Exciting news for Ford-Trucks readers!

3:06 Ford
Saturday, 3:06 PM

 We have to call it quits for today. We will be answering questions on www.ford-trucks.com next week. Please catch us there. We will bring some of your questions along as well.

3:05 Ford
Saturday, 3:05 PM

 Jeff - First of all we run both oil and coolant through the turbos to lubricate and cool the turbos. On a hot shut down, we have a siphoning mechanism where we continue to circulate coolant through the turbo charger until it reachs an acceptable temperature.

3:00 Comment From Jeff
Saturday, 3:00 PM

Turbo-charged aircraft require 3 minutes cooling periods at idle before engine shutdown. How is this engine avoiding temperature shocks, which turbos are especially sensitive to?

2:59 Jim
Saturday, 2:59 PM

 Bob - It is a regular production engine we pulled from the Cleveland engine plant at random. There are no special parts in it and it received no special treatment.

2:58 Comment From Bob
Saturday, 2:58 PM

Will all EcoBOOST engine (iterations) use the same grade of internal engine components as the v-6 twin turbo engine 448AA ???

2:57 Jim
Saturday, 2:57 PM

 Brian - good question all of our turbo charged application use 5W30.

2:57 Comment From Brian
Saturday, 2:57 PM

Motorcraft 5W-30? You mean 5W-20 right?

2:57 Ford
Saturday, 2:57 PM

  Just a few more questions

2:56 Jim
Saturday, 2:56 PM

 Josh - Our 3.5 V6 is already stronger with better gas mileage than many of our competitors V8s.

2:54 Comment From Josh B.
Saturday, 2:54 PM

Are there any future plans to apply Ecoboost technology to a V8 engine? Adding Ecoboost to the new 5.0L V8 would create a monster performance engine suitable for both the SVT Raptor and the Mustang GT500.

2:53 Jim
Saturday, 2:53 PM

 Denis - Love the question. You absolutely can expect the same durability. The V6 3.5 and 3.7 are from the same engine family.

2:52 Comment From denis
Saturday, 2:52 PM

Wondering if the other 6- 3.7L will be as tough as this one ? Not as powerful as the ecoboost, but seems to like high revs, can we expect similar durability ? thanks

2:51 Jim
Saturday, 2:51 PM

 Robert - No evidence of any oil or coolant leaks during the inspection and tear down

2:51 Comment From Robert
Saturday, 2:51 PM

How about all of the seals. With all of the hot, cold, hot, cold expansion and contracting, was anything leaking or showing signs of leaks?

2:50 Jim
Saturday, 2:50 PM

 John - Did you catch the Baja episode? Plenty of dirt and grim.

2:50 Comment From John Scalla
Saturday, 2:50 PM

Was synthetic oil used in the engine for these tests? How about road dirt and grim simulation? I love my 1985 F-150 original engine and AOD (not rebuilt) and its going strong still with over 230,000 miles.

2:47 Jim
Saturday, 2:47 PM

 Ralph - It was a standard transmission and performed great in the Oregon, Miami and Arizona torture episodes.

2:46 Comment From Ralph
Saturday, 2:46 PM

How did the tranny hold up under the torture tests

2:45 Ford
Saturday, 2:45 PM

 All - We are taking questions on the F-150 and the V6 EcoBoost. We cannot comment on other lines and future products today.

2:44 Jim
Saturday, 2:44 PM

 Will - This is the first time we did this series of tests. We wanted to go to another level given what our truck owner expect.

2:43 Comment From Will
Saturday, 2:43 PM

Is this the first engine that Ford has done this to? Or has there been others and you had a good idea as to what to expect?

2:42 Jim
Saturday, 2:42 PM

 Tim - We offer a 6 speed automatic transmission on all F-150s

2:42 Comment From Tim
Saturday, 2:42 PM

is this available with a manual transmission, if so any issues?

2:41 Jim
Saturday, 2:41 PM

 Carl - Our horsepower and torque numbers are certified on regular fuel and that is what we used.

2:41 Comment From Carl
Saturday, 2:41 PM

What are the ecoboost's specs on premium?

2:40 Jim
Saturday, 2:40 PM

 Denis, we were pleasantly surprised. You can see for yourself when the videos are posted next week. Also note, we put the engine back in the dyno just prior to tear down and pulled 364 hp and 420 ft-lbs.

2:38 Comment From denis
Saturday, 2:38 PM

Looks like you`re saying that the engine is not far from a new one ? No visible wear after 160,000 miles ? Hard to believe !

2:38 Ford
Saturday, 2:38 PM

 We are going to go to 3 pm. We'll get to as many questions as possible

2:37 Jim
Saturday, 2:37 PM

 Marco - Let's first talk about the torque curve. Peak torque is at 2,500 RPM. However, 90% of the available torque is available 1,700 RPM to 5,000 RPM. A very flat torque curve. In terms of turbo lag, we've sized the turbos to be small and very responsive virtually eliminating all turbo lag

2:35 Comment From Marco P.
Saturday, 2:35 PM

Jim, with the twin-turbochargers from the V6, I just hope that they can make a very strong torque curve that starts out extremely low. If they end up having noticeable turbo lag, and for people who actually tow, or carry a payload, the lag will just destroy the transmission... can you clarify?

2:34 Jim
Saturday, 2:34 PM

 D. - We cannot comment on future products, today's focus is on the F-150 and the V6 EcoBoost

2:34 Comment From D. Scott
Saturday, 2:34 PM

With the success you have seen with this torture test and the performance potential, will we be seeing 5.0 and/ or 6.2 ecoboost options, or at least the possibility of turbo or direct injection versions?

2:33 Jim
Saturday, 2:33 PM

 Rodney - It was a standard production F-150 built at Kansas City assembly plant with no special treatment or fluids.

2:32 Comment From Rodney R.
Saturday, 2:32 PM

Did you use factory fluids and you change at any point during the test?

2:31 Jim
Saturday, 2:31 PM

 Brian - The spark plugs looked fine. Very minor carbon build up and the proper color. They were just normal production spark plugs, nothing special.

2:30 Comment From Brian
Saturday, 2:30 PM

Jim, how did the the spark plugs look? Are these special plugs?

2:30 Jim
Saturday, 2:30 PM

 Jeff - Absolutely!

2:29 Comment From Jeff
Saturday, 2:29 PM

So if we purchase an F150 with the ecoboost engine and put over 160,000 miles on it and adhere to the scheduled maintenance guidelines should we expect the same results?

2:29 Jim
Saturday, 2:29 PM

 Mike - We ended with about 167,000 miles. I'll tell my barber you liked the flat top!

2:28 Comment From Mike
Saturday, 2:28 PM

So how many miles did that F150 engine have on it after 150000 miles dyno plus all of the grueling tests and that baja race? BTW, props to your barber. That is a real deal flat top!

2:26 Jim
Saturday, 2:26 PM

 Josh - no special treatment just normal oil changes and 1 set of new spark plugs

2:26 Comment From Josh
Saturday, 2:26 PM

Did the engine get any special treatment during its torture? ie. synthetic oil/ excessive changes? Or what it maintained just as ford requests?

2:25 Jim
Saturday, 2:25 PM

 Natasha - Motorcraft 5W30 and oil change intervals every 10,000 miles

2:23 Comment From Natasha
Saturday, 2:23 PM

What type of oil did you use and how often was it changed?

2:23 Jim
Saturday, 2:23 PM

 Bryan - It will be an option on the Super Crew

2:23 Comment From Bryan
Saturday, 2:23 PM

Does the 4x4 EcoBoost trucks come with the 36 gallon tank? Buyers have been requesting this.

2:22 Jim
Saturday, 2:22 PM

 Tim - At the Tear Down event we could not measure with normal equipment but visually both the rod and main bearings looked great.

2:20 Comment From msirach
Saturday, 2:20 PM

How much wear was on the crank and rod bearings?

2:20 Jim
Saturday, 2:20 PM

 Don - We expect availability for 1st quarter 2011.

2:19 Comment From Don Mrla
Saturday, 2:19 PM

I am looking to buy a Platinum F150 with Ecoboost. When will it be available for CA?

2:17 Jim
Saturday, 2:17 PM

 Denis - Nothing unusual was found on the cylinder heads given what the engine's been through - Thanks!

2:17 Comment From denis
Saturday, 2:17 PM

Is there any trace of carbon deposit on the heads ?

2:16 Jim
Saturday, 2:16 PM

 Marco - The engine looks so good that we may in fact do just that, stay tuned

2:16 Comment From Marco P.
Saturday, 2:16 PM

Are there plans to rebuild the motor and conduct DYNO tests to continue monitoring the performance of the engine?

2:15 Ford
Saturday, 2:15 PM

 Great questions. We have a lot to get to.

2:14 Jim
Saturday, 2:14 PM

 Victor - We could only do a visual inspection at the tear down but the turbo looked fine and the engine's performance was right at target indicating that the turbo's functioning properly

2:13 Comment From victor j
Saturday, 2:13 PM

how did the engine hold up--was turbo ok

2:13 Jim
Saturday, 2:13 PM

 Marco, I was surprised how good the engine looked given everything (torture tests) its been through

2:12 Comment From Marco P.
Saturday, 2:12 PM

Was there any surprises with the tear down that you didn't expect to see? Good or bad?

2:10 Jim
Saturday, 2:10 PM

 Mike great question - The cross hatching in the cylinder bores were still very visible and evident. The crank journals showed very little distress. Both the rod and main bearings showed minimal wear and the crank end play was still within new build specification.

2:08 Comment From Mike
Saturday, 2:08 PM

Hi Jim. So how does the engine internals look?

2:08 Jim
Saturday, 2:08 PM

 Marco P. - We measured the valve lash during the teardown and it was within the new build specification which indicates very little wear

2:07 Comment From Marco P.
Saturday, 2:07 PM

do the heads appear to show a lot of wear since it had been through so many different conditions?

2:07 Jim
Saturday, 2:07 PM

 Erling - The final Webisode will be live on Ford.com on 1/26 and the full tear down event should be available on YouTube.com/FordTrucks early next week

2:05 Comment From Erling Brabaek
Saturday, 2:05 PM

When will the teardown be available on ford.com??

2:03 Ford
Saturday, 2:03 PM

While we get started here is the video that started it all featuring the V6 EcoBoost

2:01 Ford
Saturday, 2:01 PM

Hello and welcome to today’s live chat. Today we are chatting live from the Ford exhibit at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit with V6 Engine Program Manager Jim Mazuchowski. Jim is here to answer all your questions about the F-150 EcoBoost engine and the teardown of the EcoBoost Torture Test engine that took place this morning.