I'm looking at buying a 2012 to 2014 F150 with the HD payload package (VIN of 1FTVX.....). Many if not most of these trucks seem to come with the 3.5 Ecoboost engine. A friend of mine told me they have had some reliability issues with the turbos. Does anyone know what the reliability issues are and how common they are. I would also like to know any fixes. Please don't tell me to buy a different truck because I need certain things which this truck has. TIA for any info.

 

There have been some turbo failures but when you produce a few million engines with twin turbos, there's bound to be a failure or two.

I'd say that the single largest failure point on the 2011-2016 3.5L engines would be the timing set and cam phasers. The problem with buying a used 3.5L eco is that unless you know for sure that it's been maintained at the severe duty level, then it hasn't had enough routine maintenance and that's just my personal opinion.

Ford seems to think that it's ok to run 5w-30 oil for up to 10,000 miles or when the OLM triggers.

Of course, it's no secret that gas turbo engines are hard on plugs and the plugs should be considered as used up at around 50K miles. Bad plugs cause misfires which is bad for the cats, etc, etc.