2014 Ford Fusion 1.5L Ecoboost - 2 Q's on oil

[jaxf250]

Hi All - Newbie here on BITOG forums, and wanted to seek advice from the serious oil geeks/experts here ;-)

I'm new to GTDI engines and from research they seem to be prone to carbon buildup on the intake valves, esp. with the PCV routing etc. Plus they run a bit rich over non-turbo engines it seems. My first oil change is coming up this week. I have about 3,200 miles so far on the car. I have a Mobil-1 filter and Pennzoil Platinum 5W-20 Full Syn to put in. Should I be thinking of using any additives at each change or a couple times a year to address the carbon buildup? Driving will be approx. 10-12K miles per year and most is city traffic. Two trips a year of 700 miles R/T is the only highway driving I do.

Final Q - the oil cap and service manual says to use 5W-20 in this little 1.5L unit. I live in Florida, where it can be warm in the summer. Should I stick to OEM specs, or is 5W-30 OK (preferred?) to use in this little turbo?

Thanks gents!

 

[jrustles]

If it specs 5w20, it will be fine. The PP ought to be ideal.

How does it drive??

 

[FetchFar]

To your additive question, yes I'd use Techron fuel additive, since some fuel gets on the intake valve in a direct injection engine, and Techron should help.

OEM specs for a 0w-20 or 5w-20 are fine, and you can also use a 5w-30 without worry. In fact, some of the the other Ecoboost engines are now speced to use 5w-30. I'd only use a name-brand synthetic in that engine. No oil additives required or needed at all.

 

[dparm]

Originally Posted By: FetchFar
To your additive question, yes I'd use Techron fuel additive, since some fuel gets on the intake valve in a direct injection engine, and Techron should help.



Techron will do next to nothing for his DI motor. No harm in using it, but it's not like a port-injected motor where the fuel washes the valves.

Carbon buildup was a problem with the first-generation direct injection cars. It's been [mostly] worked out now.

I would stick with the 5w20 as the manufacturer requires. Your car is not air-cooled and doesn't need thicker oil in the summer. Thicker just steals horsepower/gas mileage.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

1.5L, so it must be a manual?

Ford plays with valve timing to avoid the buildups.

 

[2KBMW]

Jaxf250. I too just bought a new vehicle (GMC Terrain) with D.I.
and have the same concerns. From what I've researched there is nothing to put
in the gas to help keep the intake valves clean. Any cleaning will have to be
done by spraying cleaner through the air inlet tube or have cleaner go into
a vacuum hose.

 

[HTSS_TR]

Originally Posted By: dparm
Techron will do next to nothing for his DI motor. No harm in using it, but it's not like a port-injected motor where the fuel washes the valves.

Carbon buildup was a problem with the first-generation direct injection cars. It's been [mostly] worked out now.

I would stick with the 5w20 as the manufacturer requires. Your car is not air-cooled and doesn't need thicker oil in the summer. Thicker just steals horsepower/gas mileage.

Agreed, especially during warranty period.

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
1.5L, so it must be a manual?

Ford plays with valve timing to avoid the buildups.


The 1.5L fusion ecoboosts are all automatics. The 1.6L are all manuals.

So the valve timing is occasionally dithered to get DI fuel on it to clean the intake valves? Or what are you suggesting? The valve would usually close before fuel is squirted, although some might make it on to the intake valve.

 

[jaxf250]

Originally Posted By: jrustles
If it specs 5w20, it will be fine. The PP ought to be ideal.

How does it drive??


Thanks for the nod on the PP. Re: driving - Very peppy for such a small motor in a mid-size sedan. Plenty of power for most normal driving situations. It's pretty well-equipped and comfortable for a big/tall guy like me. My daily driver is a 2000 Expedition, but the Fusion is a nice change or when I have a longer drive to make.

 

[jaxf250]

Originally Posted By: dparm


Carbon buildup was a problem with the first-generation direct injection cars. It's been [mostly] worked out now.

I would stick with the 5w20 as the manufacturer requires. Your car is not air-cooled and doesn't need thicker oil in the summer. Thicker just steals horsepower/gas mileage.


Thanks - I'll stick with the PP and Mobil 1 filters every 7,500 miles I guess. Should I rely on that oil life monitor thingy or just change every 7,500 regardless? All my other cars were/are non-turbo and I just run regular oil and change those every 5,000 - I figured with a full synthetic I should be able to get to 7,500 right?

 

[jaxf250]

Originally Posted By: 2KBMW

Jaxf250. I too just bought a new vehicle (GMC Terrain) with D.I.
and have the same concerns. From what I've researched there is nothing to put
in the gas to help keep the intake valves clean. Any cleaning will have to be
done by spraying cleaner through the air inlet tube or have cleaner go into
a vacuum hose.


Thanks, and congrats on the new vehicle too! Yeah, doing a regular intake cleaning like I'm used to in the past (with SeaFoam or such) is apparently not a good idea on these Ecoboost engines. See this 2 part video set:

http://youtu.be/0irwbwpuEbQ

http://youtu.be/nK2eXdaydqI

Watching those vids from the Ford mechanic made me think that if I want to try and keep the car for a long time, I should think about keeping the intake valves clean. Hence my Q's about using an additive or such. The guy in the video was kind enough to send me a note and recommended using Techron gas additive every now and then, even though I see a couple posts above mine here that this may or may not be something I'd derive benefit from?? Maybe there is some cleaning benefit that gets passed through the spent fuel/exhaust vapors to the oil somehow? I'm not a mechanic, so no idea how this would occur via PCV hoses or from the turbo plumbing or what. He also said to keep top tier gas in the car and use full syn oil only.

 

[jaxf250]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
1.5L, so it must be a manual?



As replied to already by another, it's a 6-spd automatic that you can sport-shift if
you want to.

 

[sicko]

Oil life monitors have shown to be very accurate, so you should feel comfortable following it.

The one caveat I'd mention is if your owner's manual says to change your oil more often then what the oil life monitor tells you, follow your owners manual during your warranty period.

 

[jaxf250]

Originally Posted By: sicko
Oil life monitors have shown to be very accurate, so you should feel comfortable following it.

The one caveat I'd mention is if your owner's manual says to change your oil more often then what the oil life monitor tells you, follow your owners manual during your warranty period.


Roger that - thank you. Makes sense.

 

[SwampSurvivor]

Originally Posted By: FetchFar
Originally Posted By: Miller88
1.5L, so it must be a manual?

Ford plays with valve timing to avoid the buildups.


The 1.5L fusion ecoboosts are all automatics. The 1.6L are all manuals.

So the valve timing is occasionally dithered to get DI fuel on it to clean the intake valves? Or what are you suggesting? The valve would usually close before fuel is squirted, although some might make it on to the intake valve.


Ah! Got that backwards

I don't believe it's to wash fuel over, but just a puff of high pressure air to blow the crud off of the intake valves.

They reverse the process, to my understanding, to avoid turbo lag.


If it's the sport shift and you have any steep hills, I'd just drop it down 2 or 3 gears and let it run 4000RPM up the hill, hard, for a minute.

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: Miller88
I don't believe it's to wash fuel over, but just a puff of high pressure air to blow the crud off of the intake valves.

They reverse the process, to my understanding, to avoid turbo lag.


Can you point me to a reference source for this? Sounds interestings. Puffs.

 

[Ken2]

Direct injection means that the gasoline is injected directly into the combustion chamber, not into the intake manifold, and no where near the back sides of the intake valves. A gasoline additive will do nothing about the back sides of the valves.

The youtube video was very interesting about adding a solvent to clean the intake system and "over-fueling" the turbocharger and over heating it. That's not something we'd normally consider.

Let's hope Ford extends the warranty on all the Ecoboost engines to cover everything related to that technology, and extend it for life of the vehicle, or at least the hoped-for life of the parts. The auto makers should not use customers for engine development.

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: Ken2
Direct injection means that the gasoline is injected directly into the combustion chamber, not into the intake manifold, and no where near the back sides of the intake valves. A gasoline additive will do nothing about the back sides of the valves.


If late intake valve closing at least once in a while (certain conditions) then fuel can get on the back side of the intake valves.

 

[FetchFar]

Originally Posted By: jaxf250
.Yeah, doing a regular intake cleaning like I'm used to in the past (with SeaFoam or such) is apparently not a good idea on these Ecoboost engines. See this 2 part video set:

http://youtu.be/0irwbwpuEbQ

http://youtu.be/nK2eXdaydqI

Watching those vids from the Ford mechanic made me think that if I want to try and keep the car for a long time, I should think about keeping the intake valves clean. .


Is that youtube-star Ford technician going to lose his job for reporting on massive Ford engineering Ecoboost problems going forward? I do like his info and am appreciative though. I don't think Ford wants their own techs talking.

 

[jaxf250]

Originally Posted By: Ken2


Let's hope Ford extends the warranty on all the Ecoboost engines to cover everything related to that technology, and extend it for life of the vehicle, or at least the hoped-for life of the parts. The auto makers should not use customers for engine development.



Agreed, but unless they see a serious issue I doubt they'd cover it. These GTDI engines are just now hitting the very high mileage levels and it'll be interesting to watch and see what happens. I was hoping to keep this car, like my Expedition, for many years of service, but I'm open to rethinking that and trading it in if this posits to be a problem area for the future. I have found no oil additives (other then for high mileage engines that help with compression) that would address this buildup issue as shown in the videos.

Again, it'll be interesting to see how this turns out. I may stave it off for a long time with regular oil changes and full syn and good gas (93 octane BP or such).