Question for those with 3.5 Ecoboost
 

I have a 2006 F350 6.0 diesel. The biggest problem I ever had with this truck was with the turbo. I don't use the truck enough and the turbo gets rusty. I don't know if it's because it's a diesel or not being used enough. The dealer had to clean it twice.

Are the turbo's on the 3.5 the same or are they made different so they won't rust?

I'm going to trade in the F350 for a 2013 F150. Right now I'm leaning towards a 5.0 because I don't want to deal with the turbo rust. I won't be towing any more.

I can't answer your question about the turbos. I think you would be happier with the 5.0 since you won't be towing anymore, but it all depends on your driving style. You have to stay out of the turbos to gain any mileage benefits from the EcoBoost. The 5.0 is proving to be pretty much equal in the fuel mileage department and you won't have to worry about turbos.

That was the deciding factor for me as well. I don't tow, so I went with the 5.0. So far, it has been a great truck.

Quite frankly, if I were to purchase a truck for commuting only and it got minimal use, I'd opt for the 3.7L. It gets superior sustained MPG's to any of the new engines, has gobs of power for a small engine and there is no upcharge as it's standard equipment on the lower tier models.

Agreed, except for the impact on resale. It's kind of like the towing package. If you don't intend to tow, you don't need it. However, the guy buying it from you may want to tow. If you keep your trucks for a long period of time, then I wouldn't be as concerned with resale though.

Seeing that I want a King Ranch it has to be the 5.0 or the 3.5. Also I worked for Ford from 1964 to 1975 I get the Z plan price. I priced out a King Ranch CC 4x4 3:55 locking rear 6.5 bed and the King Ranch Luxury Package. It came to $45,768.

On January 1 we make our last house payment. If I trade in my 06 dually and 32' fifth Wheel they might owe me money.;)

I have never heard of turbos rusting. Something sounds fishy with the dealer cleaning a turbo to make an engine run correctly.

The turbo charger outer housing will surface rust no matter what, but rusting in the inside doesn't sound right, IMO, as there is oil inside the turbos.

I also had an 06 F350 with the 6.0 PSD. Yes the variable vanes in the turbo will rust and stick. In the 6 years I owned the 6.0 the vanes stuck 3 times. The truck was a garage queen for the most part after I received a company vehicle. I traded the PSD for the ecoboost but it's my wifes daily driver. But I have no boubt the ecoboost would suffer the same variable vane sticking issues if it was a garage queen.

The turbo isn't rusting... he's probably referring to carbon buildup/coking on the turbo vanes, thanks to someone's brilliant idea to recirculate sooty diesel exhaust gas back into the intake ahead of the turbo (EGR).

Don't hold any experiences with the 6.0 against turbo engines at large. The 6.0 was flawed from the start.

If that is the case then no. The EGR will be after the turbos.

I got the ecoboost, cant say enough about it, we have the 5.0 in some of our trucks its also a great motor, but I'm really glad I got the ecoboost otherwise I'd be kicking myself now wishing I had

If Ford were to follow suit with Ram and develop an 8 speed tranny, I'd be very interested to see what kind of MPG's the EB could achieve.

I may be wrong but I think the turbos on the ecoboost are fixed pitch vanes, I work in a trucking company and we see more trouble with the variable vane setups than with the fixed pitch jobs egr or not, egr on a long haul or city truck is just wrong. on the old school turbo setups we very rarely see any problems with the turbos and we are a no idle company, so in many cases the drivers are shutting them off hot, our company tolerates no amount of idle time! but what we save in fuel wasted with the engines idle versus starter battery and alternator problems is miniscule at best.

The ecoboost engine utilizes a fixed-geometry turbo. So no nozzles or adjustable vanes are on this turbo. All it has is an old-school integrated wastegate. Those seldom ever cause any real issues. The ecoboost turbo's are very simple in regards to modern turbochargers, only thing to watch for is if coolant somehow makes it into the turbo since it is a water-jacketed unit. But that kind of failure is extremely rare.