I apologize in advance for the lengthy read but we have had nothing but problems with this truck and Saturday was proof that our local dealership doesn't do crap to fix issues so hopefully we can find help here and fix it ourselves and sell it. Here goes.... I'll try to keep it short.
We bought our 2014 F150 brand new, its currently got 64k miles on it. We don't take it off road very often and when we do its slow and steady, no wild driving.
We only had one issue when we first bought it while pulling a load with a 4 wheeler and side by side up a steep hill on a highway, we got a check engine light and it ran kind of crappy for a bit but then got better. Dealership put code reader on and said it was fine. Fast forward to last year when all kinds of problems started from 4 wheel drive vacuum lines, cv boot, steering column issues, spark plugs breaking, and random noises. Dealership "fixed" all the issues after $2400 out of our pocket for what wasn't covered under warranty and it was running OK for a bit but then started to get shuddering and loss of power at 60 mph with more misfire codes; took it back and after them having it for a week, they only replaced all plugs...thats it. Again, ran ok for a bit but started having a rough start and idle with more shudder and check engine light. I had read on a forum to regap plugs, so we did that, we also drilled a 3/8" hole in bottom of intercooler as some mechanics were saying it helps with misfire and shuddering by eliminating excess fuel and oil. It ran ok after doing that but still rough start and idle, no shudder, no cel, no loss of power. This last Saturday, I took it 103 miles on the interstate to meet 2 salesmen for my niece to buy a car from them. Right as we were coming off the interstate it started running worse than I have ever seen. The whole way there wasn't any cel or issues. I could smell burning oil and it was idling really bad. So we get over to where the salesmen were and as my niece is talking to one salesman, the other one told me that there was a bunch of white smoke coming from the exhaust. I didn't notice it. So my nieces boyfriend is training to be a mechanic, he opens the hood, checks the oil, no issues there; its full of oil. So I decide once we are done with her signing papers that we go put a code reader on it to see what's up and if I can drive it back home. As she's following me, white smoke is pouring out of the tailpipe, I'm not getting much power, and I could smell oil. At stop lights it acts like its going to break down and stop running. I get to O'Reillys as fast as I can while leaving a cloud of smoke behind causing my niece to have issues seeing. Stop the truck, turn off engine and go inside for the code reader. My nieces boyfriend checks oil again and its low, so look under the truck and its losing oil pretty bad.
I can't recall all the codes that came up but one was camshaft, over retarded something or another, i honestly don't know.. i was just so mad and on the phone with my husband so I didn't pay attention. I just knew it would need to be towed home. Ugh.
Issue after issue with this truck. I'm over it!!! We don't have the money or patience, nor trust for that matter, to take it back to our local dealership for repairs. What's your opinion? Experience? My niece's boyfriend called his boss who thinks its a bad turbo. How do we check that? What about the oil loss? At this point, I would like to use it as target practice and buy a chevy like we should have from the beginning but it's our only vehicle at the moment and we still have a small amount to pay on it. Luckily we have family lending us a reliable truck until this one is fixed.
We would like to do our own work if possible to save thousands. If you have links to videos or anything else helpful, we'd love any help we can get.
thanks so much for taking the time to read through the lengthy and very summarized story and thanks in advance for any help.

 

You need a real mechanic. It sounds like the Ford dealer you went to tried their best, but maybe they don't have any good old fashioned mechanics.

It does sound like a turbo issue. The only way to check a turbo is to remove it and physically inspect it. You can plug in computers all day long, but if there is a seal issue or internal damage, you'll never see that on a computer. These engines are high tech in regards to their electronic controls, but the core components are still the old fashioned mechanicals. At some point you'll want someone who can remove and inspect parts, not just take wild guesses at what's wrong. Real mechanics know engines inside and out and can usually find the problem, but it will probably be some disassembly.

First thing is to find out what that camshaft code was and investigate that.

Next that oil leak needs diagnosed, that's just a matter of watching where the oil is coming from, then disassembly and inspection.

I've never heard of this particular problem before, but if it's under warranty you will want to use the dealer. You do have lemon laws if the issue cannot be addressed. If it's not under warranty then you might be on your own. There is an answer, it might not be the one you want, but there is an answer.

 

I'd check to see if there was oil in the coolant and vice versa. The white smoke screen sounds like it could be a blown head gasket. If the turbo was over boosting and the waste gate didn't exhaust the excess boost that could cause the head gaskets to blow. I had a Dodge Caravan that did that. Granted, it was normally aspirated but had the same symptoms as your truck. Crappy idle, hard starting, rough acceleration, and white smoke. Eventually, it wouldn't even start. A new set of head gaskets fixed the problem.
I agree with slonomo, you need a real mechanic, not a code reader who just swaps parts out to clear the OBD module. Parts fail for a reason and until the reason is found throwing parts at a problem rarely fixes it.

 

All good points.

My first question is where is the oil going? Is it leaking on the driveway or getting burned in the engine, or migrating into the radiator fluid? Have you checked your radiator fluid lately? Usually a head gasket leak will allow either radiator fluid or oil, or both to migrate. Also, white smoke is an indication you are losing radiator water into a cylinder, but if the smoke is blue it would indicate oil is finding its way into a cylinder, and you say you smell burned oil. That could happen as a result of either a head gasket failure or a blown seal in your turbocharger.

You say the initial problem happened while pulling a trailer up a steep incline? If so, my money is on the head gasket...but check the turbo too just to be sure.

 

Identify the oil leak.
Could be a Turbo seal sucking oil into the combustion but A compression test and or a leak down test will tell much before tearing into things too much.
Have a compression test done, if the plugs were recently changed it should be easy. A leak down test can also be helpful.

It does sound like either head gasket or turbo seal.
Identify the oil leak, is it leaking oil at the turbo?

 

A 3/8" hole is way to big..losing boost big time..recommended is a 1/16.

 

Sorry to hear of your woes with the ecoboost.
Previously I had a 2017 3.5 ecoboost, the dealer replaced, or repaired almost everything under the hood, at least once, if not numerous times. Finally gave up on it ever running correctly, and replaced it with a 2019 that has a V8. Hopefully you can get it fixed, and it runs okay again. New turbos helped mine temporarily, until it threw a rod through the block.