On another forum I frequent (not Ford specific) one of the members mentioned that his 2020 F150 with the 3.5 Ecoboost was approaching 100,000 miles so he had his Ford dealership do a thorough service on it, including new spark plugs. Part of the service was a 2-step "decarbonization" process, done before the new spark plugs were installed, that the mechanic stated was necessary because the built-up carbon on the injectors would cause misfires even with new spark plugs.

I've been following this F150 forum since I bought my truck 8 years ago and I don't recall ever hearing about "decarbonization" done to a 3.5 Ecoboost before. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Legitimate process or something the dealership got to charge extra for?

 

Scam.

 

Ford doesn't recommend intake induction service on Eco-boost engines. Turbo failures can occur. Plenty of good fuel injection cleaners can be found to put into the tank on your own.

 

It wouldn't be for the injectors, it would be for DI-caused carbon buildup on the valves. Waste of money until/if each specific engine begins exhibiting symptoms. Think: Toyota, Audi, and other European makes in the early days of DI implementation.

Ford evidently did a pretty good job of designing the valve reversion process for the DI injectors as there is almost no evidence of valve coking significant enough to cause drivability issues. The issue was further addressed when the port injectors were added in addition to the DI.

 

I wouldn't go as far as to call it a scam, more of the modern environment where uneducated customers are upsold on highly profitable services, of which they could benefit from in a very specific set of circumstances. In this case, if the truck didn't go into the service department with misfires, it's dishonest to say that the truck will misfire in the future with brand new plugs based on carbon buildup. The injector design on newer Ecoboosts is such that the injector essentially cleans the valves. Similarly, newer Ecoboosts are not known for carbon buildup.

 

Like the BMW service technique of using the biggest, longest, flat-blade screwdriver in your box jammed through the intake ports to scrape the backside of the valves and stems?

Any way you can increase airflow potential in that area is beneficial to performance, let alone driveability when things get bad enough.

 

Carbon buildup on the back of the valves was mitigated (not necessarily eliminated) in (I believe) 2018 when Ford added injectors in the manifold. Fuel flowing from the manifold past the intake valves supposedly helps keep the back of the valves cleaner.