greetings all. I am the proud new owner of a 2011 F150 SuperCrew Lariat 4x4 with the 3.5L EcoBoost + Max Tow package. WooHoo!

I've been reading quite a bit on some known issues (moisture and plug fouling seems to be the #1 issue to watch).

This is my first 4x4 and my first Turbo, so, with that, I have a few questions:

- At idle (in gear, foot on the brake), the idle seems to float around a bit..not dramatically, but up and down probably a couple hundred RPMs causing the engine to seem to idle a little rough. Is this something typical of a turbo motor? Again, it's quite minor, but curious.

- from a stop (in gear, foot on the brake), at light acceleration, I feel a bit of a "clunk" right off the line (doesn't persist). I wasn't sure if this was typical for a 4x4 or turbo motor.

- maintenance products of choice? What do you like to use for oil, oil filter, plugs (I've read to gap them to .030 - true?)

- tow/haul button on the shifter - what does it do? Change the shifting pattern?

Thanks all!

 

I'm right there with you, except supercab.

I don't notice much fluctuation in rpms when in gear with brakes depressed except maybe a little on a cold start if I don't have the time to let it come down from high idle. I don't like idling much more than 5 or 10 and I have found that that works for me.

The driveline clunk from a stop seems to be a pretty common thing. It was worse on my Superduty. The only thing Ford will do is grease the slipjoint on the rear driveshaft and I believe there is a service bulletin out there as this is a known issue.

coming from a picky 6.0l Powerstroke I am a little partial to motorcraft filters and a quality oil. My preference is Motorcraft filters and 5w30 synthetic blend. There are many opinions on this.

Tow/haul, in a nut shell, changes the shift pattern, but someone with better knowledge of it could probably go into more detail as I think it also changes how the engine/trans work together on decent and so on...

 

The driveline clunk is an F-150 issue and not exclusive to the ecoboost.

How many miles are on your truck? You may consider pulling your plugs, inspecting them and replacing or just re-gapping them.

I am of the opinion that the intercooler / moisture issues are not as common as the internet makes them out to be. People come on these sites looking for answers, suggestions or to simply complain. 36K great miles on my truck so far and no issues what so ever.

Stick with the motorcraft oil filters for sure. Any 5W-30 that meets Ford's minimum specs is fine to use. I've stuck with motorcraft 5W-30 semi-synthetic because it's cheap, readily available and recommended.

Beautiful rig in the sig by the way.

 

Thanks guys! That helps and knowing the minor clunk is common and known is good news.

I'm planning on doing plugs ASAP. I'll inspect them carefully and see if there are any carbon traces, cracks, burnt electrodes, etc. Any other less common tune-up type things to do/check on this motor?

 

As for the idle issue, that is something that people have noticed on some. Mine does not seem to do it but some do.

If your local ford dealer has a good service department or even better a good quick lane service then I suggest using it for oil changes.
Cost is $43.00 w/ tax and that includes motorcraft semi-synthetic, motorcraft filter, fluid top offs, and tire rotation. Much easier and basically the same cost as buying and doing yourself.
Plus if you get a frequent flyer card, every 5th or so oil change is free.
Plus sometimes they have a $10.00 rebate going on.
Plus you build customer loyalty for any other issues you might have (like getting the drive shaft TSB done for free if your out of warrenty)

If you decide to do the oil yourself read several posts on how to do it. Basically the oil filter will drain out a spout at the rear thru skid plate (remove the rubber cover at the back left of the metal skid plate and you will see a spout up in there for the oil to drain from). Oil filter removal is from the front underneath and is a little blind but not difficult.

 

Yeah, I fully plan on letting the dealership do the oil changes for all of the reasons you mentioned. Sometimes, my time is worth something, too.

Now, to that driveshaft TSB you mention... is there a resource list of TSB's/recalls/etc that I can go to and see what's what? Also, is there a way to see what has/has not been done on this truck (based on VIN I assume)?

I've got just under 54K miles on the truck - that 60K mark is coming on fast, so whatever is still under the powertrain warranty, I want addressed ASAP. Any suggestions on that?

2011 warranty details doc

 

TSB and recall info, just do a google search is what I do. I am sure others know a good way.
Nothing that I know will tell you what has been done other than the dealer or Ford. First oil change, have them look it up and tell you.
Have the dealer check and see if all the latest TSBs on the intercooler and program updates have been done. If not, get them done before warrenty expires.

 

Scroll up to the very top tool bar on this page and click tool. Then click the link for TSB's and recalls and enter your information. All the available TSB will come up.

 

I changed the plugs and air filter yesterday to see if that would help with the mileage being a little low and a noticeable miss here and there. The plugs looked pretty good in general. Gaps ranged from about 38 to 45. I gapped them to .030-.032 (per other threads I've read). We'll see how that does as I drive over the next few days.

There is a noticeable ticking in the motor, what I would normally attribute to valve noise. Is this normal on these motors? Something I could/should do to address it?

Finally, I'm taking the truck into the dealer tonight for an oil change and for them pour over it and see what has and has not been done in the way of TSBs and recalls. In particular, what should I MAKE SURE gets done/checked?

Would it be unheard of for me to slip the service guy a crisp $50 to make sure that everything that can be done under warranty (while I have some left) is done?

Again, thanks all!

 

The ticking noise is the injectors, perfectly normal for the 3.5L EB. They are under a huge amount of pressure and they cycle very loudly.

 

Word from the dealer is that there has been no recall/TSB work done on the truck and none called for (I saw the Oasis report). I was told the clunk felt in the driveline and apparent hesitation/miss was all tied to a "sticking/sticky" driveshaft that needed to be greased/lubed. I'll be picking it up shortly and we'll see.

 

That driveshaft clunk has been around for more than a decade. You'd think they would have dealt with it at the factory level by now.
They pull the shafts, regrease them and the clunk is gone.

 

Hi I'm new to this group I have a question maybe someone can help me out I recently purchased a 2012 Ford F-150 crew cab ecoboost Larait with around 50 thousand miles on it love the truck fully loaded the reason I'm even typing is to discuss that I never really noticed it to just today when my truck is running when you are outside the truck and listen closely to the engine you can hear like a very light tick noise and then when I pop the hood you can hear it more no engine issue with it at all no lights on idk if it's normal if it's just the engine running im new to having a new new truck so I'm not shore I asked my buddy and he said he don't think it's tapping noise he says it's just under the hood the moving parts of course I will bring it to the dealer but first I wanted to hear what you guys have to say maybe I'm over thinking its a slight light tick tick tick or just it running any suggestions