Intercooler Sludge
5 Year Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 2,297
Likes: 325
From: Mississippi
I drilled the hole on my 2016 the first day I brought it home. While it may not be enough to cause issues, I can assure you that even on the 2015+ trucks there is some buildup inside it, as my garage floor and front wall have stains where it blows out when I start the truck. This is in Calgary with an average humidity of around 25%. My oil level never moves and the oil never smells like fuel.
I currently have about 38K miles on my truck and just checked mine on my last oil change. Still no oil/water whatsoever on mine. https://www.f150forum.com/f118/stock...-miles-384707/
Senior Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 2,336
Likes: 451
From: Memphis TN
Of course if you drill your intercooler and do nothing else you will get oil vapor to come out of that hole.
ALL ecoboosts have PCV vapors that enter the airstream - and will go through the entire intake system. There is a slight difference in the intercoolers and as I understand it it's not about low spots but rather more to do with the shape of the turns - they aren't as tight. The active shutters are there for fuel economy not for the condensation issues as far as I know. Also not all ecoboost engines installations have the active shutters as far as I know and it's more to do with frontal area and space of the radiator and intercooler.
Yes your new truck can get some oil in the intercooler and once under pressure it will blow though. Modern oils have changed a bit so they leave less residue (tacky film) on parts and reduce the amount of valve coking.
I'm not 100% certain but I wonder if the newer ecoboost have some flavor of inertia trap in the PCV lines or the head to reduce the amount of oil vapors in the system. For those that don't know the term a catch can is a type of inertia trap.
To the guy with the possible fuel dilutions - I suspect your rings haven't fully run in yet either - as some engines seems to have higher blow by in their first 10K miles than some others. I wouldn't worry too much about it until year 2 or 15K whichever comes first. Stop and go traffic due to changes in throttle and load run in rings quicker than highway miles, by the way.
ALL ecoboosts have PCV vapors that enter the airstream - and will go through the entire intake system. There is a slight difference in the intercoolers and as I understand it it's not about low spots but rather more to do with the shape of the turns - they aren't as tight. The active shutters are there for fuel economy not for the condensation issues as far as I know. Also not all ecoboost engines installations have the active shutters as far as I know and it's more to do with frontal area and space of the radiator and intercooler.
Yes your new truck can get some oil in the intercooler and once under pressure it will blow though. Modern oils have changed a bit so they leave less residue (tacky film) on parts and reduce the amount of valve coking.
I'm not 100% certain but I wonder if the newer ecoboost have some flavor of inertia trap in the PCV lines or the head to reduce the amount of oil vapors in the system. For those that don't know the term a catch can is a type of inertia trap.
To the guy with the possible fuel dilutions - I suspect your rings haven't fully run in yet either - as some engines seems to have higher blow by in their first 10K miles than some others. I wouldn't worry too much about it until year 2 or 15K whichever comes first. Stop and go traffic due to changes in throttle and load run in rings quicker than highway miles, by the way.