Has anybody on here actually had a carbon issue?

 

This is a great question actually. I cannot remember a single issues mentioned or referenced in this sub-forum, but our engines are still relatively young. Has anyone posted about issues in the previous gen forum? I rarely dig thru there...

 

I can’t remember seeing any posts about it. Being the internet, if there were issues we’d be hearing about it.

Seeing more and more reports though about a lot of first gen 3.5 EBs near or over 200k miles with just maintenance or minor repairs.

 

I think we're past the "young" stage on 3 and 4 year old trucks, in many cases. There are plenty of trucks out there with 100+ thousand miles that are having zero carbon issues.

Lots of myth perpetuating going on, seems to me.

 

Carbon seems to be less likely if the engine is driven hard as the higher engine temps help burn out the carbon. Youtuber Engineering Explained did a video on this a few months ago. I’m figuring (maybe incorrectly) that carbon issues might not appear until later in life and maybe only on engines that are not worked hard on a regular bases (like mine). That’s the reason why I suggested the earlier EBs in the previous gen trucks might be hitting that mark.

But I agree, just like LSPI, we’ve yet to see these issues appear in force on these motors. Keeping my fingers crossed.

 

I was told by a fella on my route who works at a speed shop and owns several GTDI vehicles to run her hard and she'll stay happy. 93K miles later and I haven't had an issue. That's not to say that I won't have an issue, just not yet and most likely not ever in my intended years of ownership. My goal is 200K miles on this truck, we'll see.

However, my neighbor had a 2012 exact version of my 2011. At about 57K miles, some fricken hack convinced him to do a walnut blast. 1000 miles later his cats clogged and he had them replaced under warranty. Of course he was now spooked by his truck and blamed Ford for his woes so he sold the truck for thousands less than what it was worth.

The thing that pisses me off is that he let some fool jack up his beautiful truck and then had the stones to have Ford fix it under warranty and then blames Ford for the hack job.

 

I second the use of Techron. Listen to the below link, this guy knows his stuff better than anyone I have heard on the internet or in person. This tells you what you need to know.

 

To fix what problem?

 

You have the same year and engine model that I do. The video pretty much tells you, but the long term problem of carbon building up on the valves since our engine and many others are direct injection and no gas is sprayed on the valves, it is instead sprayed into the cylinder port. The Chevron MAY help with the issue. He recommended it so that is good enough for me.
I do an Italian tune-up every now and then to help with this issue as well (probably should say, "possibly help").

 

He's full of it. Those video's are 4 years old, when most folks were guessing on how the Ecoboost's would do in the real world. Do this. Search this forum for an example of somebody having the carbon build-up issue. Go to any of the F150 sites and do the same thing. Find an example of somebody having a carbon build-up issue. Not enough miles of the fleet? Nope. PLENTY of high mileage EcoBoosts out there
I'll wait...........

 

I disagree. The guy knows his stuff. I'm not saying he is right about everything. Some of this is a common sense issue. The fuel is not being sprayed directly on the valves, thereby cleaning them with direct injection, so inherently you will have some carbon build up. This guy even has torn apart an Ecoboost engine to show the carbon buildup on the valves. I don't recall the mileage on the particular Ecoboost, but I agree with what he says. So, I will continue to use the Chevron Techron for long term benefits. This isn't an Ecoboost issue really, it's a Direct Injection issue, where the fuel is sprayed directly into the piston chamber versus over the valves. Regardless, It may be preventive maintenance or it may not even affect it, but it makes me feel better. No need for a jackass response.

 

Sorry.
I agree with you completely.

 

And...if you Google, Ecoboost carbon buildup, you may get educated. Again, I'm not knocking Ecoboost, any direct injection engine will more than likely have coking issues. It's not really a big deal, there are things you can do to minimize it.

 

No, actually, if you Google Ecoboost and actually read and understand what you've read, YOU'LL learn something. I suspect everything you've read is at least a few years old and based on other DI engines that have had issues. Again....there are thousands, maybe millions of F150 Ecoboosts out there. I'm sure there are 10's of thousands of members with Ecoboosts on the various F150 boards. IF there was a problem with carbon build up, somebody would have made a thread. Posted a picture. Others would join in with their pictures and stories like is prone to happen when there is a problem. At the risk of being a jackass......find me a thread or two.
You're chasing something that doesn't exist.....but...if it makes you feel better.
Other DI engines have carbon issues. Yes. All DI engines. No. The F150 EcoBoosts. No.

 

I think it's safe to say that the earlier ecoboost engines will have at least some carbon build up but not to a level that's caused any major issues.

No need to get spooked over every little thing.