Thanks for all the info. I have some decisions to make and research to do. I just built a 2015 edge and ford is sticking to the 2.0 for now. No 2.7 EB option.

 

Last month we traded my wife's 2011 Edge Limited for a 2014 Edge Sport. We test drove several Lincolns, Jeeps (GC) and Fords (Explorers) and after all the test drives and driving off the dealer lot we realized how much better we liked her Edge with 75k miles. So then we decided another Edge was the right vehicle for her. The only problem we had with the '11 Edge was the My Ford Touch system that had issues when it was first launched.

 

carbon build up is a problem with all direct injection designs. venting the crank case into the intake tract is going to result in oil and sludge accumulating on the valves, period. its not something an "italian tuneup" can fix, because the intake is completely dry and never sees fuel. Direct injection puts the fuel directly into the cylinder; you can pour all the cleaners you want through the tank too, it won't do anything because that cleaner is going from a low psi pump, to a high psi pump, through and injector and straight into the cylinders. You could vent to atmosphere (illegal and stinky), run an oil catch can (assuming you can fit/plumb it) or pay a guy to do walnut shell blasting to strip the buildup off.

The reason you don't hear about it yet, is because most people are only owning their first DI vehicles now as the tech becomes more mainstream; even then the mileage isn't getting high enough on most vehicles to the point it is a significant problem yet. Audis, VWs, BMWs, Mini etc ALL are plagued by these problems. I just took the intake off my Cooper S and after 75K mi, you couldn't tell where the valves started and the head ended. I am religious about maintenance on that car, and I hit mostly full throttle almost every time I drive it because its just that fun

The Ecoboost is cool, but owning one turbo car is enough maintenance for me. The 3.5L V6 has been extremely reliable, and considering its just a modern high production iteration of one of Yamaha's masterpiece V6's, I'm not surprised at all.

 

Wow...wonder what the cost would be to have it blasted and how often.

 

depends on vehicle and driving style/conditions. my Mini was purchased used and I doubt the previous owners were very good at "cars" in general. I just had the valves cleaned, $750 for a specialist independent shop to do it. This car is relatively easy to do, and there are so many on the road that its a relatively common procedure.

The Mini had its own unique issues though, the early valve covers on my engine had a flawed PCV design (I installed the updated one), which combined with people who go off the "15000mi" oil change interval, and owners who don't understand performance cars, many people had issues. There are many oil catch cans available for my car though, I installed one. I also use full synthetic oil changes every 5k miles.

It's going to vary widely by engine too, some cars have a much better thought out PCV system than others. A poorly thought out system is obviously going to be exacerbated by lazy owners. I think it should go without saying that at this point in the life cycle of the internal combustion engine, a +10% efficiency in one aspect will come at the cost of a -10% in some other aspect. there's only so much power hiding in a liquid fueled piston engine; turbos, direct injection, and increasingly variable timing systems are the last few tricks we had up our sleeves. All these systems greatly increase the efficiency of the engine, and dramatically increase the costs when something fails (and everything will fail eventually).

 

On the AWD, evidently it's a common occurrence at about 120K mi for the transfer case to begin leaking (sealed unit!) and shortly thereafter, frag. $1500 from your smilin' stealership.
Planned obsolescence at it's finest.

 

Perhaps the answer is to buy the simplest version of the car, front wheel drive and a N/A V-6. I'm pretty hooked on this ecoboost power. The 2.7L will be available on the Edge in 2015.

 

Have an escape now but may move up to edge , what is the drop in real gas miles since the edge is bigger in size!

 

You might do better starting a new thread for this question, Clay, with a title like mileage of Escape vs Edge. I have looked at (and almost bought) but never owned either of them. One piece of info that you might provide is what Escape you have. A V6 AWD Escape from the prior gen would get the worst mileage, etc.

Actually I'd bet an Ecoboost Edge would get better mileage than that old V6 Escape (esp a 2.0 Ecoboost Edge). So you might also narrow down which Edge drivetrains you are thinking of.

Good luck; I am possibly again looking toward an Edge in the next couple years. I figure I don't want to be an "early adopter" of the most recent update.

George

 

Well we had to break down and get another vehicle for my daughter. She was rear ended in her 2008 Fusion and insurance company totalled it out. So this past Sat we bought a 2014 Edge Limited with the 3.5L. Just got insurance on it today so daughter will be driving it tomorrow. Here's a pic if I can upload it from my phone. Its Sunset color.

 

Nice looking color! I take it this was brand new?

 

Beautiful Edge--I bet your daughter is thrilled! Although it's unfortunate that she was in an accident and I hope all is OK with her health. Would you consider adopting me?

George

 

Yes it was brand new even though it had already 360 miles on it, but the dealer said they got it from another hence the miles.

 

Yes daughter is thrilled and she is fine. Just shaken up. This is the last one I'm buying for her. Next one will be on her because by then she will be out of grad school and hopefully a job with the FBI.

 

Our youngest is just getting my car, an 08 Buick. I should last through grad school.