Not flaming or defending, just would like to hear if anyone's biting. Since I wasn't there I can't say what I think, other than to say a "simulated" 100k test sounds like heat index to me. Am I being pessimistic?

Fwiw the eb is the only new truck I've even entertained buying. Been in love with it since the test drive.

 

You're being pessimistic.
The durability testing that Ford is using as a media promo tool for the ecoboost engines is the same one they've done on all of their gasoline engine since the modular was engineered and tested. It's a brutal test that will FAR exceed the abuse that any owner will subject the engines to.
JL

 

Anytime a car builder makes an infomercial out of a long term test, it's a promo plain and simple and as well it should be.

I feel that Ford went over the top with the EB torture testing and subsequent tear down. I do agree with some on here, 150K simulated miles in a lab is different than 150K miles over a 10 year period. But, the temperature extremes from hot to cold in seconds at WOT that Ford was able to perform in the lab far exceeds what a human could do.

As I've stated before, the engine isn't my concern, it's the transmission. The transmission only logged about 15K miles before the engine tear down. I want to be assured that the transmission will hold up over time and heard use.

 

Are these the same tests that Ford did to discover the pistion slap in the 98-99 V10's, spitting spark plugs, broken spark plugs, leaking injectors, broken exhaust studs, cam phasers & vvt issues?? I'm sure Ford fixed these issues before offering the engines to the public....

 

cant top that V10man

but i can just generalize your statement with the modular engine family

 

I was invited to meet with Ford engineers and marketing people here in Houston this summer at the Marriot hotel. It was really something else - they asked tons of questions about the truck, what I liked or didnt like etc. There were lots of other F150 owners there as well.

In the middle of all this I quizzed a powertrain engineer about the dyno test and how I didn't think it could simulate the aging process on the engine's gaskets that 10 years of actual service would do.

He told me that engine 448AA endured tests that the videos did not show; one in particular got me to thinking.

He said that on the dyno cell, with the engine not running, they would super cool the engine to minus 40 degrees F by pumping super cooled coolant through the block. Once the engine was stabilized to -40, they would switch the coolant flow to coolant heated to +220 degrees F. When the engine was totally heat soaked, the coolant flow would again be reversed to the super cooled coolant and the engine would again be frozen to -40F.

According to him this went on for days and he described the sound of the frozen engine being thawed as a sort of "twisting steel" sound as the temp changes happened. He described the groaning as really destructive sounding and at times, he wondered if the engine would survive this part of the test.

He assured me that there was no way everyday use could stress the seals like this test did, and they passed with flying colors - the engine went on to do everything the videos showed.

When I use my EB powered truck, it warms up slowly, cools down slowly and the parts and seals are bathed in oil or coolant while they work; I don't see why they wouldn't hold up as well as any of the other gaskets on the cars I owned over the years.

Kinda blows your mind though, the thought of repeatedly exposing an assembled engine to temperature swings totaling 260 degrees and actually surviving it....

 

^^^^ Now this is a great post. If Ford goes tot his amount of pain and expense with each new engine in the future, then they will be fine.

 

You know, I never stress too much over the engine; it is so quiet and powerful and does it's thing so effortlessly, I just have trouble worrying about the engine.

Now, there's liable to be a crisis just under my feet, namely the transmission! I sure hope his stuff is wired together as well as the engine...

 

This has been my exact point all along.