Ford eco boost motors

May be in the market for a new truck soon depending on how the service appointment goes Monday.

I drive a lot. 2-300 miles a day typically so fuel economy is main concern. While I know trucks are not great period been driving one almost my entire life now. But adding a third vehicle for work only doesn’t make financial sense right now since I’m job hunting to hopefully drive way less.

2.7 vs 3.5

Not much price difference either way. 2.7 little better mileage on paper at least. I don’t tow much but when I do it’s usually a camper that weighs about 4K pounds. My current ram it completely kills power and mileage as soon as it gets hooked up.

Need some realistic numbers before I commit to buying a Ford. I have no brand loyalty like many do so I don’t really care for the debate. I drive a ton so I usually buy what makes sense at the time. They are not worth much when I get done anyways.

If you're not towing much, the 2.7 gets better mileage and performance empty than the 3.5. Once you load something up on them, the economy goes way, way down, but the 3.5 will move what you want as fast as you'll want to. The power is there, but it's inversely relative to mileage.

There's a lot of "no replacement for displacement" folks out there, and that's just not the case anymore. There's also folks who will say there's too many moving parts and they won't last. My brother's got an '11 3.5 (arguably the worst year for them) with well over 200k on it that's still pulling 4-5k every day. And he's not known for an appreciation towards routine maintenance.

If you want good mileage empty and adequate performance towing, 2.7
If you want adequate mileage empty and good performance towing, 3.5

Beware of the ecoboost motors, cam phasers are a real problem with them. My 2018 Raptor sounds like a diesel upon start-up each morning. It’ll be fixed under warranty, but there’s no “improved” design, they just replace bad phasers with new, bad phasers.

The 5.0 gets just as good of mileage, yes, I’ve owned both. I believe lifetime average was 18.6 with my first 3.5 Raptor and 20.3 with the 5.0. Mostly highway with no towing on either.

Best to keep it simple and stick to the 5.0

I’m on my 3rd 3.5 ecoboost and may be another one in the next few days. Have not had the cam phaser issue spoken about above but I have heard about it. Let’s assume you’re not looking to buy a raptor. They will get better gas mileage than the 5.0 and have more power doing it. Either way both motors are proven and I wouldn’t hesitate either way if I was considering the 5.0. The 3.5 is a $2595 up charge over the base V6, I don’t know what the 5.0 is.

The V8 uses the same cam phasers, so that is not a valid reason to go away from the ecoboost. I have a 2.7 ecoboost (2017) 4x4 with 67000 miles currently. Gas mileage is pretty consistant at 19-21 MPG depending on conditions. I did get the 3.73 gears, and interestingly, I don't see much difference in hwy mileage and city. Now, I do drive very conservatively, but this thing has GOBS of power. I can drive like I stole it, and can honestly say that it is the fastest Truck I have ever driven. When you use the boost, you lose the eco though.

Towing, it does just fine. Towed my boat to Beaver Lake in NW AR, and had no issues keeping up 80 going uphill in the mountains. Towing mileage did drop down to about 13-14. That's what my old 5.4 f150 used to get without towing!

Reliability, up to this point, I have only had a bad brake sensor and a windshield replaced.

Have a 2019 2wd with the 2.7. 62000 miles, CEL for egr purge something or other on at 42000 and 14 months in. Ford said tuff sh!t and hasn't seemed to effect anything yet. Runs like a scalded ape in sport mode. 22-24 hwy and 20 in town. Moved up to 32s for ground clearance and its dropped about 1.5mpg. Towing is horrible. Towing and empty 12' single axle with lift gate was 12.2mpg and the tow rating on the 2wd 4dr short bed is like 6300lbs. The rear suspension is SUPER soft and sways really bad with any kind of load.

If you tow get the 3.5...I’ve had 4 of them and would buy another one tomorrow. GOBS of power.

Have you ever had one make it to 100k?

If you put 200-300 miles a day I would consider one of the half ton diesels. I have a ram ecodiesel and it knocks down 30 mpg empty highway. I use it like I would any other pickup. 91,000 miles and no issues.

Chevy and ford both make one too and as I understand it all perform about the same.

He probably hasn’t kept one over 20k miles. He changes trucks more than he does his underwear

Agree with the half ton diesels for your stated use.

Will pull 4K lbs pretty easily and you will have the fuel economy of a diesel.

Did a run from San Antonio to Austin and back today 33.6 mpg in my 2015 ecodiesel at 65 mph.

Only 65 mph on I35? Sounds like you were impeding traffic. I may have passed you pulling my mule on 20’ trailer.

I stayed in slow lane, but there was plenty of traffic to keep the traffic flow plenty below what people wanted to drive unless you wanted to dodge cars from lane to lane. Anyhow I was working and I don’t mind driving 65 anyway.

2016 here - 110,000 miles - tow occasionally and does great. Cruising highway 65-70 I get 20-21 MPG. On my third one

Congrats but Judd’s never kept a vehicle over 30k

I know some think its pushing too much power through too small a displacement, but I think the ecoboost engines have proved to not be short lived as some expected. These modern engines are built significantly sturdier than their predecessors from a decade or two ago.

Saw my brother's truck at the shop today, 230k and they just had to put a new starter on it. (Doesn't have the start/stop technology) Still the original motor and transmission.

The ecoboost is one of the few turbo motors that was designed from the very beginning to be turbo. People hear “twin turbo” and they automatically think it’s going to blow up. I’ve got faith, just bought my 4th one last night. In fact both of my newer vehicles are 3.5s. 2018 SHO and 2020 F150. When you pull a trailer with one it’s all smiles.

I don't keep them long...the longest ones I've kept though were ecoboost 3.5's. 45k is the most I've put on one....that doesn't change my statement, if I was to buy a 1/2 ton tomorrow it would have the 3.5 in it....our buddy has one with well over 100k on it and I know several others (my Dad just sold one with 120k miles on it).

What is your point? I can't have an opinion or experience with something enough to voice it unless I keep it a certain number of miles? How many ecoboosts have you or BP owned?

Yes, You can only give advice on longevity under 45k

Its just kind of like Buzz giving advice on long term gun ownership...

2017 3.5 92k miles, water pump at 83k no other issues. Am looking to buy another, great motor in my opinion! Drove Toyotas til 2017 when Toyota decided that 2007 technology was good enough, I then switched to Ford with no regrets.....so far.

2017 Expedition with 3.5 and 60k miles. Don’t tow anything with it, but it gets 20 mpg on the hiway. No issues so far.

My 2011 eco boost is approaching 120k miles I’m retired). Only problem so far was plug coil failure around 80k. Mileage city 17, 19 hwy. Best I ever saw was 23 down I-25 between Cheyenne and Denver (downhill).

I do find that it’s “sensitive “ to loading, so rather than throw a bunch of deer corn in the bed at home, I would make the 250 mile drive to the lease and buy locally. Otherwise my mileage would drop to around 15 with the extra weight in the bed.

Towing the heavy deer lease camper (5600 empty, 10k GVWR) a limited distance it drops to 6-7 depending on terrain, but absolutely has plenty of power. But I still wouldn’t tow that heavy sucker over the Rockies!

Still on the fence at the moment. Job change could be coming to where fuel economy isn’t as important since round trip would be about 30 miles a day. Now if some good end of year deals pop up it may just be the time to buy.

I bought a bee one Tuesday. So far still on the first tank at 310 miles. The lieometer is saying 20.0 mpg. That’s mixed driving. 195 of those miles hiway, the rest around town.

That’s 4x4 supercrew with 3.55s.

Bought a Ranger 11mo ago with the 2.3 Ecoboost. Very quick truck, 23.8mpg since new (25,000mi). Thats hard to beat.

Have 156K on my work truck. 2017 F150 SCREW 4x4 with the 2.7 Eco. Still runs like a scalded ape. I average between 18-22 MPG depending on conditions. Cannot comment on towing, as company doesn’t allow us to tow personal trailers. That engine is at the top of my list when I buy a new personal truck.

is the truck 4x4? how do you like it?

Does it require you to run premium grade fuel?

Several of the performance minded engines say to run mid grade or premium to get the best power, but as far as i know they will all run fine on regular.

I have a 2016 2.7 and I average 18.4 to 19.8 running regular gas and when I tow a trailer it goes down to around 15.3 to 16.6. I can say I drive fast once out on the hwy, seriously my other car is an 05 GTO putting down about 650hp. So speed is a given. But I can pull my 16 ft trailer with my four wheeler and loaded with deer corn or even my JD with the brush hog 75 to 80 mph with out a worry in the world. I haven't had any issues thus far but I know something's gonna happen one day but I feel like I've gotten good use out of it so far. I'll buy another one probably next year.

2015 2.7 ecoboost, 4x4, just rolled 100K miles and pulls my 3,500 lb travel trailer with no problems. I get ~19 MPG in my daily driving...I do not impede traffic but I'm not out there trying to win any races either...

My experience is that the 3.5 will get you close in the MPG department but actually tows much better. I have a buddy that is almost at 200K miles on his 2013 3.5 and he has had no mechanical issues to speak of.

Third tank on a 2020 3.5 hand calculated is 17.6. Lieometer said 18.9. Mixed driving. Never aggressive.

That’s a 4x4

I get as good as that with my Ram 5.7 hemi without a turbo. On road a little over 20 and pulling a 14' stock trailer in the hills about 16.

An update, I’m awaiting the cam phaser replacement, parts on order. 18 Raptor with ~56K miles.

Unrelated to the phasers, last weekend I idled the truck at camp for a few cycles to charge some electronics. Everything seemed fine until the following AM. Started it up and it billowed a thick white smoke that smelled terrible. Smoked out our entire ~5 acre camp. Took ~20 minutes or so to dissipate. Once home I was able to replicate the problem....basically an extended idle will cause this. Took ~10 miles or so to dissipate this time.

Best I could gather from internet searches is that during an extended idle oil seeps passed the turbo seals. Not sure if that’s correct and also doesn’t explain white smoke vs. bluish smoke.

Anyhow, another potential issue with these motors.

Does Ford still make the 5.0? I have a 2014 4x4 with the 5.0 and 120k or so miles on it..the last of the all steel bodies, big 360hp V8...none of that power the engine off crap while I'm at a stop light and have my AC kick off when it's 110 outside....I'm driving that sucker till it literally falls apart.

The 5.0 V8 is a great engine. I loved mine

Most places I have read about and talked to indicated most cam phaser problems are caused by going too long on oil changes and/or using the wrong viscosity of oil or not using an oil that meets the specs ford has. I dont know about the smoking at idle/after idling, never seen that before.

I have had 2 of them and they were super good engines

I have the non Ecoboost 6. 2015 supercrew 2wd. I get 24-25 mpg sometimes higher but I drive slower than most. Trip 2 odometer has never been reset, showing 23.3 mpg to date at 52500 miles. Struggles a bit in the hills west of SATX pulling 16' lowboy but managed 13 mpg. I'm pleased with it.

I have a 2017 4x4 with 93k miles on it. Average 19 MPG, changed a water pump at 83K other than that no problems. Runs great loaded or unloaded can't tell a difference.

At 4000 miles now. It’ll get a solid 20 if I babysit it.

Get the 3.5 they are bullet proof.

I can pull 20-21 if I keep my Cummins under 70, but who has time for that? I get 17.5-18.5 running 80-85

I am with you. My 2014 super crew 4x4 with the 5.0L V-8 is just about to hit the 100,000 mile mark. Water pump was replaced around 18 months ago while still under xtended warranty. My only gripe is the brakes. The local dealership replaced the front disc brake pads at maybe 65 thousand miles and they are already starting to squeak again. I rarely ever tow anything other than a small horse trailer. Has anyone else had issues with brakes on their F-150?

Replaced them on my 2014 at about the same mileage with PowerStop rotors and pads. They stop much better and wear longer.

I havent replaced the brake pads on a vehicle since my 1994 chevy. It saw a lot of trailer service with no trailer brakes.

Have had a 2006 tahoe an '04 and 05 duramax, a 2011 chevy 1500, a 2015 ram 1500, a 2007 chevy cobalt, 2005 chevy cavalier, 2014 ford escape all with over 100,000 miles most of the trucks with over 200,000 miles with lots of life left on factory pads. A little screach doesnt mean they need to be replaced. Look at them yourself, if you just take it to a shop and say my brakes are making noise 99% chance they are goign to do a brake job.

Yep, I had my front brakes on my 2013 replaced in 2017, they started to squeak this past September. I had them checked by Ford and then another brake company. They said those type of brakes which I forgot already said that happens. The squeaking got so bad and embarrassing I just had them replace them earlier this month.

Had a 2015 F150 with the 3.5. At just over 100k the Throttle Body crapped the bed. Apparently if you google it, it is not uncommon. Luckily it was easy enough to replace myself.

I bought a 2020 Ford Ranger FX2 in Sept. with the 2.3 liter eco-whatever. It gets around 22.8 mpg. Handles like a sports car and isn't too bad at some mild off roading.

Dad has a 2016 F 150 4x4 with the 5.0. It gets 20-21 on highway at 75mph, and this past weekend we towed my old z-71 home on a 18ft pipe top trailer from Weatherford to Childress and the liometer said over the trip he averaged 12.7 mpg with the cruise set on 65. We estimated the truck and trailer to weigh around 6,500-7,000 lbs. Only time it downshifted as low as 2nd gear was coming up the hill on 281 north of Jacksboro climbing out of the West Fork of the Trinity River bottom. Rest of the time it was in overdrive. I'm not a Ford guy at all, but I have been highly impressed by the speed, fuel efficiency, and towing power it has for a half ton.

If you're impressed with the 5.0...the 3.5 ecoboost would blow your skirt up.

X2 on what Judd said. Plus you can color me a huge skeptic of 20+ mpg at 75.

I personally put over 1200 miles on it on a vacation in 2018, hand calculated 18-20 almost every fill up. Liometer says 21 sometimes 22 coming down the hill on 287 from the panhandle back to DFW.

How does "It gets 20-21 on the highway at 75" equate to on the hwy hand calculated it gets 18-20 and 21-22 on the liometer going down hill? Im sure its a nice ride, but it is what it is, I have driven them and many people have 20-21 doing 75... well i never did that in a ford 5.0.

I would regularly get 20-22mpg in my 2016 F-150 5.0 but at 65mph, regular tires and not loaded.

get this - I have owned multiple ecoboost king ranches - traded my 2016 for a 2021. Hop in it and drive - the ONLY WAY THE ECOBOOST KICKS IN IS IF YOU PROGRAM IT EVERY TIME YOU START THE TRUCK!!!!! There is no way to just set it and leave it!

So you have to remember every time you get in your freaking 60 K truck to turn the eco boost on! Ford is losing me fast

Program what? You can put it in sport mode which keeps it in the boost all the time, but it also kills the gas mileage. Just drive it normal and when you want power step on the gas. I’ve had mine about 3 months and put 7000 miles on it. It does whatever I need it to. Turn the traction control off if you want to feel more. It’s very aggressive.

Ecoboost does not mean what you think it means.

Think you are confusing start stop with ecoboost?

No I am not - you have 5 options each time you start the truck - normal, tow, snow/ice, ecoboost, sport. - If you do not make the adjustment it operates in normal.

I think that says eco on mine and may be economy mode. Also known as weak sister.

This is my fourth King ranch ecoboost - I like and use the ecoboost option unless I am towing - so the only thing that changed on my 2021 versus my others is that you have to manually select the ecoboost mode each time you start the truck

So your saying the others started in economy mode once it was selected? I didn’t know that was an option before. Mine is a 2020 but is set up just like yours. I’ve never tried eco mode. How much does it improve your gas mileage?

yes previous models once you selected ecoboost it stayed there until you changed it - adds around 2-3 miles per gallon for me and I cannot tell any difference in the ride or power

Ecoboost is the engine make, eco(economy)mode is mainly transmission, air/fuel electronic setting

It can be confusing.

2-3 is significant. I get 19 average so far in mine. 4x4, mixed driving, idling, and mud.

What size tires

255/75 R20. Still stock.

The ECO you are referring to Tim means economy and yes you have to select it every time unless you put a tuner on it.

Lots of idle hours, let’s call that drinking beer in the back pasture hours.

All kinds of false. 275/55 R20

Swear I was sober.