Thoughts on my 2016 F150 and a little advice to those in the market

[Lund1875#]

Was without a truck for several years, as I had a company vehicle and sold my pickup so my girls could have a couple Accords to drive. Looked pretty long and settled on a 2.7 ecoboost f150 Crew Cab 4x4. It has just shy of 60k and still under warranty. Been flawless up to 50k and averaged about 20 mpg. It really was exactly what I was looking for, as I drive it like a car, and just use it to tow my boat on the weekend as well.
This summer on vacation after sitting a couple days at the resort, I started it and it blew a big puff of smoke. That was a lil concerning and thought I will keep an eye on if if it happens again. It uses no oil. A month later after idling at the boat ramp waiting my turn to load, I backed down the ramp, and this truck was blowing a solid stream of smoke. By the time I got my trailer into the water, you couldn't see the truck next to me. I thought, there is no way this will make it up the ramp. Shut it off, and went and loaded the boat. I started it up, and again a solid stream of smoke.....literally you have never seen so much smoke. Gave it throttle to get up the ramp......and you would have thought something was on fire.....again you had to be there, as you cant believe the smoke. Parked it at top of hill, strapped down the boat and secured everything, and started it up. No smoke. Took it to Ford and they replaced turbo supply line.
A month later after sitting over night, occasionally it would blow a puff of smoke. Getting new heads put on it next week......advisor said 32 hrs at 130 an hour, plus the price of the heads.....thank good its still under warranty. Also, it has a plastic oil pan, that is leaking and they are replacing it. Odd is it uses no oil, but man can it burn the lil bit that's seeping by.
Turns out 2.7s built from April 2016 to Jan 2017 can have head problems. They simply verify the smoke at start up, then if no stored soft code, it gets heads. If a code is found you get an engine. Most showed up under 10k miles, mine was upwards of 50k miles.
Long story and things happen, just thought I would share in case you are thinking of one. Not sure I will keep it after the 100k warranty runs out. I love the truck and the ecoboost, but think I might just go back to the slower V8s.

[Custom Eyes]

Way too many problems with those Egoboosts. That's why I steered clear of them and went with the 5.0

[Jack G]

I did a bit of research when I was going to buy a 2019 F 150 and it looked like the eco boost trucks might have some problems. Consequently, I went with the 5.0 L V8.

I liked the performance of the eco boost trucks but I was leery of them.

Jack

[Dave in Walker]

my 2015 3.5 eco with 65,000 has been flawless, hope it remains that way for a long time

[Lund1875#]

Originally Posted by Dave in Walker

my 2015 3.5 eco with 65,000 has been flawless, hope it remains that way for a long time

Looking like I should have gone with the 3.5

[Npkman]

I’m on my second 3.5 Ecoboost F150 and no problems with either of them . I pull boat and 5th wheel, often both. I have several friends with 3.5 Ecoboost and no problems. And I would get another one if I was shopping for replacement. IMO - Like most things, news of a bad experience or two travels fast, far and wide on Forums - while good experiences are rarely repeated😀

[cyber16]

using no oil and smoking like that one would first think it was ingesting tranny fluid.
But with todays mostly electronic shift transmissions I don't think its possible?
I suppose brake fluid would smoke like that as well, but that would be noticable at the peddle.

I'm going to assume the oil was a little low after this event?

I have a 2014 F150 FX4 with the 3.5 eco, just turned 93K miles with no issues

[SJJ]

Yep, I've had my oil pan replaced twice now on the same vehicle as yours both under warranty. I've had 3 recalls on the vehicle and a recall on the recall which was related to the block heater. I also replaced a switch on a rear side window which cost me $300. I keep looking for things that might go next. The 4 wheel drive was making some noises when turning the other day, not sure if that will be the next problem, I'm not a mechanic.

[Tdobb]

SJJ - If you are hearing noises from the 4WD system, check your IWE Vacuum Accuator line right up near the brake booster on the firewall. It is a 20 dollar part that is known to go bad. The solenoid that the line feeds thru (another 20 dollar part) is also known to go bad, and if either of those goes, the IWEs (Ford's vacuum operated hubs) will partially engage, shearing off the teeth that give the front wheels power. Inspect it and fix it before it gives you issues. Look up a youtube video for a tutorial on it, super easy to do, might need a flat head screw driver at most. Those two 20 dollar parts can fail and cause thousands of dollars and many hours of service work.