Another Recent Blown Ecoboost Engine

[mSTANG_1]

Hello fellow forum members, I am hoping for your assistance and guidance as what should I do with a major issue I encountered about a month ago. The engine ended up being blown on my 2015 Ford Mustang EcoBoost Premium (automatic) which has left me shocked and speechless. I purchased it brand new, never drove it in the winter and took extreme care of it. It currently has approximately 38,000 miles.

Following is a list of performance parts installed over the years:

- Tuned by @Livernois Motorsports
- Livernois Thermostat
- AirAid air intake
- Blowoff valve
- Intercooler replaced
- Catch Cans
- Spark Plugs previously purchased from Adam
- Down Pipe
- CatBack Exhaust
- Coolant Tank replaced
- JMS PedalMAX

I only used Premium 93 Octane gas, changed oil every 4,000 miles with either Purple or AMSOIL. The parts were replaced over the years. The car was running fine until the “Check Engine” light came on and encountered performance issues picking up speed. I could hear noise coming from the engine. I had the car diagnosed resulting in low compression in cylinder 1 plus sounded like a broken piston or something.

I am not sure what to do. What could have caused this issue? I am wondering if it could have been the Tune. I have read other threads about blown engines with Tuning being the primary factor. Currently, I don’t have the money to have the engine replaced and when I do, should I have a tuned again?

I called @Livernois Motorsports and left a message for a callback. I would greatly appreciate any candid feedback.

Thank you

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[Cardude99]

The 15's are more prone to blowing up, others will disagree but I've seen more threads like this with a 15 engine over all other years. Don't know why the 15's bite the dust more often it's just what I see.

That being said, time to go built motor or return to stock and detune the motor. I would not advice on just replacing it and keeping the tune without going the built route. Been there and done that, never again. It's built or back to stock for me if I ever find myself in that situation again. Best of luck to you.

 

[Cxp]

@mSTANG_1

How aggressive is the tune? What is the whp and wtq?

 

[mSTANG_1]

Not really sure, Livernois had tuned it back in 2015 and update it as versions changed. I never pushed the car to the limit or abused it. I am hoping for Livernois to chimp in or if others had their EcoBoost by Livernois, they would be able to provide the specs. Would the PedalMAX have any negative impact on a tuned car but, than again Livernois sells it as well. I would hate to spend the money replacing the motor and retune it with the existing Livernois tune end up in the same situation. Here's the link to their tuner: https://www.livernoismotorsports.com/product/LPP631123.

 

[AnasB^ECO]

Sorry that happened to you.. don't think time related thing...

Simply, this engine has weak internals, block itself is known for its wall thickness issue and blowing up at cylinder 3...

 

[Cxp]

@mSTANG_1

Were you using an OTS tune or pro tune from them?

 

[Hellman109]

15's are also older, so more KMs on them and sold really well, hence more blown engines, no idea if they are over-represented after that.

That sucks though, no one wants that to happen to them.

 

[JohnDoe]

Please stop scaring me

 

[Maggneto]

The engine is still under warranty so you could get lucky and have it replaced under warranty.

Have you talked to your Ford dealership? Several LMS tuned engines have been replaced by Ford under warranty. The LMS failures i have read about were cracked pistons and likely the result of a detonation event.

Adding engine modifications will increase the chances of engine problems. The tune itself isn't necessarily the problem but is less forgiving if something like a low octane event occurs.

There have been several blown engines shortly after filling up with gas, spark plugs changes, self maintenance, etc.

What event immediately preceded the engine failure?

 

[Turbong]

You have a long list of mods, you checked the plug gap before you put them in? When was the JMSpedalmax installed? I would blame that as the cause before everything else, I don't know why people would put that crap on their car that's begging for trouble.

@AnasB^ECO
I don't believe they made any changes to the engine for the 18+

 

[tw557]

I would say the Pedalmax did not have anything to do with the blowup other then literally just like pushing the pedal farther with your foot. If you had a JMS Boostmax, that could be a contributor, but it sounds like that's not what you have. Was the motor at low RPM's when this happened? Because of these ecoboom concerns I'm sticking to the stock tune with an intercooler and the pedalmax and drive in sport mode all the time for the extra performance. I also have an early build 15 with 45000.

 

[mSTANG_1]

When this occurred it was at low RPM, cylinder 1 seems to be the issue. When the Engine light was displayed, after checking the codes P0301, P0316, B108E, B1215, and B1446 were displayed. There have been no mods that were recently added. I have always used Premium gas. If I take it to Ford and if they are willing to warranty it do they usually put a new motor that's on the newest Mustangs? I am not sure what caused it and when I have the motor replaced if I should have it tuned again by Livernois.

 

[Cxp]

@mSTANG_1

By chance were you in high gear, low rpm, and gassed it hard?

 

[mSTANG_1]

It's an automatic but one thing I did notice was it was in "S" gear for a short bit when I noticed it shifted it back to "D". May have accidently shifted it to S without realizing it.

 

[Cxp]

It's an automatic but one thing I did notice was it was in "S" gear for a short bit when I noticed it shifted it back to "D". May have accidently shifted it to S without realizing it.

That should be fine as long as you didn’t have the gear manually selected. S shifts automatically so it wouldn’t matter, but if you put it in high gear via paddle and then gassed it, that would be an issue.

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