I am actively truck shopping. I've been looking at 12's, 13's, and 14's, all with 60k+ miles. Is there any known issues with the 3.5 in any of those years. I was doing so research and found top posts involving timing chains and bearing failures, I certainly don't want to buy into one of those situations. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

 

If you're dead set on the EcoBust, I would suggest a 2013 or newer model. A lot of the issues (vacuum pump, turbos, etc.) were fixed or at least changed in 2013 model year. Make sure you get one that has good service records on it also. A little extra leg work now will make you happy for a long time to come.

 

There's a lot of threads about this so I'd recommend searching.

The big issue is the cam phasers/timing chain slap which is supposedely a $3k repair at the dealer. Listen to a cold start (sitting overnight). Any loud clacking/tapping that starts and then goes away quickly indicates there are issues. Usually seems to be attributed to extended oil change intervals but I don't know if we've got a concrete answer yet. You really have to do 5k intervals, not the 10k that the factory recommends.

Many guys going over 200k on original 2011's without issues, so they aren't as problematic as you'd think reading internet forums. But I'd definitely recommend trying to get a 2013 or 14 if you can swing it financially as they did do quite a bit of upgrades by 2013.

 

Great post, reps sent.


I have 76K+ on my 2011 without serious issue. I've had to replace plugs at 62K and a coil at 67K. Am I lucky or is this normal? IDK but I'll take it.

The 3.5L will eat plugs so, if the truck has over 50K on the clock, plan on a plug change if it hasn't been addressed already. This is an easy job.

I wouldn't buy any of these trucks no matter the engine from a private party. Way too much to go wrong to take that risk. Try to find a lower mileage truck that offers a Certified Preowned Warranty from a Ford dealer and if not, then warranty the hell out of it no matter which engine it has.

I have no more faith in a used truck from an unknown source than I would from a Yugo. Some people tend to mistreat trucks or simply shirk the routine maintenance because they know that they are going to dump it in 2-4 years. This goes fro any brand so proceed with caution.

 

For a maintenance free ownership experience, avoid the 3.5 ecoboost.

 

I just turned my 2014 3.5 Eco back in on a lease end. I had 36k miles on mine, but was starting to have issues. I began having misfires during idle, and while driving. I also had a couple of instances where the truck would go into limp mode when accelerating. There are definitely some issues with this engine, but there seem to be many guys with high miles that have been issue-free. I do not think it is nearly as catastrophic as the 6.0 issues, but in my research there seems to be some things that Ford has not been able to conclusively fix.

I wasn't willing to go through this so I fixed my spark plug problem by getting a 2017 F350 superduty

 

Cobra? Is that you under a new name?