2016 EL Limited - High Miles?

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BamaBuc

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Good evening! I’m seriously considering pulling the trigger on a 16 EL Limited, but had a couple questions for you salty vets, if you don’t mind.

1) It has 102,000 miles. Maintenance history looks good. Seems the previous owner was very diligent with servicing. Not being familiar with Ford’s and the ecoboost motors, I’m wondering if those miles should be concerning?

2) It had the 22” wheels installed factory, but currently has 20” wheels. I know the 22” wheels means it has CCD which is cool, but I’m wondering if going through the effort to find 22” wheels to put back on it would be worth it or not. Any opinions?

I appreciate the feedback!
 
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B-McD

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I would not worry too much about the mileage, especially if it was a lot of highway driving. If used by a limo service or similar life I may be wary. I have the 22" factory rims and CCD. I'm very happy with the ride however it does limit tire choices and cost. I'd stick with the 20" wheels but ask the owner if he kept the originals? Likely did a swap so they are gone. FWIW - I have my CCD set to NORMAL 95% of the time. Comfort too floaty and Sport good only if you have nice smooth roads. Since Sport doesn't affect throttle or trans response I don't bother with it. Good luck!
 

Cyclone

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Yeah, if he was good about Maintenance, the it should be ok. The 3.5 Ecoboost engine has been out long enough that if it was a turd, everyone would know it. I have always had Ford V-8 engines in my cards and was wary of the V-6, especially in such a large vehicle. But at 365HP, it has been outstanding and I'm sold on it now. Has more HP than my 2008 Bullitt.

I would say look into adding a JTL Catch Can to your EB engine. The PVC Vapors that get recirculated from the crankcase to the intake put carbon on the intake valves. In a regular engine, the fuel would wash away these carbon deposits. But in the EB engine the fuel injector is right down into the cylinder like a spark plug. So that fuel never hits the upper side of the intake valves and therefore doesn't clean them. This oversight was later corrected in subsequent generations of the EB engine that now have two sets of fuel injectors, one set in the cylinders for performance/efficency, and a 2nd set up high to clean the valves and provide some other cold start performance gains.

The catch can is a simple device that sits inline between your crankcase and the intake and it condenses the PVC vapors into a liquid and put them in a can. You then regularly drain the can of those oils that would have otherwise fouled your valves. Do some googling/YouTubing on Catch Cans and Ecoboost to learn more.
 

justinp16ex

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Purchased my 16 EL Limited with 100k, no engine issues except a bad spark plug. I have the JLT catch can installed. I'm at 130k, have had to replace the rear diff clutch packs. A good extended warranty wouldn't be a bad idea.
 
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BamaBuc

BamaBuc

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Thank you everyone! We purchased it this evening. The local credit union actually had a MLK special with a lower interest rate and included extended warranty, so we jumped on it. Super excited! Have a great evening!!
 

bharrup

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Good evening! I’m seriously considering pulling the trigger on a 16 EL Limited, but had a couple questions for you salty vets, if you don’t mind.

1) It has 102,000 miles. Maintenance history looks good. Seems the previous owner was very diligent with servicing. Not being familiar with Ford’s and the ecoboost motors, I’m wondering if those miles should be concerning?

2) It had the 22” wheels installed factory, but currently has 20” wheels. I know the 22” wheels means it has CCD which is cool, but I’m wondering if going through the effort to find 22” wheels to put back on it would be worth it or not. Any opinions?

I appreciate the feedback!
I have a 2008 EL that I bought with 270k two years ago. The ONE piece of advice from the mechanic at the used car dealership gave was this: “use only full synthetic oil and change it every 3000 miles.”
I changed out the transmission fluid a few weeks ago, but not because it was malfunctioning, but I had a slight leak, and I didn’t know how much had leaked out before I noticed it. Not the easiest job to do, but YouTube University got me through it.
 

Trainmaster

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If the leak persists, check the "O" ring on the transmission bulkhead connector. It's often a common problem that presents as a pan gasket leak as the fluid runs down and around the pan edge.
 

Vdubnick

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Yeah, if he was good about Maintenance, the it should be ok. The 3.5 Ecoboost engine has been out long enough that if it was a turd, everyone would know it. I have always had Ford V-8 engines in my cards and was wary of the V-6, especially in such a large vehicle. But at 365HP, it has been outstanding and I'm sold on it now. Has more HP than my 2008 Bullitt.

I would say look into adding a JTL Catch Can to your EB engine. The PVC Vapors that get recirculated from the crankcase to the intake put carbon on the intake valves. In a regular engine, the fuel would wash away these carbon deposits. But in the EB engine the fuel injector is right down into the cylinder like a spark plug. So that fuel never hits the upper side of the intake valves and therefore doesn't clean them. This oversight was later corrected in subsequent generations of the EB engine that now have two sets of fuel injectors, one set in the cylinders for performance/efficency, and a 2nd set up high to clean the valves and provide some other cold start performance gains.

The catch can is a simple device that sits inline between your crankcase and the intake and it condenses the PVC vapors into a liquid and put them in a can. You then regularly drain the can of those oils that would have otherwise fouled your valves. Do some googling/YouTubing on Catch Cans and Ecoboost to learn more.
catch cans are a waste and dont prevent carbon buildup. multiple engine makes with direct injection all suffer the same buildup issue. and all have updated versions with "cleaning" injectors.

carbon buildup in direct injected engines is inevitable. BUT, rate of buildup will vary. You can prolong the buildup by using good syn oil, and not being a grandma driver. Giving the old italian tune up from time to time is good for the engine and helps clear out buildup. Worst scenario for your motor is a life of prolonged low RPM driving.
 

JasonH

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Thank you everyone! We purchased it this evening. The local credit union actually had a MLK special with a lower interest rate and included extended warranty, so we jumped on it. Super excited! Have a great evening!!
The extended warranty should provide substantial piece of mind. Castrol Magnetec gets good UOAs in the Ecoboost. Premium gas is not required, but will reduce fuel dilution. The plugs are probably toast at 100K, so you it may be prudent to replace them proactively, especially if you can do the work yourself. Watch for throttle body failure as well. It's a relatively inexpensive fix, but the failure mode can be frustrating. Enjoy the new vehicle and safe travels!
 

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