Hey,
im looking forward to getting the ecoboost, but i have been reading alot about serious carbon buildup after 20k. this is making me think that maybe i should get a 2014 instead. apparently theirs no real fix for this, except for replacing the heads. is anyone else worried about this?

 

I have a 2011 F-150 ecoboost....60 plus thousand miles with no issues. This was one of the reasons I went with the ecoboost.

 

Give it an Italian tuneup from time to time and you should have no problem.

 

lol, whats an Italian tuneup?

 

Drive the **** out of it to burn up the carbon

 

I give mine one daily

 

i have read that in a few places, but i dont get how that removes the carbon. its still just air passing over the valves, just more often

 

The engine runs harder and hotter for longer than any other time. This will help break up and burn up the deposits.

 

The 6.0 Powerstroke has the same problem, if it gets driven like a car instead of a truck it will carbon up. Turbo motors need to be used to their full capacity, which means make the sucker whistle every now and again.

 

Direct Injection engines have a growing issue with the carbon build up on the intake valves. Just type into YouTube....Ecoboost problems and stand back. You cannot blow the carbon out of these motors and Ford knows this. Other brand are having the same problems including Audi and VW. Any crud that gets into the turbo is a disaster. people think that these turbos are like a garbage disposal units instead of a jet turbine engine. Buyer be ware.

 

It's all about how you drive it. Putting around town in traffic with a turbo car will develop carbon build up. The direct injection with low engine vacuum will allow a little fuel to seep past the intake valves. Under boost, it has enough pressure to keep all the fuel in the chamber. It is what it is. If you buy one, use the turbo whenever possible.

 

I drive mine like I stole it

 

I drive everything like I stole it...

 

You can always install a water/alcohol injection system and an oil catch in the PCV line to limit the amount of oil that is drawn into the intake stream.

 

There is no fix and running all of that junk through the turbo ends in disaster. That is why Ford Technical Services is telling the YouTube Tech to "just change the cylinder heads to fix the problem". You cannot heat up carbon and burn it off. Check out the YouTube video of the bore scope shots of the deposits in an Ecoboost intake. Yikes!

 

This is pretty scary. I did watch another video though that showed that the problem can be fixed by changing the fuel injection timing to only occur when the intake valve is completely closed. Apparently the Germans have already done this with their GDIs. Anyone know if the fix has been applied yet to Ecoboost engines?

 

Did they explain how this works? The "carbon" is baked on oil from the PCV system. The intake valves are no longer cooled and washed down by fuel from an upstream injector so they run hot as hell as the oil laden gasses from the PCV system move past the valve it coats it and gets baked on.


The "Italian tune-up" is more about inefficient combustion and it coating the chamber and pistons in a crappy running engine something a modern engine, especially a DI modern engine, doesn't have an issue with.


Frankly the best solution, albeit illegal, would be to install a set of breathers on the engine and retune it to operate without the PCV system and just dump the gases out of the engine like any number of old school hot rods or cars before the advent of emissions controls.

 

I think a read that GM solution is to perform an annual clean up or something along the lines. Not 100% sure though. Need to check the manual of my Equinox to see if there is any mention about this.

 

I've seen the youtube videos on the carbon build up. Would an oil seperator (catch can) help or stop the carbon build up?

 

I have an Ecoboost SHO, with twin turbos. Two years old, premium fuel and no problems. On a recent trip to Colorado, I was cruising at 80 on I-25 (Legal in WY), and getting 28.9 mpg, with my wife and luggage for a week in the rockies. Admittedly, 99% of my driving is 70-75 mph, with very little city driving. The only thing(s) done to it have been the Fuel Module recall (no problems but replaced by the dealer as a precaution) and the check of the right front axle, also a recall. Again, no problems. I do change the oil at 5000 mile intervals and use a full Synthetic. Apparently, according to a member on the SHO forum, Ford does not recommend using any cleaner as it can destroy the turbos. With the warranty Ford has on the current engines, I would not be concerned. I did purchase the 7/100 ESP from Ford, just in case.