Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Ford 3.5 ecoboost F-150 experience

51K on my 2018 Super Crew Lariat Eco with Twin Turbo. I really liked it until this fall. The sunroof rails broke on both sides due to not lubing the sunroof gasket - I never heard of that. Seems it's a common occurrence.

Now I am starting to get this rattle on cold start. I believe it's the damned cam phasers. I cannot believe that they have not issued a recall for this problem. I will NOT piss away $3-4000 on this problem. I'll send it down the road.

Then on the way up to deer camp, my dash lights up likes it's Christmas. Warnings for schitt I didn't know I had. Hill park assist? Seems my right front bearing is going out as is the speed wheel sensor and that affects all of these other warnings. I'm told when that's fixed, the warning lights will deactivate. Appt is scheduled at the dealer for 12/22. If they can fix all of this and take care of the cam phasers, then I maybe I'll buy another. If not, then no way. A $70K vehicle just shouldn't have these issues with only 50K on the clock.

They should be named “Eco-or-boost”. I owned a 2019 F150 4wd Lariat. Empty - fast, decent mpg (18mpg mixed). Towing - plenty of power (for a half ton) but mpg dropped big time (10mpg towing a 5x9 utility trailer with a small side by side). I dove hunted with a friend who guides duck hunters a couple of months back and he was in a new Superduty - asked why he got a new truck, and he said he was tired of 7-8mpg with his F150 3.5L (pulling his tandem axle utility trailer with a Polaris 6 seater). I had no significant issues with mine in 2yrs and 35k miles, but I did get a recall notice on the cam phasers (but when I took it in a few months later they had stopped that repair, said it wasn’t fixing the issue). Traded my F150 in last year for an Explorer ST for the wife (3.0 Ecoboost, all wheel drive - fast and fun but disappointed with mpg, no better than the F150 on cruise on the hwy) and bought a GMC. For reference, my 2021 GMC AT4 6.2L gets maybe 0.5mpg less empty, but 1.5mpg better towing same trailer, same routes, etc.

My brother bought a 2.7l F150 several years back. They love it (don’t tow or haul anything besides groceries, luggage, 3 small kids, etc) and it gets awesome mileage for a pickup with some pep, but it did get a new motor under warranty at about 50k miles (don’t remember the reason).

You paid 70K for a 2018?

Sticker in 2018 was $69,900. Lots of extra schitt I didn't need (like power running boards - there's a special place in hell for that engineer). And no, I have never paid sticker in my life. Nor will I ever.

Hard to imagine a 2.7L in a full size pickup, but then again its hard for me to imagine a 200HP 4 cylinder. I'm still in 1998

Mine was a big POS. 2018 xlt 3.5 ecoboost 4wd

Over 20g in warranty repairs before 60,000 miles all told and ford acted like everything was somehow my fault.

It was almost comical if it wasn’t so painful to go through at the time


Front end went totally all to hell when vacuum solenoid shiiit out and put truck in 4wd low at 55mph or so.



So I’m not a fan and won’t buy ford again

I know what you mean. I always wanted the displacement, until I tried a few modern turbo engines. 1996 was the last year of the traditional Ford pushrod engines, and here are the power ratings.



Always thought the 351 engines we had in Broncos and F150s were plenty stout, but they only made 330lb/ft of torque and 210hp. If I'm not mistaken, the 2.7L EcoBoost makes 400lb/ft of torque at roughly the same RPM. The 3.5L version makes 500lb/ft. The 5.0L/302 engines from back then were even worse, plus everything was running through 4spd autos for 12-16mpg. And even though the newer trucks are larger overall, the alloy bodies make them weigh about the same. Stuffing 400hp/500tq in a 1996 F150 would have required a warmed-over big-block or a built-small block and it would have been considered a barn-burner. It's normal now.

Hard to imagine a 2.7L in a full size pickup, but then again its hard for me to imagine a 200HP 4 cylinder. I'm still in 1998

Mine was a big POS. 2018 xlt 3.5 ecoboost 4wd

Over 20g in warranty repairs before 60,000 miles all told and ford acted like everything was somehow my fault.

It was almost comical if it wasn’t so painful to go through at the time

Both turbos and intercooler replaced before 35000
Camphaser issue took 4 visits to dealer to fix
Bed had to come off twice due to water leaks in the cab requiring carpet and backing to have to be replaced twice and part of the wiring harness was affected by this as well.
Front end went totally all to hell when vacuum solenoid shiiit out and put truck in 4wd low at 55mph or so.

Driveshaft had to be replaced as well

So I’m not a fan and won’t buy ford again

I just got my little Ford Maverick with a 250 HP 2L. It scoots when you put your foot in it.

It has more power than my 7.3 diesel did when she was new………

I just got my little Ford Maverick with a 250 HP 2L. It scoots when you put your foot in it.

It has more power than my 7.3 diesel did when she was new………

I want to see a pic with 1,000 lbs. in the bed.

Lol, I owe you that one. Did feed with it last Friday, 23 bags was fine on the farm. Not sure I’d be terribly comfortable at 80 on the freeway, but I must admit she squatted less than I expected. Handled the weight about like my Tacoma used to, but I put 8 ply tires on the Taco just to make me feel better about the weight.