Drivers turbo replacement...116,000 mile report.

[Muddy Bean]

I guess some of you are right. I jinxed myself by reporting how I’ve had no major issues with my truck in 115,000 miles. That dream is officially over now.

Truck originally went in to the shop last week for throttle body failure (P2112, truck stranded me in the middle of the road and traffic three times) and a leaking coolant line on drivers side turbo I’ve had for a few months. Upon inspection they found oil leaking around the turbo oil seal and heard the bearing making noise on the turbo. I noticed the truck hasn’t been as peppy and now I know why.

Anyway, the turbo, coolant line, and throttle body replacement and associated gaskets seals etc are all covered under my extended warranty. Truck has 116,000 miles on it (2015 Limited EL). Not sure why my turbo was leaking but definitely bummed out that such a decently major issue has cropped up this early in its life. My warranty runs out in 3,000 miles so I guess this was good timing.

Arguments between the shop and the warranty company have caused my truck to be in the shop now for 8 days. Thankfully my rental minivan is covered by the warranty company. I’m supposed to get it back either today or tomorrow.

So with somewhat cooling enthusiasm, here’s where I’m at with 116,000 miles:

1. Replaced spark plugs twice
2. Replaced front drivers leaking strut (warranty)
3. Replaced brake pads and rotors surfaced
4. Drilled hole in intercooler to fix stumbling
5. Replaced throttle body (warranty)
6. Replaced drivers turbo (warranty)
7. Replaced drivers turbo coolant line due to leakage (warranty)
8. Front drivers and passengers heated/cooled seats stopped working. Have absolutely no idea why. Second row still heats with no problems.

No catch can, no tunes yet. No mods to speak of other than ForScan tweaks. Still love the truck, but if something else major goes soon, my wife wants me to buy an LX570. [emoji1742]‍[emoji3603]





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[hueyf4i]

1st thing my mechanic told me when I told him I got an EcoBoost expedition is that the turbos usually last to 130,000 miles or so before they need to be rebuilt. I hope he's wrong, but so far he's been spot on with every other car/truck I've owned. My blower front blower motor went out around 60,000 miles...I hope this isn't a sign of things to come with other parts

Besides having better acceleration, I'm not too impressed with my twin turbo V6. My 5.3l V8 in my 01 suburban got better mileage, and my 88 suburban with a 5.7 liter got almost the same mileage as my expedition.

But this truck is pretty and has more farkle
.....

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Black]

Besides having better acceleration, I'm not too impressed with my twin turbo V6. My 5.3l V8 in my 01 suburban got better mileage, and my 88 suburban with a 5.7 liter got almost the same mileage as my expedition.

Not quite a fair comparison as emissions controls kill gas mileage plain and simple. If those two motors were subject to today’s emissions controls you’d see far worse mileage.
Both motors are some of the better out there. I had an 89 Silverado with the 5.7 bought new and was replaced with a 2000 Silverado with the 5.3 (still own this). I’ll take my Ecoboost over the two all day long though the 6 speed transmission may be a big plus too. I could also give two flips about gas mileage and have not calculated mpg in any of them. I loved both those trucks but they are dogs compared to the Ecoboost and braking isn’t even close. The 2000 Silverado has yet to turn 95k miles and all the brakes have been completely redone this year I mean everything, calipers, lines hard and soft, rotors, pads and just got the rockers redone. So she’ll be around for a long time too. But any towing will be done with the Expedition without a doubt.

My Expedition came with a lifetime powertrain warranty but hopefully I will not have to use it. But I do hope to keep this rig for a very longtime. It is without a doubt my favorite daily driver I have owned yet. My Audi dropped on Koni coilovers used to hold that spot.

 

[Muddy Bean]

I really do appreciate my truck. It is supremely comfortable over long drives. (I’ve put 14 hours of seat time in just in one drive). Quiet cabin even at 80mph. Huge amount of space for my family, ridiculously comfy third row, lots of farkle as someone already mentioned and I love all of it... when you drive 40,000-50,000 miles a year, the little stuff really does matter...I just have to keep it on the road without dumping my savings.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[hueyf4i]

Not quite a fair comparison as emissions controls kill gas mileage plain and simple. If those two motors were subject to today’s emissions controls you’d see far worse mileage.
Both motors are some of the better out there. I had an 89 Silverado with the 5.7 bought new and was replaced with a 2000 Silverado with the 5.3 (still own this). I’ll take my Ecoboost over the two all day long though the 6 speed transmission may be a big plus too. I could also give two flips about gas mileage and have not calculated mpg in any of them. I loved both those trucks but they are dogs compared to the Ecoboost and braking isn’t even close. The 2000 Silverado has yet to turn 95k miles and all the brakes have been completely redone this year I mean everything, calipers, lines hard and soft, rotors, pads and just got the rockers redone. So she’ll be around for a long time too. But any towing will be done with the Expedition without a doubt.

My Expedition came with a lifetime powertrain warranty but hopefully I will not have to use it. But I do hope to keep this rig for a very longtime. It is without a doubt my favorite daily driver I have owned yet. My Audi dropped on Koni coilovers used to hold that spot.

Sounds like you had bad luck with your 2000. At 195,000, my Suburban was all original with the exception of rotors and pads. Do you get more salt exposure in Kentucky than we do in a Virginia? Not that I towed a ton, but I was also sad that the Expedition tows 2,000 lbs less than my suburban. I guess thats what we get for emissions these days.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Black]

They started using brine a few years back which does make things worse but the brake components and rockers are of poor design on this generation and not uncommon for them to be rusted out by this time.

Google both Silverado rusty brake lines and rockers and you’ll get pages of results.

If one has a 19 year old 1500 based Chevy and you have not experienced one or both of these issues one is extra lucky.

Outside of those issues only other major issue that had to be replaced was the the A/C compressor.
Everything else just regular maintenance and the 4x4 switch on the dash had to be replaced but that was like $85.
Has been one heck of a truck.

 

[hueyf4i]

They started using brine a few years back which does make things worse but the brake components and rockers are of poor design on this generation and not uncommon for them to be rusted out by this time.

Google both Silverado rusty brake lines and rockers and you’ll get pages of results.

If one has a 19 year old 1500 based Chevy and you have not experienced one or both of these issues one is extra lucky.

Outside of those issues only other major issue that had to be replaced was the the A/C compressor.
Everything else just regular maintenance and the 4x4 switch on the dash had to be replaced but that was like $85.
Has been one heck of a truck.

I just hope I can be as fortunate with my Expedition as I was with my 01 Suburban. They mostly brine here too. I think its getting more popular(maybe cheaper) than putting down salt.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[TobyU]

1st thing my mechanic told me when I told him I got an EcoBoost expedition is that the turbos usually last to 130,000 miles or so before they need to be rebuilt. I hope he's wrong, but so far he's been spot on with every other car/truck I've owned. My blower front blower motor went out around 60,000 miles...I hope this isn't a sign of things to come with other parts

Besides having better acceleration, I'm not too impressed with my twin turbo V6. My 5.3l V8 in my 01 suburban got better mileage, and my 88 suburban with a 5.7 liter got almost the same mileage as my expedition.

But this truck is pretty and has more farkle
.....

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

This is why is just can't support daily drivers and transportation cars being turbo especially twin turbos.
Very doubtful any of these ecoboosts will be on the roads in 15-20 years with original turbos.
Another big problem I have is soon as I say that, so many people say " Well, that'd to be expected. Cars need repairs etc..." or something similar.

All part of the way society is accepting the planned obsolescence and need to upgrade all the time to latest and greatest.

No one looks for buy it once and done....We used to in many items. Or we at least got a LONG time out of things.

Now it's just..."That's just the way it is"..because people allow it to be by keep buying the stuff..but what are you going to do? Do without? Paradox??

My 4.6 and 5.4(old 2 valve) both have over 215K and run like dreams. If only the bodies looked like the engines run...
Both have original water pumps (great job ford on modular water pumps, best I've ever seen) all original heads, etc.
One even had original starter. Both are on alternator number 2 or 3 but they are 5 mins to remove (another great job ford) and cheap used, easy to put new brushes and regulator in, and lifetime warranty if you buy one at parts store.

No expensive turbos or starter under the intake (I'm talking to you, you Northstar POS)
(cue to Northstar supporters...."They are great engine is you maintain them"
Well I can not maintain a 4.6, run the hell out of it, hardly ever change the oil, never service the trans etc, etc,etc and I will NEVER blow a head gasket, get a TCC trans code (have to pull btw to put a simple TCC solenoid- lousy design) or have overheat because of a tiny little waterpump belt typically with a locked up pulley driven externally by camshaft- GEEEZ.

I was against the 4.6 when it cam out. The two cams and long-ass chains scared me, but they are so much smoother and panned out to be much better than the old 302 or 351W.

I could have faith in a new engine design and will revisit since time will tell, but torubos are just not high mileage lifetime or the vehicle parts.
You could say they aren't meant to be...so I say keep them off of my daily driver.

I LOVE forced induction and prefer turbo (single) on performance and play cars but I think everything has its place and for me a turbos place is not on an SUV or daily driver.

But alas....people can only buy what they offer.

I will stay way in the back picking up the best of the best after the dust settles in 12-15 years.
I like being on the very dull edge, dull platform even. Others can have the cutting edge.

 

[jeff kushner]

I wouldn't call it "cutting edge" but I'm a absolute stone believer in living a exciting life! I lept at the badass 2 stroke street bikes in the 70's not because they would last but BECAUSE they were throw-away bikes that flat beat anything else on the road to ride. THEN we made them faster.

I "did" bleeding edge in computers in the 80's & early 90's so I know what you mean about unproven reliability but some revel in pushing personal boundaries.

I own the trifecta of a Factory Supercharged(modded to 12psi) car(192K), a Turbo(modded to 18psi) bike(14K) and a turbo truck(57K). Gee- all old crap<LOL> but I wouldn't sell any of them.

I have followed Muddy's posts since he joined and we all know he's a solid guy and feel bad that 1 of his turbos required replacing but my own knowledge-base convinces me that his trouble was an anomaly. Look around OUR forum, the one place where EVERYONE comes to post the bad stuff....no other turbo failures....over what, a 3-4 yr span since they began the 3.5?

Personally, the decision as to the longevity of the engine within my own mind had to be made before I ever walked into the dealer. Who would buy something they didn't have faith in but more importantly, where is that faith coming from? TV commercials? "A friend said"? A graphic compiled by a college intern who hasn't a clue what a turbo is or does? Or better, your own experiences? Keep your oil clean-clean(oil bearings you know) and don't beat any engine prior to turning it off......its amazing how long they last. Fail at the above or just be plain unlucky and life will suck and there's nothing you can do bout it.

jeff

 

[cmiles97]

Sorry to hear that as I am putting a great deal on mileage on my 17 for work. I did purchase a Ford extended warranty to 125,000 miles, which will hit in 4 years most likely. I did this because of a friend's 2016 F-150 having 4x4 issues that the dealer could never fix. He has since traded it in on another manufacturers vehicle and will never buy an American vehicle again, he had issues with Chevy as well. His 4runner he traded in on the F150 was the best vehicle he ever owned, reliability wise.

Anyway there's a guy on the F150 forums that had zero issues with his ecoboost truck and was over 360,000 miles on it, the last I checked.

I've said this before, Ford had had an ecoboost in nearly every vehicle from Fiestas to Expeditions for quite some time. Seems we'd hear more about failures. Plus 2 different companies I have worked for only use Ford for their service and sales vehicles. All now have ecoboost motors, again these rack up mileage, beat the heck out of "company" trucks and skip service regularly. Again not hearing about major issues, although I could be just not seeing what is happening.

On turbos, don't tractor trailers use dual turbos on their diesel motors? They'll put a million miles on those. Are turbo replacements common?

How about all those maxed out sports cars like Subaru WRX? They are rated highly for reliability.

I traded in a 2007 Toyota Sequoia with over 150,000 miles on it for this Expedition. The Sequoia was perfect and I figured I would have gotten another 150,000 out of it without major failure.

I want to brag that Ford is just as good but if I experience the same issues as the original poster, even after the extended warranty fixes, I will be looking for a used Sequoia or Lexus SUV replacement as I wouldn't trust the Expedition to not require major work after the extended warranty is over.