Hagen Brothers farms,Goodrich ND | thefarmers - 8/7/2016 05:14
The specs do sound impressive....... But will they last if you pull them all the time like that....there is a reason semis still use big displacement.
Yes, I doubt any 1/2 ton Ecoboost will run a 1,000,000 miles like a big block semi, but as sturdy as that little engine is built, I suspect it will take a crap kicking for at least a couple hundred thousand, maybe much more. If you look at the Ecoboost piston & rod display at a Ford dealer, it's pretty impressive looking. The pistons have cast in steel top and second ring land inserts like a heavy diesel engine, to keep constant boost from wearing them out. The rod bearing size is huge for a little engine like that, like something you would expect in an old 460 big block. The little beast appears to be very overbuilt to make it last under constant turbo boost.
This commercial from the first year of the Ecoboost seems impressive. I know my 11 Ecoboost 3.5 has been totally trouble free, even pulling nearly twice the rated load capacity. When driving it as a car, I crank up and drive,, when I get where I am going, I shut it off like a normal engine. When pulling heavy loads, I treat it like any other turbocharged machine. I let it warm up a few minutes so I am sure the turbo's are getting plenty of warm oil before heavy loading the pickup. When I get where I am going with the trailer, I let it idle for 5 minutes to cool the turbo housings and allow the engine parts to normalize temperatures before shutting it off. The engine seems built with plenty of oil and coolant cooling capacity, so all gauges sit at normal no matter how hard I load the engine. Looks like with reasonable care and driving style, that little engine should last many years.
Click on this Ford promo from 2011, telling how they beat a little ecoboost to see if it could take hard use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tEqwXrqzH4 |
MPGs
