http://www.f150forum.com/attachments...tsb15-0131.pdf

For those unlucky souls with the 3.5L ecoboost that exhibits cold start rattling, ticking or tapping of the upper case, here's the TSB finally.

Hope this helps someone. Oh, I can't take credit for the find as a very nice gentlemen on the 2015 and newer site posted this for us.

 

I'm in the pretty much the same scenario you were in. I traded my 2006 F-350 V-10 for a 2011 XLT Ecoboost with 15,000 miles. It was just used to tow a little camper so I'm told by the sales shark. I pick it up Saturday. The 350 repairs got to be too much. Not the motor or tranny but eveyrthing else and it had only 142k on it. For me this thread is very concerning. Two days before getting I read this and the new TSB out. I passed over another truck which I actually like better with the 5.0. It was white but had the Rail Dust specs which scared me off. Now I know it wasn't that big of a deal. I went with the EcoBoost because I do tow horses and need something to handle them. Set of 2700lbs Belgium's. I hope I didn't make a mistake.

 

I have over 80K on my EcoBoost w/o any issues. I bought the truck for towing so it has a lot of towing miles on it. I've towed my boat and car all over the country. I have no doubt this truck will keep serving me well.
A friend of mine is a service writer at a Ford dealership. He swears that EcoBoost issues are far and few between, in fact he just bought a use Escape w/ and EB.
When I'm buying a used truck (or anything) I insist on being the first person of the day to start it up and drive it. If the truck you are buying has the timing chain issue you will hear it plane as day on the first start of the morning.

 

I picked my 2011 with 15,000 miles on it Saturday. Traded in my 2006 V-10 350 for it. Hated to but did it. It's a crew cab. When I got home I hooked up my 30ft travel trailer. The thing squatted like a female dog taking a leak but I expected that. The airbags are on the way. The trailer is about 7000lbs as it was not loaded all the way.The motor pulled the trailer very good. Better then expected. I have a steep hill to get out of the neighborhood and it did it fine. Went on the highway and right up to 65mph. Other then the slight shuddering which I believe from reading and experience, I think bags will take care of it. My V-10 pulled it ease plus my horse trailer which is about 8000lbs. This motor isn't far off it at all. Plus the better gas mileage unloaded. So far I'm happy.

 

I'm towing about 7200 lbs, I don't think mine squats that badly, is supercab with max tow pkg if that has anything to do with it.

 

For those of us shopping for used EcoBoost trucks, are there any indicators for the startup noises the are common BEFORE the noise comes? I mean, just because it sounds good on a couple of test drives at startup doesn't mean it won't start to rattle the day after you buy it, and nothing can really prevent that sort of luck I guess, but just wondering if there are any other tell tale signs that the issue is imminent? OR is it simply a matter of when, and not if, for all of these trucks? For the record, I'm also considering swapping a V10 Super Duty for an EcoBoost F150

 

I think that the ecoboost is a good engine, I also think that all of the used car caveats apply, try and determine prior maintenance, look in the valve cover and see if it's sludged up or clean, try and get there bright and early in the morning and get the first opportunity to start before dealer does, I have seen trucks with ecoboost at over 200,000 miles on them, I think some of the problems are overblown.

 

You are incorrect!! If you follow the OLM it would be about 10,000 miles depending on if you are towing a lot or not. I ran mine to 10,000 miles and had an independent lab run the oil and the results came back saying I could have gone another 1,000 miles on the oil. I commute a lot with my truck so your results may vary.

Changing the oil on these engines at 3,000 miles is completely too soon and a waste of good oil IMO. (I have test results to prove it too!) I am also using the Motorcraft synthetic blend that the truck calls for.

 

May be a dumb question, but is there any issue with short commutes in these trucks with the turbos? I don't know anything about turbos other than having owned a couple Cummins pickups way back when, and it was an issue to ensure you let the turbo cool down before shutting the pickup down... My commute to work is less than 3 miles - any concerns with that in terms of heating or cooling of the engine/components?

 

The beauty of the ecoboost is there is no requirement to cool down the turbos, they are water cooled as is the oil filter block.

However, I am of the opinion that an ecoboost engine will suffer if it's only purpose is to run in town. These engines like to run hard and hot and they need to as well.

In fact I am so fixated on this opinion that when we get my bride her new vehicle, it definitely WILL NOT be an ecoboost because her driving is mainly in town errands and rarely exceeds 6500 miles per year.

 

Great info, thank you!!!

 

I'm not worried about the service interval. I think the ExoBoost can handle whatever you throw at it. If you are really just running short trips and low miles the standard V6 might be the best choice.

 

I couldn't agree more and why pay the higher price for an engine if it's not needed.

 

Hello all! Not hearing much griping from the ECOBOOST guys. I have my eye on one now.

 

Welcome sir! I think the MAJORITY of the ecoboost issues were centered around the 2011/12 model years and even then I think they were pretty random.