After having travelled 257,000 km or been used for the equivalent of 10 years in the most extreme conditions, the 3.5-litre, V6 EcoBoost engine used in the F-150 was dismantled by two Ford engineers in front of an audience at the Detroit show.
The engine was randomly chosen in one of the manufacturer’s plants and submitted to the ultimate torture test to demonstrate its reliability. It spent 300 hours on a dynamometer, hauled 110,000 lbs of wood, towed two NASCAR cars at full speed for 24 hours, won a race against its competitors while dragging 9,000 lbs up a sharp incline and ran the Baja 100, the most gruelling North American off-road endurance race.
After all this abuse, the engine was returned to the dyno where engineers recorded the loss of just 1 hp of its power and 0 ft-lb of torque. A single cylinder suffered a 13% air loss, which usually requires extensive maintenance or replacement. The five others displayed acceptable levels of air loss.
As for the rest, oil pressure, the timing chain, piston heads, turbochargers and other parts displayed normal wear for the level of mileage. There was of course carbon build-up in the valve, and several parts showed signs of wear that, according to Ford, is within quality standards.
So Ford pulled off its bold gambit to demonstrate the high level of performance and efficiency of its new EcoBoost engine. This kind of marketing move is a double-edged sword that placed the automaker in an “all-in” situation. In this case, the operation was a success, but what would buyers have thought if the truck had broken down the minute the going got tough?
With these results, though, both dealers and consumers have good reasons to go the way of the F-150. Who wouldn’t want a truck capable of surviving hell?
Source : PickupTrucks.com
The engine was randomly chosen in one of the manufacturer’s plants and submitted to the ultimate torture test to demonstrate its reliability. It spent 300 hours on a dynamometer, hauled 110,000 lbs of wood, towed two NASCAR cars at full speed for 24 hours, won a race against its competitors while dragging 9,000 lbs up a sharp incline and ran the Baja 100, the most gruelling North American off-road endurance race.
 |
| Photo: Ford |
After all this abuse, the engine was returned to the dyno where engineers recorded the loss of just 1 hp of its power and 0 ft-lb of torque. A single cylinder suffered a 13% air loss, which usually requires extensive maintenance or replacement. The five others displayed acceptable levels of air loss.
As for the rest, oil pressure, the timing chain, piston heads, turbochargers and other parts displayed normal wear for the level of mileage. There was of course carbon build-up in the valve, and several parts showed signs of wear that, according to Ford, is within quality standards.
So Ford pulled off its bold gambit to demonstrate the high level of performance and efficiency of its new EcoBoost engine. This kind of marketing move is a double-edged sword that placed the automaker in an “all-in” situation. In this case, the operation was a success, but what would buyers have thought if the truck had broken down the minute the going got tough?
With these results, though, both dealers and consumers have good reasons to go the way of the F-150. Who wouldn’t want a truck capable of surviving hell?
Source : PickupTrucks.com