Ford guys - 5.0 or 3.5 eco boost?

[Addicting]

I have a 2011 5.0 with the 6 speed and love it. It does get confused about what gear it wands to be in climbing hills but you can easily get past that by manually selecting the gear or using tow/haul. I’ve seen enough turbochargers eat the dirt on 6.7 powestrokes at work that I don’t trust anything ford with a turbocharger. Also I came across a video from the famous YouTube mechanic, I think his name is Scotty, where he confirmed a suspicion I had. If you make a motor have less displacement then force air into it to create more power, it’s going to wear out faster. I prefer simplicity and having one less part that can fail makes me feel good.

There is a big difference shoving half burnt diesel soot back into a 6.7l turbo engine verses gas emissions. The exhaust side of each of those turbos has a dramatically different life and longevity. Comparing the two is apples to oranges.

 

[tom338]

I bought the 3.5 the first year they came out with it 2011, I needed a new truck as the chevy I was driving was a turd. I called it a gutless wonder, zero pulling power, and it started drinking oil at 70,000 miles. I am now in my 4th 3.5 eco boost. For those who say I don't need or want a turbo truck....well you have never been in one. They have very good pulling power, they will use gas while doing so however. But not pulling my 23 model gets between 21 and 22.5 mpg. But...put a topper on and drive 80 down the interstate and I found I get 15-16. Topper plus pulling a 16 foot enclosed trailer I get between 9 and 10.5. Those are real numbers punched with a calculator and not off the trucks milage display. My buddy thought his new chevy would get better milage pulling the trailer one year, so we used his truck to pull the trailer. He did not have a topper on his truck either. We got 7 mpg, was glad I had extra gas cans with, he ran it dry once, tiny little 24 gallon tank. Plus it had a very tough time pulling that trailer. He got his eyes opened and we didn't even go thru the mountains, just eastern Montana. I have not had any engine trouble with any of the 3.5 ecoboosts ever. I change oil every 5,000 miles and put full synthetic mobile 1 in it. Never had any engine rattle at start up like some others have had. Will buy another 3.5 when the time comes

 

[TX Trophy Hunter]

 

[WNC2500]

I had good success with the 5.0 and terrible luck with the eco boost. I bought both of them new. The ecoboost was for sure the worst vehicle I have ever owned. Engine blew up at 24,000 miles. I owned mustangs, rangers, and F150s for most of my life and the ecoboost got me looking at other makes. If I ever buy Ford again, it will be 5.0 or diesel. Love the creature comforts of the F150s.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

I had good success with the 5.0 and terrible luck with the eco boost. I bought both of them new. The ecoboost was for sure the worst vehicle I have ever owned. Engine blew up at 24,000 miles. I owned mustangs, rangers, and F150s for most of my life and the ecoboost got me looking at other makes. If I ever buy Ford again, it will be 5.0 or diesel. Love the creature comforts of the F150s.

Factory engine, unmodified? How did you use it? That's wild.

 

[wytex]

Bought a 2020 F150 with the 5.0 in it Jan. Been really happy so far. Has the 36 gal fuel tank and we can get to Texas on 1 tank of gas.
It has the 10 speed trans.

 

[Bowmannate2000]

Bought a 2020 F150 with the 5.0 in it Jan. Been really happy so far. Has the 36 gal fuel tank and we can get to Texas on 1 tank of gas.
It has the 10 speed trans.

I love the large gas tank, except when I'm filling it up!

 

[WNC2500]

Factory engine, unmodified? How did you use it? That's wild.

Never modified. Factory engine. Drove normally to work, to hunt, drove out to MT the year before. Never towed, or hauled anything with it. Normal maintenance. I was blown away by what happened with it.

 

[Wind Gypsy]

Never modified. Factory engine. Drove normally to work, to hunt, drove out to MT the year before. Never towed, or hauled anything with it. Normal maintenance. I was blown away by what happened with it.

Yeah. I’d be pretty disgusted, good thing it was under warranty still I assume?

 

[WNC2500]

Yeah. I’d be pretty disgusted, good thing it was under warranty still I assume?

Yep, it was under warranty (it only had 24,000 miles). Ford said found engine to be locked up and would not turn. Removed all spark plugs. Found cylinder 3 to be smashed. Removed oil pan and found #3 connecting rod to be broken. Removed and replaced long block assembly. Also replaced intake due to debris. Reinstalled accessory components. Filled with fluids.

About 2 months later, had two starters back to back to fail. Then the brakes failed on me on the interstate.....that one was the last straw. It got me looking for an engine that would never blow up on me like the ecoboost did. To be honest, that is the only reason that I ever looked at a diesel. I had no reason to buy a diesel. I don't do the things that require a diesel. But, I have never been happier. My 2500 just flipped 129,000 miles this past weekend while WT hunting.

 

[tom338]

Never modified. Factory engine. Drove normally to work, to hunt, drove out to MT the year before. Never towed, or hauled anything with it. Normal maintenance. I was blown away by what happened with it.

Did they ever tell you the cause of the failure?? Had an engine go on wife car, said the bolts on the bottom on the bearing rod came loose.. not a ford.

 

[BrentD]

I have been dragging my tractor and implements for 672 miles per round trip at interstate speeds with absolutely no complaints except that I am not getting 20 mpg doing it. The 3.5 EB rocks so far as I am concerned.

 

[WNC2500]

Did they ever tell you the cause of the failure?? Had an engine go on wife car, said the bolts on the bottom on the bearing rod came loose.. not a ford.

They never did. They just told me that the #3 piston grenaded and locked everything up.

 

[MNElkNut]

How many miles?

2016 had 98,000 when I bought the 21 that now has 60. I bought a 2017 2.7 for my boys and that has 145,000. Every motor out there has lemons and they all have their issues. I am very pleased with the combination of good mileage and power.

 

[sccritterkiller]

They never did. They just told me that the #3 piston grenaded and locked everything up.

All manufacturers get bad bad batches of parts from time to time...buddy had his '22 7.3 motor in his 250 replaced at 9k due to bad batch of lifters...
Toyota is replacing all the motors in the new Tundras due to machining debris...dont even get me started on the CP4 high pressure pumps in the diesels all brands...20k to rebuild the top half of the motor when they release their glitter bomb.

My mechanic buddy says it best..."These days all manufacturers have issues, it's the luck of the draw...buy the brand that color matches you boat best."

 

[mplane72]

Had a 12 5.0. Exhaust sounded good and was fine if you just want a truck that's not going to tow much. Only problem was blowing out a water pump at about 20K. Traded it after 3 years for what a really wanted. A new to me 2014 with the 3.5, 3.73 ratio, electronic locking differential the total tow package and a 6.5 box. Only problem has been a bad throttle body the way that works is a real pisser. Puts truck in limp mode even when your on an interstate bridge over the Mississippi at 70 MPH. Mileage is not great, worse with E range tires Average 15 mpg. 145k and climbing.

 

[Doublecluck]

5.0 all day but they always tell me how everyone loves the 6’s now when I tell them I only want to look at 5.0’s at the dealer. When they first came out that wasn’t the case. Buddy of mine melted a hole in a piston towing his boat in the desert with a gen 1 turbo 6. I’m on my 5th 6.7 250 but have had 3 newer 5.0’s (2018 up) and ran em all to 150k without problems. Usually when I trade em in for tax purposes.

 

[Flatrock]

I have a 2023 3.5 and really like it so far. Gets around 20 mpg on the highway and 16-17 in town. Tows a 30 foot camper no problem at all.

 

[maxracx]

I have owned 2 Ford F150's with the 5.0 and have loved them both. My wife's daily driver is a 2020 with roughly 44K miles. I drive a 24 Toyota Tundra for work and I would never own one. I have the 36 gal tank in her truck and we just make sure to never let it get below 1/2 tank.

 

[Forkyfinder]

There is a big difference shoving half burnt diesel soot back into a 6.7l turbo engine verses gas emissions. The exhaust side of each of those turbos has a dramatically different life and longevity. Comparing the two is apples to oranges.

Those have a notoriously poor design on the first gen... The turbo shaft was too long and the bearings couldnt take the extra leverage from the shaft length. Very few turbo engines have problems - theres relatively few parts.

Turbos are reliable, on gas and diesel engines - especially fixed geometry like the EB.