F150 Engine Preference

[TractorGuy]

Just came across this YouTube video and thought it was worth sharing.

I will summarize the video content and results. They were questioning dealer techs and service writers on which engine they would choose for a 2017 F150 so it's a bit out of date info. The poll ended up with 8 people choosing the 5.0 and 2 choosing the 3.5 eco boost.

 

[Rock Crawler]

I did not watch the video, but a buddy of mine is a Ford diesel mechanic at Beriel Ford in zelienople PA. My seven-year-old father was buying a 2019 f150, and was stuck between the 5.0 L and the 3.5 L EcoBoost. I called my buddy Glenn and ask him what I should buy. He said that the 5.0 liter V8 was redesigned and brought with it some problems that had not existed in the earlier models. at the same time the 3.5 L ecoboost engine was redesigned and fixed some problems that were out there in the earlier models. So based on his input as a full-time Ford dealership mechanic, we ordered a 2019 Ford F-150 King Ranch with the 3.5 L v6. I pray that we did well. My father's last Ford was a 1999 Ford F-350 with a 7.3 L f350.

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I have the first year (2011) of the 3.5L job ticket 2 (meaning I got the first round of production updates in the first year of production)

2012 got rid of two annoying problems with the 3.5L The too weak of a timing chain and the external air compressor mounted behind the left front headlight used for boost for the master cylinder that internally rusts and dies and costs $600 and that Ford is quietly offering a free extended warranty on until 150,000 miles.

I also taught the internet to drill a 1/16" weep hole at the bottom of the intercooler (something Ford cannot do because of emissions) and not install all the BS shields to keep the engine from ingesting a slug of water, hydro-locking and throwing a rod out of the block.

The original 3.5 gasket at the fuel pump can fail, and like a bunch of diesels, dump fuel straight into the crack case until it grenades.

All of the direct injection engines suffer problems with carbon building up on the backside of the intake valves and this is a PETA problem because if a top end engine cleaner is sent through the engines, enough to clean that carbon, it'll overheat the turbo seals and eff the turbos up. My solution was to put on a giant catch can and dump all of the recycling emission garbage into that catch can. Works great until winter when the catch can freezes and it is hard to drain out.

The cams and fasers can screw up to the point where I, as a mechanic will send it over to Ford to do.

The injectors are retarded tough to replace and you may not know if they aren't seated right until you fire the engine back up. So this too is a "Good-luck, Buddy" job at the ford shop unless you've got nothing to do and all day to do it.

The redesigned engine fixed the all-too-narrow injector install problem. It fixed the fuel pump gasket problem. And it fixed the valve carbon problem by adding an injector in the intake plenum to allow fuel to wash the carbon off of the intake valves.

Other than that, these are good engines.

FWIW, Ford typically recycles 70% of their existing parts content from design change to design change.

 

[timswi]

I'm not a Ford guy but...My nephew has had a 3.5 for about four years, trouble free and and he loves it...My Father-in-law has a 2.7, around 2 years old..Trouble free as well.

 

[deserteagle71]

I am on a couple F150 forums because I have a 2016 with the 3.5 Ecoboost engine. General consensus on the forums is that of the current engines the 5.0 V-8 is the one to avoid because, as stated above, the redesign is problematic. Lots of the V-8 engines being recalled for excessive oil consumption. Both the 2.7 and the 3.5 Ecoboosts are very reliable now. Consensus is that if you tow, get the 3.5. If not, the 2.7 is the engine to go with. Great mileage, great power and great reliability.

My 2016 has been completely reliable - never been in the shop for anything. Change the oil and rotate the tires is all I've had to do in 41,000 miles.

 

[goeduck]

That video has been around for a while, it is based on 2017 F150s. Curious what might be said in 2020.

 

[jgedmond]

I opted for the 3.5L when I bought new in 2019. My max tow is about 7000 lbs. and it handles that like there is nothing behind it. When not towing the pickup and performance is just awesome for a truck. For that I sacrificed a little bit of mileage compared to the 2.7L. I only have 12k miles, so no comments on durability, but no problems so far.

One dealer that I visited was really pushing the 2.7L. I think that they have trouble selling those to the typical Texas truck buyer and so they tend to build inventory and have to move it. If the 2.7L will work for your needs, then you can probably get a great deal especially at year- or month-end.

 

[goeduck]

Curious now that the 3.0 diesel in the F150 is offered what to expect.

 

[Tomtint]

Somewhere else here there is one of these threads. But to rehash, I have a 18 2.7 and a 19 3.5, both 4x4 x cabs, the 2.7 is a STX and the 3.5 is a XLT sport. ..both motors are surprisingly strong. The 2.7 we have is just a run around truck, the 1 long trip I took it on was 400 ish miles and all highway ..it got north of 20 mpg driving 75 ish. ...plenty of power and never felt sluggish. My 3.5 is real nice towing rig given how small and light it is. I have had 8k or so behind it and it handles it with ease. I think it really depends on what kind of driving you will be doing..Towing regularly..maybe the 3.5..towing occasionally and not super heavy..the 2.7 is plenty.. I have also heard some discouraging things about the V8..I think I would avoid them until they iron out the issues.

 

[dodge man]

If I were buying, no doubt I'd pick the 3.5 turbo or the 2.7 turbo as my second choice. If buying used, I would make sure any 5.0 I was looking at was 2017 or older. The redesign they did in 2018 appears to be a step backwards with some oil consumption being the biggest issue.

My personal truck is a 2017 5.0.

 

[dalola]

I did thorough test drives (in '15 & '18) with similar trucks and all three engines (2.7, 3.5, & 5.0), and both times picked the 2.7 truck. it's the perfect engine for my truck needs, and has been flawless for a combined 5 years & 70K miles. I'll get another one in '21 unless something better comes along. As it is, it's easily best in class for mixing cost, power, economy, and refinement, IMO.

 

[coobie]

I have the first year (2011) of the 3.5L job ticket 2 (meaning I got the first round of production updates in the first year of production)

2012 got rid of two annoying problems with the 3.5L The too weak of a timing chain and the external air compressor mounted behind the left front headlight used for boost for the master cylinder that internally rusts and dies and costs $600 and that Ford is quietly offering a free extended warranty on until 150,000 miles.

I also taught the internet to drill a 1/16" weep hole at the bottom of the intercooler (something Ford cannot do because of emissions) and not install all the BS shields to keep the engine from ingesting a slug of water, hydro-locking and throwing a rod out of the block.

The original 3.5 gasket at the fuel pump can fail, and like a bunch of diesels, dump fuel straight into the crack case until it grenades.

All of the direct injection engines suffer problems with carbon building up on the backside of the intake valves and this is a PETA problem because if a top end engine cleaner is sent through the engines, enough to clean that carbon, it'll overheat the turbo seals and eff the turbos up. My solution was to put on a giant catch can and dump all of the recycling emission garbage into that catch can. Works great until winter when the catch can freezes and it is hard to drain out.

The cams and fasers can screw up to the point where I, as a mechanic will send it over to Ford to do.

The injectors are retarded tough to replace and you may not know if they aren't seated right until you fire the engine back up. So this too is a "Good-luck, Buddy" job at the ford shop unless you've got nothing to do and all day to do it.

The redesigned engine fixed the all-too-narrow injector install problem. It fixed the fuel pump gasket problem. And it fixed the valve carbon problem by adding an injector in the intake plenum to allow fuel to wash the carbon off of the intake valves.

Other than that, these are good engines.

FWIW, Ford typically recycles 70% of their existing parts content from design change to design change.

Give yourself a big pat on the back for teaching everyone on the internet how to drill the hole.All I can say is WOW,thank god for internet HERO,s like yourself.You DA man..

 

[MinnesotaEric]

Give yourself a big pat on the back for teaching everyone on the internet how to drill the hole.All I can say is WOW,thank god for internet HERO,s like yourself.You DA man..

You are a small man to continue to follow me around on these forums to make little, useless jabs against my person. At the very least clean up your grammar so I don't continue to visualize you as some aging dementia patient unwarrantedly ranting against my person while shaking a rattle as an adult male-child.

At the time people were blowing rods through their blocks because the stock intercooler was sending slugs of water through the intake. Ford, aware of the problem, but because of emissions laws, could not and can not install a calibrated weep hole for water to blow out of their intercoolers as did older OEM turbo systems and every racing turbo does to this day. In an attempt to make their EcoBoost engines less likely to hydrolock, Ford had factory recalls to install shields covering their intercoolers to make their intercoolers less and less efficient in 2012 and again in 2013. But the solution was an easy fix for owners: simply drill a 1/16" hole at the lowest point in the intercooler to allow condensation to blow out before being drawn into the intake system.

 

[buck12]

My wife as an 2015 Expedition with the 3.5 with a little over 70,000 miles and we have had no problems. It is a soccer mom mobile and not used for towing. I really like it but if I was buying a new f150 I would go with the 5.0. A truck should just have a V8 in my mind.

 

[Clark6x20]

I have a 2018 3.5 Eco Boost it has the dreaded rattle after cold soak its been doing it for over 40,000 miles. At first Ford said it was a normal characteristic then they put out a special service message indicating a Technical Service Bulletin was coming out in the last quarter of 2019. So far I have not been able to find any information on a permanent repair so I have not done anything with it. The problem seems to be the phasers for the cam timing. I have all the necessary parts to do the repair however in most cases the fix is temporary and the concern comes back in as little as 500 miles. So I wait. In the meantime hold the brake and push the accelerator pedal to the floor when starting until the oil pressure comes up then let up on the accelerator and when it starts no rattle! Im sure Ford will have a pcm reprogram that will essentially do the same thing when they finally decide to address the problem. To be clear this is a major issue and with the current 5.0 issues it seems Ford simply does not offer a quality gasoline truck engine designed for towing at this time.

 

[buck12]

I have a 2018 3.5 Eco Boost it has the dreaded rattle after cold soak its been doing it for over 40,000 miles. At first Ford said it was a normal characteristic then they put out a special service message indicating a Technical Service Bulletin was coming out in the last quarter of 2019. So far I have not been able to find any information on a permanent repair so I have not done anything with it. The problem seems to be the phasers for the cam timing. I have all the necessary parts to do the repair however in most cases the fix is temporary and the concern comes back in as little as 500 miles. So I wait. In the meantime hold the brake and push the accelerator pedal to the floor when starting until the oil pressure comes up then let up on the accelerator and when it starts no rattle! Im sure Ford will have a pcm reprogram that will essentially do the same thing when they finally decide to address the problem. To be clear this is a major issue and with the current 5.0 issues it seems Ford simply does not offer a quality gasoline truck engine designed for towing at this time.

What are the 5.0 issues?

 

[coobie]

You are a small man to continue to follow me around on these forums to make little, useless jabs against my person. At the very least clean up your grammar so I don't continue to visualize you as some aging dementia patient unwarrantedly ranting against my person while shaking a rattle as an adult male-child.

At the time people were blowing rods through their blocks because the stock intercooler was sending slugs of water through the intake. Ford, aware of the problem, but because of emissions laws, could not and can not install a calibrated weep hole for water to blow out of their intercoolers as did older OEM turbo systems and every racing turbo does to this day. In an attempt to make their EcoBoost engines less likely to hydrolock, Ford had factory recalls to install shields covering their intercoolers to make their intercoolers less and less efficient in 2012 and again in 2013. But the solution was an easy fix for owners: simply drill a 1/16" hole at the lowest point in the intercooler to allow condensation to blow out before being drawn into the intake system.

Funny rant I enjoyed it.Did ford void your warranty for drilling the hole??

 

[desertdog71]

I bought a 19 STX with V8. I only have 7K miles on it but it's been fine. Yes they sound a little strange because of the new injection system. The 10 speed trans takes some getting used to but when you're towing it really does a nice job. I average 22MPG without a load, about 15-16MPG towing. Weight doesn't seem to affect the MPG towing much. My pontoon weighs very little and I towed a couple trailers in the 6K-7K range they all got similar MPG. The pontoon does have more drag though. Overall I am happy with it so far. No excess oil burning or gremlins with it at all. If I didn't need it for towing I probably wouldn't own it honestly but the 2.7 is plenty for a daily driver. 3.5 is a monster of an engine and easily modified with some simple reflashing if that's your thing. I don't think you can really go wrong with any of them depending on your needs. By the way the STX package to me was a pretty good value. If you don't care about fancy seats, and nanny monitors telling you how to drive. It has all the power stuff you need, the good SYNC system, backup camera, and rubber floors (saves you from buying weathertech liners):laughing: This all comes from a guy that owned nothing but Buicks since the 80's, GM has lost their way and I went Ford this time.

 

[Clark6x20]

What are the 5.0 issues?

Do a quick google search on the updated 5.0 for oil consumption.

 

[EddieWalker]

Give yourself a big pat on the back for teaching everyone on the internet how to drill the hole.All I can say is WOW,thank god for internet HERO,s like yourself.You DA man..

I would be embarrassed to post something so petty.