Ford technician and man behind the YouTube channel FordTechMakuloco, Brian Makuloco, is no stranger to issues with the 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engines. He’s seen plenty of problems crop up over the years thanks to the wear and tear on components like roller followers, phasers, water pumps, and more. He highly recommends preventative maintenance to keep V6 EcoBoost engines out of the shop, which is a critical step in the health of a vehicle, as the owner of one 2015 Ford F-150 found out when their engine went nuclear.
Brian explains that his shop is “overrun with engine jobs,” which explains the latency in his upload schedule lately. He’s got not one, not two, but three 3.5L V6 EcoBoost engines that have failed. The first engine is in the hot seat today, which failed at 97,000 miles, although Brian says it’s not the fault of the engine this time.
“This guy willingly, and knowingly, neglected the oil,” Brian explains, “and then it sludged up. Then he put some BG, super-strong cleaner through it… and things got worse from there.”
Neglecting the engine oil set this Ford F-150 up for a world of hurt. Myriad issues cropped up, including an uncommon failure when the main chain slipped. A teardown reveals the full extent of the failure. Metal flakes litter the inside of the valve cover, indicating that the chain started tearing itself apart well before the engine laid down.
There’s also another point of failure in the turbochargers. The oil seal inside the turbo itself failed because it got so gunked up, and the BG engine oil treatment just sent it over the edge. The turbo became oil-starved and let go, adding to the pile of failures that sidelined this Ford F-150.
In short, the easiest way to keep the V6 EcoBoost happy is to simply keep it properly maintained. Change your oil and don’t use oil treatments as a replacement for service – it’s bound to send the powerhouse to the scrapyard before its time.
Comments
It is inappropriate to have a negative headline about this engine when the damage was intentional. Most people only will read the initial headline. My experience is that the 3.5 Turbo is a great engine.
Agreed. 136k on my 2015, change the oil well ahead of schedule and spark plugs. Still runs like new. Still no rattle on startup even
You are one of the lucky ones! The Ecoboost is a 100k engine at best.
Think u r referring to wet-belt Ecoboosts.. this one is with a chain.