itguy08

It's been alleged that the Ecoboost has issues with valve deposits similar to early versions of VW/Audi Direct Injected engines. This thread serves to split these discussions out from the catch can and water in CAC issues.

We all know all DI engines will experience these buildups and this is an attempt to discuss these in a civil manner.

So let's all share our experiences and discussion on this topic. Please keep to the Ecoboost 3.5, not VW/Audi, Not GM, not Hyundai, not the other Ecoboosts, etc.

I can say I've got an Ecoboost with 72k, never had a catch can or any valve cleaning and these deposits have not hurt anything. Fuel economy is steady since day 1. She runs perfect and no issues here.

SIC_HDPP

This is a great thread. Can you tell us what gas station and grade of gas you are using. I believe BP and Shell are supposed to have extra additives to help prevent this.

Ford850

Q1, Q2, and Q3 of that first year were your best MPGs. What's changed since then? Are you getting gas from the same source as you did then?

itguy08

Gas was pretty much from the same stations - local convenience store, BJ's, Costco, or a local truck stop. I'm usually a price shopper on gas and typically buy the cheapest gas I can find.

There were a few outliers in the data - some 30-50 MPG but I didn't want to touch the data and just report it as is.

I also had a bum knock sensor replaced in March 2012 so that may account for some of the drop off. It looks like economy did bounce back when that was replaced. It did take the dealer a while to agree it was an issue. I originally had chaffed wires (issue on early Ecoboosts) that they tried to tape and loom to "fix" it. Wasn't until I complained about a shudder in 6th that they said "Ford said to replace the knock sensor".

mrpositraction

Are you in Pennsylvania? I am surprised the winter gas wasn't more prominent, you get pretty good MPG across the board. 1MPG isn't that bad for winter blends, but it does show a small change.

As for the fuel with additives, please keep in mind, with our DI (direct injected) motors, the gas never sees the top side of the valve, so it will not clean in the same manner as a FI (port injection) motor.

Some other things that we should try to capture is the oil used (synthetic? Synthetic Blend? Brand). Also, would be beneficial to mention while reporting mileage what mods you have as well. Running Meth would keep them cleaner as well as a catch can (a working catch can, regardless of brand).

This is a good thread! I really hope it can stay civil and on track. We as members really help make these forums useful to others and having separate threads with good information in them is key to a successful and lasting forum.


EDIT: Would be nice to add a trend to the line on the graph as well. Maybe with the Rsqaured and line equation for us engineers and math lovers.

mrpositraction

Also, what are you guys running to keep track? I would like to start tracking mine as well.

Or are you just keeping track by hand and an Excel sheet at home?

itguy08

Yup. I'm surprised as well. The car doesn't show much difference in winter/summer. But the truck seems to show a good variance.

Mine is whatever the dealer uses. My guess would be something that at least meets the Motorcraft specs.

Here you go...

itguy08

I use an app on my iPhone called RoadTrip. It was a couple $$ and I enter the data on the fly. It will keep track of all things car related and you can export to CSV. I then import to Numbers (I'm on a Mac) for analysis.

When I had a Droid I used an app called aCar. Same deal but for Android.

mrpositraction

So you mileage is improving with age (according to the line equation) just slightly. Though 2011 is interesting and making it look like this!

Thanks for the data point. It will be nice if others have as good of information as you have! Will keep the conversation going.

itguy08

Like a fine wine? The one thing I'm interested in is how things my perk up this summer. Replaced the plugs in the middle of Feb and have noticed a slight uptick in MPG. Nothing much but I suppose after 72k they were a little tired although they looked good.