I bought my 2012 F-150 XLT 4x4 E/C in 2014 with about 26K miles on it, and it's been a really dependable truck for me. Other than keeping up with the standard maintenance, I've only had to replace the water pump. It now has 188K miles on it, and we're getting it ready to retire it to farm truck status.
It's a V8, and I've just assumed all along that it was the standard Ford 5L engine. When I took it in for a new set of all terrain tires last week though, the guy who checked me in went out to the truck, and I saw him trying to get the hood up. I knew where the catch was, and was curious as to why he wanted to raise it, so I went out to help him.
After we got it raised, he looked up on the underside of the hood and got the engine size off a tag there. First, I was surprised to learn that an engine size tag was located there, and second, I was shocked to learn that my assumed 5L was actually a 6.2L.
I'm finding very little on this forum about this engine, other than somebody referring to it as a unicorn. There is a 6.2 engine sub-group on this forum, but the most recent posting there is from 2023. So, what have I got? Is it good, bad, or pretty much unknown? Like I indicated, it has so far been good to me, but I'm curious as to what it's potential could be. Has anyone done anything to boost its performance? What are the possibilities?
Thank you in advance for any experienced information that anyone can give me.

 

PLEASE SHARE PICS
I've been telling people for years now that 6.2 Supercab XLT trucks DO EXIST. And many people call me a liar. I am glad that we finally have a member here who owns one. And yes, they are very much a unicorn. the fact that you have nearly 200k trouble free miles should tell you everything you need to know about the 6.2 engine. They are very much a dang-near bulletproof engine. Around 300k there is some history of valvetrain issues. Other than that, it's only real downside is the fuel economy. I had a 6.2 Platinum crew 6.5 bed. Around town was 12mpg. Highway was usually 14-15. Sometimes I could squeeze 16. And on a very very few tanks I somehow managed 18.
Don't ever get rid of it.

 

The 6.2L is considered a very good engine from a reliability standpoint. and produces 411 HP at sea level, 435 LB/FT torque, which is just a little better than a stock 3.5L v6 Ecoboost.

People mention valve spring issues as the most common (yet quite uncommon) failure. One other thing to watch out for is the 6.2L F150s have a power steering pump instead of electronic power steering. The Raptor forums seem to have plenty of unhappy things to say about the stock PS pump's reliability. The reason they came with a PS pump instead of electronic power steering was, in part, because the 6.2L v8 versions of the F150 were generally approved for snow plow use, while the vehicles with electronic power steering were not.

Reliability: Of course I only have the fanboy anecdotal evidence of my own truck (62k miles) and the confirmation bias of Google searches. But they seem to support the notion that the 6.2 Boss was a super reliable, low maintenance engine. Any engine is only as good as the maintenance done on it. And even a well-maintained engine can have unexpected failures. But the 6.2L is also the one engine in recent years, that I'm aware of, that transcended the F150 and F250/350 platforms, which says a lot about the sturdiness of the engine; Ford believed in it. Up until somewhere around 2023 a down-rated 385HP version of the 6.2 was available in F250 and F350 trucks, where it shared a reputation for reliability with its F150 and F150 Raptor siblings.

If you went looking for reasons for its being discontinued, I would guess that: (1) It's heavier than a 3.5L Ecoboost (2) It was sold as an optional upgrade, and not highly popular versus the Eco (3) It gets substantially worse fuel economy than the similar-power 3.5 Eco (4) the 3.5 Eco provides better low-RPM torque, where people feel it in every-day driving (5) CAFE standards.... and that's really the big one.

Ford went about producing an engine that provides similar power, better low-end torque, and better fuel economy; the 3.5L v6 Ecoboost. And they made it a less expensive engine upgrade than the 6.2 v8. In general a dealership is not going to say "but the 6.2 would last you longer" because they can't know that for certain. So it's hard to sell 200k+ mile reliability differences at a higher price with worse fuel economy. So out with the 6.2, in with the 3.5 Eco.

My preference? Obviously the 6.2. I think it's fantastic.

 

I have an '11 Lariat with the 6.2 Supercrew, 5.5 bed, Max Tow and 3.73LS gears. Special ordered it in Oct. 2010. Just turned 124,000 miles. Just regular mantainance. Only issues I've had is what alot of this generation F150's have as a whole. Things like, Rotor warpage which I cured with an upgrade to Brakeperformance Rotors. A blend door actuator for the climate control ( Mine has 4 with the electronic control), Blower resistor, ABS wheel speed sensor, I think that's it. As for ever letting my 6.2 Lariat go, It'll be with me till I die. My three grand nephews have been fighting over it for years, Lol. Check out my albums.
Oh, my gas mileage is great, relatively for what it is. Regularly get 18-20mpg on the highway (provided I keep my foot out of it). I've gotten 21 or so on my trips out to my place in West Virginia until I get into the foot hills before the mountains. Trip average is usually around 17.5 once I'm there. It's around a 265 mile trip. On shortish trips, around town short trips to Dollar store, bank, pharmacy, etc. can be anywhere from 11-16, depending on traffic. This time of year is does drop 1-2 mpg with the winter blend fuel. I average 11.5-12.5 mpg towing my custom built 7x14 V-nose enclosed trailer. It was built with an extra foot wall height to get my Polaris Ranger in, plus it has my Swisher brush mower and various implements (about 4,500lbs)

 

I'll get my photos up sometime in the near future. I've been too busy at work, and been getting home after dark. My truck ain't nearly as pretty as yours. It's strictly a work truck. We might need to start a Unicorn thread! I'd love to find 6.2L and Unicorn emblems I could mount on the truck, just to show off. LOL!

 

I can't even imagine mistaking a 6.2 for a 5.slow.

 

I've always driven it quite conservatively, and rarely put my foot in it. It can scoot when I do though! LOL!

 

As requested!
It's still covered with road salt from our recent snow, so it's not shiny, but at least it is sporting it's new Pirelli Scorpions.

 

6.2 F150s that are not Raptors aren’t very common at all on the used market. I had to drive to Fort Smith Arkansas from north Texas to get mine from original owner.

 

Correct. And unfortunately, I have found that a seemingly large percentage of non-Raptor 6.2 150s on the market are Canadian. I don't know the reasoning behind it, but Canada got A LOT of 6.2 F150's. But the most unicorn-worthy ones are equipped like the one above your comment. Supercab, XLT, 6.2.