So, as the owner of one of these 2.7 powered F150's (not made in the TSB window though), a couple of thoughts.
1. The existence of a TSB on this issue does not mean that every 2.7 built will have this issue. Certainly, there are enough having the issue that the TSB became necessary. But that does not mean (and never has) that every unit in the window will have the issue. That right there is a huge reason why it is a TSB, and not a recall. I've owned a ton of vehicles with TSB's that applied to them, but were never needed.
2. The thread pointed to was about 12 pages long. As far as huge failure issues go, this is not long, particularly given the volume of these things being churned out. Not knowing the total number, but I believe it is well north of 500,000 F150's a year are sold. Based on that, 12 pages in a forum for that truck is not a huge number - and a few posters are in there a lot. Figure 30% of the F150's come with the 2.7, and you are talking 150,000+ of these per year. Again, put the percentages in perspective. (I know -easy for me to say since my truck is not affected. It would stink to have one, but again - look at the percentages).
3. A poster questioned why Ford would even bother with the 2.7. Yes, it weighs similar to the other engine options.
It gets substantially better fuel mileage than the 3.5 ecoboost and 5.0 trucks. The EPA numbers are higher, but in real life the spread is bigger than the EPA numbers. Don't believe me? Go look at Fuelly and see for yourself. 2.7 F150 owners are reporting north of 18 MPG on average (Full disclosure, I'm at 19 MPG on average in one of the heaviest configurations of 2.7 powered trucks). 5.0 and 3.5 ecoboost owners are back in the 16 MPG range. 2 MPG does't sound like a lot, but over 10% better fuel mileage is nothing to sneeze at.
Some of us don't need the heavier towing capability of the bigger engines (the heaviest I tow is a 4000+lb boat and trailer). For what I tow, it works extremely well, and tows so much better than my old 3V 5.4 V8, its amazing.
On top of that, in the unloaded trucks - drive the 2.7 Ecoboost and the 3.5 Ecoboost back to back without anyone telling you which is which. I couldn't feel the difference (granted, with the 6 speed transmission only in the 2016's). The 2.7 is very responsive and has little turbo lag. I'm sure fully loaded, the 3.5 would feel better, but unloaded, the 2.7 more than holds its own.
Last, look at cost. The 2.7 was a $700 upgrade to my truck. The V8 was over $1000 more, and the 3.5 was nearly 2k more... For my needs, the 2.7 works very well. It may not for yours, but the beauty is we all can get something that works the way we want it to.
4. Not going to get into the get the v8, its better, or Ford should put in a pushrod V8 argument. Facts are there is a certain segment that believes trucks should have nothing but old school V8 power in them. And they see DI and Turbos as always being glass empty. Little will change their mind. The good news is Ford makes that option with the 5.0. The even better news is they have other options too...
I'm not dismissing this as being an issue. It is. But the mere fact there is a TSB does not mean every single one of these engines is a ticking time bomb.
