coley909

Picking up my 2014 f150 Thursday what do I need to know to keep it happy and keep it running strong? I see a lot from catch cans to tsbs about covering the cac but I don't know where to begin its kind of overwhelming making me question my choice of this or the 5.0.

I'm going to have a bull bar on for protection and maybe slow down some water pouring into the cac possibly a catch can if I can find a way to keep it from freezing

My buddy's gti catch can froze some many times this winter.

SkiSmuggs

I live in northern Vermont and we just had the fourth coldest winter in recorded history. I did not experience any issues during my first winter with the OEM CAC or this winter with my Wagner CAC from anything freezing. I did have a cold day at work when the OEM battery wouldn't even attempt to turn the engine over.
Use a good synthetic oil and change it every 5 or 6K. I have believed in 7500 to 10K oil changes with other engines, but not with this one.
Plan on changing spark plugs at 30-35K as many have had plugs start to fail at just a little over that.

coley909

Well that's not to bad. Maybe I can get the dealer to before my warranty is out. I read that the cac was fixed in 2012 and newer idk if that's true though

jmvdigital

I was solidly thinking about putting a catch can on my '13 EB, but there is conflicting info out there. There are a few vocal people that swear by the RX system, and there are a few vocal people out there that swear that the relatively small amount of fluid the catch can "catches" (compared to the dozens of gallons of fuel burned during the same period) is completely normal and would have been burned by the engine at high temps.

The only downside I see is warranty and cost. I'm scared to even look at this engine for fear of voiding the warranty. There are quite a few stories of blown/replaced EB engines on here, everything from a '13 with 2000 miles to quite a few '11s and '12s with 20k-80k on the engine. I have no idea how a Ford inspector would treat a catch can if you blew a piston, broke a timing chain, or windowed the block. Not that it would have anything to do with the catch can, but it seems Ford is taking the warranty language very literal, no messing with the engine. It's a catch-22. Try to fix deficiencies in the engine on your own to possibly prevent problems down the line, or let it ride and bank on your warranty (while you have one).

Personally, I'm wishing I had gotten the 6.2L, just so I could sleep peacefully and not worry about all these issues.

Tothemax

Check and change your oil often. I am changing mine every 5k. Motocraft synthetic blend will be my oil of choice.

I was also sold on a catch can but with all the conflicting information I am holding off. Just give your motor the opportunity to warm up and stretch its legs once in a while.

SkiSmuggs

The only issue with the warm up is that idling is bad for these engines. Driving gently will warm it up faster than idling, but maybe that is what you meant.
And to the OP, the CAC issue has been "fixed" multiple times and none have worked completely, including making the CAC less effective. The latest fix is to pull all previous plastic shields and reprogram the engine.

snobdds

Just drive it like a truck. Get a good heat sink on it at least one a week to burn everything out. Then work the turbos to blow out the CAC.

You'll be fine. Just don't baby it...

coley909

Oh you guys are making me want to jump ship already and I didn't even pick it up. I won't baby it but I just hope to have good luck with this thing.

My 5.4 has been a head ache I just want some piece of mind. I'll keep it stock no catch can or anything just run and drive it like I stole it once in awhile and I'll probably jump on an extended warranty

maplelakeduckslayer

Extended warranty is only good if they will actually "find" something wrong. About 1/2 of the things my truck has been is for have been deemed "normal"...like lack of power after a TSB was performed, a radio station that went to static as soon as the HD was picked up(talked to station with no other issues being reported and one of the only stations I like to listen to), excessive wind noise(still need to do that surgical tubing thing), and the misfire while going up hill under load(fixed by myself putting new spark plugs in).


I'd vote to not buy the extended warranty and put it into a tuner, intercooler, and catch can system. I've got a tuner so far that has fixed my lack of power issue somewhat, still need to do the IC and catch can.

SkiSmuggs

LOL! No one has said anything bad. It is an awesome engine. No need to baby it, just have fun. Even service managers are saying to goose it occasionally to help sweep condensation out.
I have 53K on mine with 11k of towing a 9500 lbs fifth wheel.