I’m driving a 2015 Transit T150 165,000 miles and recently broke down on I-80 and was towed to a central Iowa ford dealership where I was given the bad news of a blown engine and repair estimate way higher than I expected. I paid for the diagnostic and had it towed home where I am trying to figure out what my options are. Is this a common issue for the 3.7lL V6 flex engine? Has anyone else had this problem on their ford. What is the fix? New motor or take old one to a machine shop? These vans are quite different than my super duty. Thanks for the help.

 

did they tell you what failed? rod,valve broke,
cost wise, i'd go the ford exchange engine route, better warranty coverage ,

 

No they didn't say what exactly was the issue other than it needs a new motor. Whats a ford engine exchange?

 

No. This was also the police interceptor sedan and utility engine for years, and was in some Lincolns and four years of F-150s. Not common to hear of one "blown".

Engines fail sometimes. Depends on how well it was built, how well it was maintained, how much it was treated, etc.

For a blown engine? Replace the engine. These engines don't have a lot left in them after a failure like in the olden days. If it is a rod through the side of the block, then you'd have to replace anyways. Having someone repair your engine, if it is even possible, is going to be more expensive and less reliable than purchasing a rebuilt or new unit.

Get a new or remanufactured engine. Machine shop path will be expensive, will take a long time, and may not even be possible.

Yes, they are, but fairly similar to an F-150 in this regard.

Boilerplate: We don't know the specifics of your engine's failure. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited. Professional driver on a closed course, Etc. Etc. Blah Blah Blah.

 

hello there!
I have no words to describe how this feels..
I brought this van brand new in 2017 for work.
I did really took care of it and the van was fine and still looks like new but the engine let me somehow at 110000 miles on the expressway last Saturday 9/15/25. The engine didn’t show lots of signs that there is a problem. Two days before Saturday I heard a little sound inside the motor and the check engine came on. I did checked the code and it was saying that the sixth cylinder had misfired. So I thought it’s not a big of a deal and I clear out the code and drove the van the other day but on Saturday when I was driving on the highway the van loosed power right away and the engine stopped working . I tried to start it again but the engine had a sound that I knew that was really bad.
so I towed the van to the Ford dealer and the next week they told me that the engine is broken and I need a new engine that will cost me $11000 to replace it.
That is insane because I didn’t extend my warranty for the engine.
Ford something it’s not right with your 3,7 engine!!
Is someone else having this problem

?

 

As above, they are pretty reliable.

What did the shop say was specifically wrong with yours?

 

They said that there is no compensation and the engine needs to be replaced. They don’t open the engine and look at it because someone needs to pay for that and the dealer works with about 160/200 per hour so I was not welling to pay for it.

I need to find a used engine and replace it with that.

Anyway I have no idea what caused this and because I don’t have the extended warranty I need to pay from my pocket now.. sucks

 

Sorry to hear that!

Lost compression could be caused by a few things. None of that matters now, though, except if you could do something differently to preserve the next engine.

How often did you change oil on it?

 

It would interesting to know his oil change intervals ?

I’ve got a new 2024 Transit 350HD DRW 3.5L Eco Boost that we fully converted into a camper van for long traveling vacation loops.

Im trying to stick to 3,000 mile intervals but it’s tough when we’re making 10-12k mile loops.

 

I've got a vendor I work with that just bought his second one of these. Both are tall roof, long wheelbase, dually, with the 3.5 Ecoboost. He drives a lot and the first one has never had an engine issue, or any other issue for that matter. I think it is a 2021 model year and has about 160,000 miles on it now. He just got another one, and once he gets it outfitted, the older one will go into lower-mileage duty.

I believe oil changes are the most significant factor to getting long life out of these, and not beating them hard all the time (especially when not warmed up all the way) is a close second.