2012 Ford F-150 3.5L V6 EcoBoost COLOSSAL ENGINE DAMAGE Full Teardown
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 17 พ.ย. 2023
- Another weekly dose of your catastrophic engine forensics! Every week you can find a new teardown of some abused, misused and/or poorly designed engine. I've got over 150 videos of failed engine teardowns on this channel.
This weeks engine is a 3.5L Ecoboost V6 from a 2012 Ford F150 courtesy of Greg Merrill in Holland MI. This 200K example was an auction purchase which was thought to have another problem. After some work, it decided to fix itself and although this engine is completely destroyed, IT STILL RAN! This engine while having a VERY apparent failure doesn't give a ton of clues as to why it failed. What do you think caused this failure?
My name is Eric and I own and run a full service auto salvage business called Importapart, located in the Saint Louis area. Part of our model includes dismantling blown up and core engines to salvage and resell the good, usable parts from them. We do not rebuild engines, merely supply parts to those that do!
If you'd like to buy parts from this engine or anything else I've torn down you can email us at Importapartsales@gmail.com or go to www.Importapart.com and peruse our latest inventory.
I really hope you enjoyed this video, as always I love all of the comments, feedback and even the criticism.
Catch you on the next one!
-Eric - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
Thanks a ton Eric! Been waiting to see this video! So additional part to the story. I did replace the timing on this engine with new, BUT I had actually instead bought a 2014 Fx4 with the EcoBoost in much better condition. But with having over $1000 invested in all those timing components, I removed them and put the original back on as I found them. Little detail I forgot to mention. The new parts were already removed by the time I decided to call you guys. But was back together just the way I found it. I was driving it thru my neighborhood when it blew and made it back to my garage. Lol, those new parts are going strong in my new truck! Thanks again Eric! Hope to be down your way soon, I’ll be sure to stop in and show my face and thanks in person! Happy Thanksgiving!
Thank you Sir for the engine I have a 2014 F150 with this engine, I’ve changed the high pressure fuel pump, that’s all. It doesn’t like sudden acceleration,
I have learned to not do that. My plan is to drive it until I die, I’m 74.
@@dirtfarmer7472 there are much better trucks to drive till you die... trucks that won't have blown caps and other electrical issues later down the line. most of them are older, but if you are willing to spend the money on making the truck as bullet proof as you can, aftermarket will aways have things that you can do to it to make it continue working long after the factories have decided that it's not worth maintaining. (modern vehicles are 99% garbage, i would only buy something that is like from the 90s or older, the less electronic gizmos the better, the longer it should last.)
Sorry to hear a guy going through this much trouble. Thanks for making the best of it and providing the rest of us with this entertainment :)
Thank you for donating the engine. I must say. This failure was very impressive indeed.
I suspected you'd stripped off the new good parts before donating it, it's what I'd have done.
If every household in America watched a short 10 minute summary of your channel to learn what happens when oil levels are ignored, you’d completely disrupt the auto industry.
If I could somehow reach everyone to show the importance of maintenance, indirectly saving people a lot of money and frustration, I would die a happy man.
As an hvac guy, I feel the same about your furnace filters.
3.5l ecoboost doesn’t have a low oil light. If it’s leaking enough you will never know till it’s got none and the no oil pressure light comes on.
99 out of 100 car owners dont care. Dealers are telling people they can go 10,000 before a change. Dealers with "free" oil changes, only do them when "the oil/maint light comes on" at 7000+ mi. yeah, they all suck.
@@FishFind3000
That’s dumb, that sucks
A salvage yard run out of engines ? Suuuuuuuuuuure . Thanks Greg ! Everyone have a great Thanksgiving !
The earlier 3.5 EcoBoost engines had timing system issues, mainly related to the timing chain stretching and breaking. It was not unheard of to have a failure in the 80,000 to 120,000 mile area. In 2014, Ford put out a bulletin on this and changed several timing system parts for beefier components. I have a 2011 F150 with this motor. It experienced an extremely unusual timing system failure: bad metallurgy on the crank snout caused the timing gear pinhole to open up, causing chain slip and eventually break the crank sprocket at 122,000 miles. Fortunately it happened at low RPM and low load so the valves had a chance to close before the pistons were able to hit them. No bent valves at all. Pulled the motor, new crank, bearings and timing system parts and the engine has been running perfect for the past 12,000 miles and counting.
The first year they put the 3.5EB in the F-150, the timing chain was a roller chain that was less prone to wear ("stretch"). The next year Ford switched to an inverted tooth timing chain (which they continue to use) which had far more issues with stretch (on top of cam phaser issues). Inverted tooth timing chains tend to have more issues with stretch. GM used the same style of chain on their 3.6 V6 that had lots of complaints over timing chain stretch.
@@karlschauff7989of course. Nothing like screwing up a good thing after the first year by going cheap *rolls eyes*
Of course they did. It's planned obsolescence. It saves them pennies and it guarantees that you'll go out and buy a new truck after 120,000 miles and the warranty has been up for 20,000.
@@karlschauff7989 technically it's not stretch, it's wear between the pins and link holes. 100-200 of those surfaces polishing each other and adding 0.0005" each adds up. Roller chains tend to have much less connection points to polish. Regardless, extended oil changes are BAD no matter which is used.
Whoever does the editing is a genius. Erics sense of humor is great, but then add some of the timing edits, sped up and sound effects etc., great work!
The more i see these new engines, the more i like my old engines!
I'm a Ford technician and most of our catastrophic engine failures involve broken pistons, my theory is that the oil squirters get clogged due to lack of maintenance or mileage and the pistons overheat and go boom
Bonjour et que pense tu du fait que les pistons auparavant avaient une forme plus allongée, un peu comme un godet ou une tasse, ce qui permettait de les guider correctement dans le cylindre alors qu'aujourd'hui ils ont tellement été réduit pour gagner du poids qu'ils ressemblent plus à une énorme pièce de monnaie.
Mercedes a un problème avec ses V8 dont les cylindres se raient tous par le frottement des pistons, on a l'impression qu'ils basculent légèrement sur leur axe .
I like your new way of removing the crank first, then pistons which are easier to take out 🙂
Thank you Eric for my Saturday night entertainment, and thank you Greg for the engine. I hope everyone has a good Thanksgiving. I know I'm thankful my engine doesn't look like that one! :D
This engine had super satisfying clicks when loosening the cams and head bolts. Love to see it!
Was nice to at least see an engine that was not filled with rust from sitting outside somewhere for months.
Thanks for the core Greg! Happy Thanksgiving to Eric and all!
Thanks, Greg!
The Hemi engineers should watch this. Even after all that abuse, the valve seats are still in!
For This week. They need to make all automotive engineers work in service for a year to see how f44ked up their ideas really are
Not really an issue with the eagle hemi. those valve seat issues were dealt with on the ‘12 redesign. definitely an issue on pre eagle 5.7 and 6.1s tho.
@@SkSKSK283the rollers…..well not so much. 😂
@@jeffreygoss8109 you’re definitely right. I swapped mine out after one failed at 161k
2009, not 2012 @@SkSKSK283
Hypereutectic pistons are very brittle, and those first gen EcoBoosts are known for having injector issues, I'm going to guess that cylinder ran lean, detonated, and blew the piston apart.
The ticking noise was probably because the piston was cracked and running it caused it to come apart.
It's also very possible it was tuned, either way I'm going to say detonation caused the hypereutectic piston to explode.
I expect this is probably what happened. Cracked piston or damaged ring lands lead to a progressing failure.
Are Hypereutectic pistons any good?
For this reason, hypereutectic pistons can run a tighter piston to cylinder clearance than forged pistons. This makes hypereutectic pistons a better choice for stock engines, where longevity is more important than ultimate performance. Some vehicles do use forged pistons from the factory.
@@RRaucina Hypereutectic pistons are fine in a N/A daily driver, they also help limit HC emissions because they hold their shape very well. They however have very little tolerance for detonation, something that's VERY easy for a forced induction engine to experience.
I have a strong suspicion that is what happened here, the injector was not flowing enough and it ran lean in that one cylinder while accelerating under boost and detonated.
Thank you Eric. Please never stop your videos. I know you'll never run out of video material
Amazing how it was confined to just one cylinder (essentially). Almost like the rod decided to split in half spontaneously. Impressive amount of gravel, also impressive the minimal amount of collateral damage.
Thank you for posting this excellent video. Thank you to Mr. Merrill for donating the engine. I want to wish everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving next week.
This is one of two engines I’ve been wanting to see. The other is a 2017 or newer Ford 6.7L. Thanks for sharing your time with us.
Same, I’d rather see a gen 2 3.5 I want to see if they have a rubber oil pan belt in it just like the 2.7
@@Foxbody302They don't
@@W0RLDSSMALLESTVI0LIN Good to know!
Those valves were doing a great Michael Jackson impression with that lean
that was some grade-A carnage! really impressive levels of bore damage, and Salvador Dali valve stems to boot. wrist pin's still mint, of course.
I think Santa might need to bring you a big ol' box of timing chains for xmas, tho.
He'll never run out of engines. It never ceases to amaze me how many people dont even know how to open the hood on their car.
I love the time you take to edit your videos, makes them fun to watch
I sure enjoy your channel Eric. As a long haul truck driver I have a lot of stories myself about helping others with their poor cars . I really hope that you inspire more people to take care of their equipment. Thanks again, Bob
What are you doing with all the chains? Are you making some kind of armor? A Mr T Halloween costume? Spill the beans! I cannot bear the intrigue.
every saturday i’m always excited to watch u eric🙏🏽💪🏽
Classic IDC. I really enjoyed this one. Amazing amount of engine gravel! Thanks for the laughs!
First time watcher (mentioned by Rainman Ray) and really enjoyed it! Great video and fun tear down on an EcoBlast
Yes, its the nice guy with the bad engines. Good luck my friend!
Also look close at the valve tappets from the blown hole, one of the intake buckets is cracked on top.
I noticed that too, I bet the piston hitting the valve tried to force the valve stem through the tappet.
Eric, you really gave me flashbacks of my last Dr visit... that gloved finger picking into that turbo tube and saying it feels tight in there😮😮😮
Another fun Saturday teardown. Fun to watch, plus I learn more working on my own car. Get the Porche 928 going again
Thx Greg. Sorry for your loss bud.
Thank you for the great content. I have been Watching these every Saturday night for two years now! I have learned alot!
Thank you Greg and Eric for another wonderful teardown video!
It's always a treat to see the perfect wrist pin in the middle of absolute chaos. Kinda inspiring, if you think about it.
That's it! I'm putting my foot down about this and I need to see the pile of chains you have been saving since you started or whatever masterpiece you have been concocting.😂
Another great Saturday evening thanks Eric 😊
Great video, Eric.....that was quite a mess!! I am amazed at how many parts the newer engines have -- gives me a greater appreciation for today's mechanics!
thanks greg! thank you eric for the teardown time and info i’m grateful
Thanks Greg!
Thanks Greg.
I once had a rough terrain forklift with a 4-cylinder Perkins diesel that halved its crankshaft while it was idling (honest...true story...I wasn't even in it) and it still ran. Hell, it even started back up and ran after I restarted it. Now, it sounded like someone was hitting the cab with a sledgehammer but it still started and ran.
Amazing that Ford engineers managed to make the inspection ports double as a bolt receptacle during engine service!
your g/f has inspection ports ! 🤣
Nice to see the broken block parts were sent with the engine. A bit of JB Weld here & there would make it like new!
Wasn't aware Ford offered cylinder deactivation on its Ecoboost engines.
Eric, your sarcastic humor makes my day! Plus, I really enjoy the teardown and analysis.
Thanks for such a complete motor Greg! I just traded my 16’ transit 3.5 eb and this was the least reliable vehicle I’ve owned out of 30+… $12k in repairs in 50k miles. Yes, bought it newc changed the oil every 6k and didn’t even tow with it. Good riddance to that van!
If you want to raise your machinist's blood pressure, ship him the block with the broken pieces in that oil filter box and ask if he can weld it back together
What... can't you just JB Weld it??!! 😂
Just use some super glue
lol
Just fill it in with some Bondo and cover it with some metallic paint. No one will notice.
You laugh, but we weld damaged blocks back together all the time, stuff way way worst than this. It just wouldn't be worthwhile on this guy. I gotta LS3 crate motor that launched a rod on the dyno, we'll do a little welding to the messed up bores new sleeves and no one will ever know.
Would love to see a Volkswagen 2.0 TDI. If mine ever blows up I'll send it your way lol.
I’m guessing HumbleMechanic maybe has done one; I know he’s done the gas engines.
Thanks Greg, first time I've seen the inspection port covers included with the engine. I'm sure a little work with a welder can restore it to as good condition as any other engine in the trash bin.
Thank you Eric! I enjoy these videos as I like machinery and find the design of some engines quite interesting. It's also quite fun to see how they self-destruct due to owner neglect or some engineering issue. :) Thanks for making them.
If I still had a shop and blacksmithing, Id love all those chains. They make great knives and other tools.
Thanks mate. Appreciate your efforts!
Great video! I’d guess just a classic thrown rod.
I once had a Grand Cherokee dropped off by flatbed at my shop as “running rough”.
Had a 360 in it, and it ran, but horribly. Pulled it into the shop under it’s own power.
Dug into it to find the cam broken in half and two thrown rods. Couldn’t believe it actually ran!
Needless to say, that was a full long block replacement.
Yay! Always happy to see you post. Keep it up
I love seeing a title containing the phrase, "COLOSSAL ENGINE DAMAGE."😂
Thank you for you support to help with good videos on tear downs
WOW! I didn't know the first gen 3.5's had cylinder deactivation
Ecoboosts with the max cooling tow package last longest. Provided that u don't actually tow, that is.
The later revised versions of this motor are actually pretty good. Nice to drive.
Nicest to drive engine I've ever had under my right foot was a 1bbl 4.9L six out of an 85 F150. Smooth, torquey, reliable. Doesn't need to rev to pull hard.
If it has the internal “belt”, I am staying away.
We need to pass the tip tray around and send one of those timing chains out to be gold plated. I think it would add some serious bling to the tear down vids!
This video couldn’t have come out at a better time. The 2011 F150 Ecoboost in my family has 280k miles on it and is finally starting to give up. The turbos ran dry of oil and there was a decent amount of glitter in the engine oil but it still runs like nothing happened (apart from not having boost). I think it has maybe 5 to 10,000 left on it before it dies. I’m hoping to buy it to do an autopsy on the engine
Probably clogged oil filter screens for the Turbo oil feed line. They are a $26 part but easily clogged with metal chips.
Whiskey Tango Foxtrot! That... damage is an understated word... rapid unscheduled disassembly! My guess as to how that could happen is mixing a bit of nitromethane in with avgas and putting the foot down hard. You might have to do a bit of computer bypassing to get it to run at that speed on that hellfire cocktail. There was no hydro-lock there.
I quite like the dr. suess valves
Do you have an employee tasked with gathering up the parts you so nonchalantly toss aside?
I love that part of the show… keep it up!!
About time Eric. Mine 3.5 gen 2. Had the phasers changed at 59k. Any factory dodge other than a hell cat, gets my Rudy red tail gate every time.
8:16 - yeah i did those IN the truck last year. Its pretty amazing when you develop a triple jointed wrist, extension fingers and skin tough enough to handle every sharp edge of plastic that is in the way.
Much as I like Eric's videos, what I'd love is a video where all he does is talk about various engine failure scenarios and shows us parts that lead him to those conclusions. It would be great to see clear examples 'across the spectrum' of failures so we can gauge what is going on with our own project engines.
Holland gang where you at
"This looks like it would be fairly impossible in the truck." Yes, that's because Ford didn't design it to be done while still in the truck. All engine components other than the spark plugs are meant to be an engine removal before changing them. Because they literally only design it to go together at the factory.
Great Video! Thanks for sharing!
Some of these trucks had a problem with the charge air cooler getting saturated with water and would under sudden heavy acceleration fill a cylinder with enough water to do this, the cure was to drill an 1/8” hole in the bottom of the charge air cooler.
This engine looks good inside considering the lack of maintenance, yes it blew up, but the bearings looked good, upper end in the cams not so much.
I saw one with over 200k miles, which was running good. I think you're right on how it's taken care of. I think a lot of them are either worked or beaten to death.
worked, beaten, or starved. i had an aunt who never checked the oil on her excursion and the oil was always below the min mark. eventually it got below the pickup tube too. it did last like 12 years and 8 cousins though, so it wasnt worth much when it died.
I’ve saw many with 250+k and a few 400+k. These engines as long as maintenance is done are great. All these turbo engines from any manufacturer will run great for a long time with synthetic oil changes every 5k and other preventative maintenance. If not you’ll be lucky to make it to 100k and it doesn’t matter the manufacturer.
That seems to be why the fleets weren't going for them, at least at first.
Thank you, Greg!
Enjoyed the video been watching you for years
Eric, you need to do a Q&A one night - just take a bunch of Qs and answer them. like "What do you think about all those plastic parts in high-temp areas"??
Thank you Eric! 👍
Seeing you tearing down these engines and it’s always the same problem ,they didn’t change the oil, makes me want to go change my oil and i just changed it 500 miles ago.
My 2020 Ecoboost lost it’s top end at 36k miles. Ford replaced the entire engine. The service manager told me they are 50k mile motors at best. I traded it on for a 2016 Tundra 5.7 V8. Now have 146k miles on it, NOT ONE SINGLE ISSUE. Gas, yes. But a real V8 and unstoppable.
There are many of these engines running well over 50k. I would say that service manager had an axe to grind. That "50k mile motor at best" comment doesn't pass the sniff test.
strangely hypnotic... i never watch 44 min of youtube... ever... but i made it to the end... this is cool ...
And I was going to go to sleep... feels like I have another 45 minutes of staying awake
Collect the Forbidden Glitter, clean it up really well, and make custom lava lamps with it. "Forbidden Glitter Lamps."
Thanks Greg!!!
I just tore down a Gen 3 F150 Coyote the other day. It was a "rebuild-able core", tore it down, turns out the reason it was a core, was because a roller on one of the lifters broke in half and circulated metal throughout the engine and scratched up the bearings... luckily all the journals are fine, so I'm just going to re-ring it and put it in something.
I tore down a Gen 1 coyote also, block was damaged, but what sucks is it was well maintained, no varnish, no bearing scratches, but I got some heads, cams, a nice used water pump... wiring harness, coils, other goodies.
Thank You Gregg!
For anybody who may have had a rod failure like this video, it is worth noting do not just throw a new engine in. 2012 ish years had intercooler issues where condensation and oil would pool in the intercooler. Under boost this liquid would push up into the intake manifold under boost and bend/break rods. Typically, anytime i saw one of these throw a rod, intercooler was full of liquid.
I am not an engineer by any means, but fords fix was to block off a majority of the intercooler to reduce condensation which also raised iat temperature. So to combat that they changed pcm tune which i believe enriched fuel to keep cylinder temps cooler and reduce timing for detonation.
There are videos of guys drilling out intercoolers to combat issue without using fords tsb.
Sounds plausible. Good info.
Thanks for sharing.
Every sunday morning in Europe😉 my best part of sunday
Thank you Greg!
Hey, my home state Michigan. Awesome. Neat blue tooth piston option!
Thanks for another great video. You keep me coming back. 22 Miatae? Man, I need to email you.
Just wanted to wish you a happy Thanksgiving and say thank you Greg.
17:02 "...now this is a chain!!"
You missed the obvious jokes about the chain guides being OFF THE CHAIN!!!
LOL
I loved the intro !
Good evening Eric. Eco boost tonight. The damage will be great tonight. Rod knock to the extreme.
Ooh yeah!! Best part of Sat night!!
Ahhhhh............ I needed this tonight after a rough day. Thanks Eric! Those coolant clips and 10mm sockets are the hide and seek champions of the automotive world. lol You need another Safety Tote!
I've got a clue for you. My friend Dave had this same engine in the same truck but a 2013. He had a miss in the engine that he had taken back to Ford several times with no satisfaction from them in finding the problem. Feeling very frustrated after leaving the dealership one more time, he stomped on the gas pedal on the onramp to the freeway, which is right in front of the dealership, and Kablammo!!! He said the resulting explosion 💥 💥 bent the motor mount. Ford determined that its problem was a fuel injector that was loading up. As it was under warranty at the time, Dave got a new engine. True story!
One of those valves would make a great monopoly game piece.
Best Saturday night show.
Thanks, Greg