never been able to "fix" the issue that triggers the light. In the summer it goes off and stays off. Empty it gets right at 20-21 MPG - towing a real load it gets about 12 - no major engine issues at 160K miles.


We have 17 F150s (2012 to 2017) with the 5.0 engine all extended cab 2 wheel drives. Mileage for all them ranges from 18 to 22, they have from 20K to 190K miles. To this date not one has had the engine cracked open - not even a water pump. Only one (a 2015) has had the transmission fail at about 140K. These are driven by our supervisors that don't have to pay for gas or repairs so they get driven like they stole them but they also get pretty good maintenance because they don't have to pay for it either. We thought about the 2.7 and it might happen in the near future but right now the 5.0 seems like the way to go. We have a 2012 that had some mean piston slap when it was first put in service and we thought we had the dealership convinced to replace the engine - turned out they didn't do it and told him to drive it until he had a "real issue". That truck now has over 150K and sounds exactly likely like it did when it was new - once in the while at start up it sounds like its about to come apart but after it idles for a minute it quiets down. Not related to the oil filter drain back (checked several times).

I have a 2011 eco boost F150 4X4 with the 3.7 or 3.5l engine. I can?t remmeber the number very well off Hand. It has 137k on the clock. Driving 55 will get 21-22 mpg. 70 Mhp will get you 17. Pulling a 21? ski boat will get you about 9mpg.

Ford always seemed to have a few good engine designs and alot more BAD engine designs has been my experience.

My dad's 5.0 rusted out the transmission pan. But he's not 25 miles off lake Erie, about due east of Cleveland.