Ecoboost Engine Blown?

My car was just taken by flatbed to the dealership so at the time of this posting I do not know the exact problem. I will post updates as information becomes available.

What happened though is quite disturbing and has me pretty upset. I have a great relationship with my dealership and I expect they'll do everything possible to make things right. It just sucks though having problems with a new car.

So let me start from the beginning so you have all the details. My car is not really modded out yet. It has an MMR air intake, JMS BoostMax and PedalMax modules. All of these things were put on the car within a week of the car purchase back on July 28th.

I took it real easy for the first 1500 miles, never went over 5K RPMs and kept the speeds under 80 mph to really break in the engine and tires. Once I hit that 1500 mark I went and had the oil and filter changed out to Mobil1 full synthetic 5w30. I then drove the car for another 1700 miles before I noticed some pink fluid leaking on my drive way. It turned out I had a crack in a coolant hose. The dealership replaced that hose for me and that problem hasn't come back.

Here is where it really gets disturbing though. Shortly after getting my car back from the dealership I developed and oil leak at the hose that connects to the intake in front of the turbo. The dealership ordered a new hose and installed it. The car was 2 quarts low so I had to top it off with the same Mobil1 5w30 full synthetic. From there everything ran fine for a few hundred more miles. I was checking everyday for leaks and checking the oil level. EVerything was working great and I thought my problem where over. This past weekend it started leaking again from that same hose on the intake.

I took it to the shop on Tuesday and they found the O ring in that same hose was ripped a bit. My service guy went ahead and ordered another one and today was the day it was going to be replaced. The car leaked no oil if I wasn't making boost so I was told it was okay to drive the car for now. I was really taking it easy and was doing MPG testing lol.

Now for the part that really has me upset. While driving the car to the dealership today I was stopped at a red light. When it turned green I went to take off and the car wouldn't accelerate. I gave it a bit more gas and it ended up going for about 5 seconds or so before things got bad. I heard a loud clunk then some grinding then saw black smoke coming out the back end. As I was getting pulled off into a parking lot the low oil pressure light came on and the wrench lit up putting it into limp mode.

I had to have Ford roadside assistance come tow it. That process got me angry though and I yelled a lot. I had to pay $132 to have it towed to my dealership. They said my plan only covers towing to the nearest dealership. So I'll have to fight them on that but it did get taken to my dealership.

So now I wait to find out exactly what happened and then what is going to happen. I posted in another thread where a guy had a similar issue but without the catastrophic failure. I was told by someone that my issue seems like a pressure issue with the engine and I believe that is the case. Hopefully they put in a new engine and I never have any other problems. I love this car and I just want it to run the way it should. It's spent so much time at the dealership in the 3 months I've owned her. I rolled over 4K miles on my way to work today.

Oh wow. That is not good.

Mattrix said:

Now for the part that really has me upset. While driving the car to the dealership today I was stopped at a red light. When it turned green I went to take off and the car wouldn't accelerate. I gave it a bit more gas and it ended up going for about 5 seconds or so before things got bad. I heard a loud clunk then some grinding then saw black smoke coming out the back end. As I was getting pulled off into a parking lot the low oil pressure light came on and the wrench lit up putting it into limp mode.

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Sounds like something popped that caused the engine to loose oil pressure, and with oil squirts all over inside the engine compartment (on both sides) that pretty much shows that oil under pressure was squirting from someplace.

So sorry. Looking forward to updates.

I bet a pcv line or something snapped, I wouldn't think it's a blown motor

A PCV line isn't going to squirt oil all over the engine compartment. Most likely something that has oil pressure in it sprung a leak.

GT Pony said:

A PCV line isn't going to squirt oil all over the engine compartment. Most likely something that has oil pressure in it sprung a leak.

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Turbo?

That sucks bro. Next time buy a v8!!

Yeah this is the Ecoboost, I updated the title. What makes me think it could be a blown motor was the very loud clunk and then all the grinding I heard. Hopefully they'll be able to get into it today and let me know. I didn't sleep well last night.

GT Pony said:

A PCV line isn't going to squirt oil all over the engine compartment. Most likely something that has oil pressure in it sprung a leak.

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just kinda guessing. I find it hard to believe that the top of the block could sprout a hole like that out of nowhere....

Stopped by the dealership today and got some news. There is a hole blown out of both sides of the bottom of the block. The pics and info have been turned over to Ford and we're waiting for the go ahead to order an entire assembly. I wasn't given a reason why it happened but it's pretty obvious something has been wrong with this engine and the pressure. With it cracking hoses and blowing O rings I think the block finally got weakened enough that it became the weak link.

I hope to know Monday if Ford grants the repair and the dealership is able to order the engine. I'm expecting my service guy to email me the pics he sent Ford. I'll post those when I get them.

Mattrix said:

Stopped by the dealership today and got some news. There is a hole blown out of both sides of the bottom of the block. The pics and info have been turned over to Ford and we're waiting for the go ahead to order an entire assembly. I wasn't given a reason why it happened but it's pretty obvious something has been wrong with this engine and the pressure. With it cracking hoses and blowing O rings I think the block finally got weakened enough that it became the weak link.

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I'm thinking it started with the oil leak problem you mentioned, and that lowered the oil level causing the engine blew-up. Usually engine blocks blow-out when there's a major mechanical failure (like rods letting go and blowing through the block). That was probably all the banging and grinding noise you heard when it let go.

GT Pony said:

I'm thinking it started with the oil leak problem you mentioned, and that lowered the oil level causing the engine blew-up. Usually engine blocks blow-out when there's a major mechanical failure (like rods letting go and blowing through the block). That was probably all the banging and grinding noise you heard when it let go.

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After the first oil leak it was 2 quarts low but I topped it off. From there I checked for leaks and the level on it every other day and it was good. Then when the leak happened again I checked the level and it was still at the top line. I drove it for a day and a half without any oil leaking onto the intake tube by not getting on it and making boost.

I'll probably never know the reason though. The dealership isn't going to tear it down and investigate. It'll probably end up in Dearborn though to be looked at by the Ford techs.

We'll see how long this repair takes but I have a feeling I'll be close to 30 days on the car out of service within the first 3.5 months I've owned it. Pretty sure it would then qualify for Lemon law replacement or return. Would be a tough call on what to do there, love the car and it would have a new engine in it.. but could save the money and wait until the end of summer when the 2017 GT350s come out and buy one of those.

What an awful situation. I sure hope your dealership doesn't try to make money off of you by a denial of warranty based on your mods. I have heard that some Ford dealerships have taken that BS approach. You sure "drew the short straw" and got a bummed engine sounds like to me. Good Luck and hopefully you can get your new engine without too much stress.

Rough Hollow Man said:

What an awful situation. I sure hope your dealership doesn't try to make money off of you by a denial of warranty based on your mods. I have heard that some Ford dealerships have taken that BS approach. You sure "drew the short straw" and got a bummed engine sounds like to me. Good Luck and hopefully you can get your new engine without too much stress.

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They've already sent the info to Ford so the ball is in their court to grant or deny the service. I have a good relationship with the guys at the dealership and I hope they continue to do nothing but take good care of me.

Thank you for the well wishes, hopefully it ends up okay. Worst case scenario I ruin my credit by just giving the car back. I couldn't afford to pay out of pocket for this, that is why I haven't tuned it. Not worth that risk. I had tuned the car I had before this a AWD 2011 Fusion and never had any problems but this car is still brand new not worth messing it up.