Chat with Ford’s Jim Mazuchowski, V6 Engines Program Manager

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 4×4 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.