Now that the turbo engines have been available for a few years I was wondering about their longevity.
Anyone know where I can find that info?

 

I believe FTE has a few sub-forums dealing with the Eco-Boost engines in the various platforms they could be found. Most would be in the F-Series naturally but the full size Transit T-Series as well.

As for myself I find the anecdotal experience and issues from actual users to be enlightening and helpful.

 

Like any other machine, they will last as long as they are maintained. Sure there's a few extra parts involved but I wouldn't let that stop me if I needed the added towing benefit the turbos provide, especially in higher elevations.

For all other towing applications a normally aspirated engine will do just fine.

 

The 3.5L ecoboost has been in high volume production since the 2011 model year F-150. Some people in certain climates have dealt with condensation issues but we've all come up with shade tree fixes and some have added oil catch cans, etc. The 3.5L is well known to be hard on spark plugs, a 50K mile change out with boots seems to be what most are recommending. I'm not sure how these inherent issues translate to other ecoboost engines but I'd be apt to believe that it's normal among gas turbo engines.

Not all but most seem to be well set in changing oil every 5K miles and using a high quality oil or full synthetic with motorcraft filters.

There have been more cam phaser / timing set failures than I care to acknowledge. Ford was having the same issues on the 5.4L 3V engines and this issue seemed to have migrated into the 3.5L. Not reading so much about it now but it seemed to plague 2018-19 F-150 owners pretty bad after Ford redesigned / tweaked the engine.

I've never read much about turbo failures but you can bet that it's happened.

Outside of plugs, boots and a set of coils, I haven't had to do anything to my 2011 truck. As a preventative measure, I did drill the 1/16th inch weep hole in my lower drivers side intercooler wo weep away any condensation that may get sucked into the intake. As planned, it worked like a charm and I've mitigated any potential issues.

 

Considering the millions of trucks built since 2011, with a good percentage being the 3.5 EB, the claimed "failures" of turbos going out, valve coking, and being a maintenance ***** did not evolve. Some turbos failed, which is quite normal, a lot of engine parts fail regardless of the engine, but nothing as the arm chair experts claimed. To date no one has produced a single example of the 3.5 EB coking a valve. All the pictures circulating claiming to be the EB are actually from the Audi engines which are notorious for DI valve coking.

The phaser problem is still an issue, it is a complex system driven by oil pressure, and as the engine ages, oil does tend to drain down a bit and you get phaser rattle on start up. I started to notice it on the 2018 before I trade it for the F-450. Ford has a fix for it with newly designed parts, and will replace them under a special whatever they call it thing like the tailgate release.

The 4 cylinder EB engines though, those do have coking issues, and a lot of them have been posted as such, but the two V6 ones, the 2.7 and 3.5 are pretty rock solid. I have had 7 ecoboost powered vehicles since 2010, the first being a Ford Flex. Out of all of them, my only issue were the plugs. It's the plug design that causes them to require replacement halfway through their life. They can be cleaned and regapped instead of replaced if you know what to do. The center electrode is a very sharp point, almost needle like, and what happens is it causes a pit in the ground electrode, and the EB is very sensitive to plug gap, so as the pit gets deeper, the gap increases since it is a focused spark. A points file can clean the ground strap, then gap to .029 and put them back in, good for another 50K. A tuned 3.5 EB can really point out the plug issue, even at 30K miles.

As pointed out, keep it well maintained and they last and work good for a long time. Also use case has it's limits. If you are a short trip driver where the engine and transmission doesn't fully warm up, the oil becomes fuel diluted. Those engines require sooner oil changes if they want them to last. Those, like me, who drive it for at least an hour at highway speeds every time can get away with the factory 10K changes since it gets everything up to full temp for quite a while to help reduce fuel dilution and moisture build up. Every sample tested of the oil came back with minimal fuel dilution.

 

It will be interesting to see how Toyotas new turbo six compares to the Ecoboost in term of longevity and reliability.

 

Depends on what the base engine is from, how long it was in development, and what they tested it in. The 3.5 was developed from the proven existing 3.5 block, then upgraded from there. Then they torture tested it in the Baja, Towing and racing. If Toyota did something similar, then it should be another of their good, long lasting engines. Will it have equal or better power than the Boost? That remains to be seen.

 

I work with a bunch of Toyota enthusiasts and they are not happy to see their gas guzzling V-8's go bye-bye. The pre-2021 Tundra's though outdated have been stupid reliable and they're afraid that migrating to a new engine will change that.

The 3.5L eco hasn't been with out issues and that's one used truck that I'd never even consider simply because not everyone maintains them to last 250K miles.

 

They've been around for at least five years (the mill), and as Toyota has decades of experience with turbo charged mills, all over the world, my guess is, they'll be very reliable, as most Toyotas are.