Car quality going down the tubes?

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Shadowrider

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Incredible to think there are 3 generations of Coyotes now. I like the second gen, it has cast iron cylinder liners and an aluminum block. Not totally sold on the 3rd Gen yet, no liners, plasma deposition of iron on the aluminum block. Ford did get 3 extra cubic inches out of the "5.0" Coyote with that change, currently up to 307 cubic inches. Is it a good engine overall? Only time will tell. The 5.4 was good in concept, however has had two major issues:

1) Spark plug ejection
2) Cam Phaser issues

The best one can do is take care of their car, change oil often, get issues fixed, don't beat the snot out of it and hope for the best.
The 5.4 Triton cam phaser issue isn't really a cam phaser issue at all. It's an oil spec issue.

My 2006 specs 5W20 oil. Ford mysteriously changed the spec to 5W20 from a heavier viscosity citing "improved durability and performance". Yeah right. The same '06 F150 4X4 with the 5.4 sold in Australia specs 10W30. Guess which oil I have in mine. 130K and it runs like a top. The Triton gets a bad rap for this with it's crappy oiling system and cam phaser design. That's not the case at all.

Ford and all the rest are forced by uncle Sugar to squeeze every tenth of a MPG so they lightened up the oil viscosities "required" by the engines. New cars are going to 0W16. This is 100% CAFE standard driven, it ain't got anything at all to do with design criteria, but they are getting more sophisticated with the oil pumps because of these water weight oils and the fact that they have to pump so much of it.

Subaru runs some pretty mind boggling pressure and volumes for an OEM pump but some of that is because the flat Boxer engine and how far the heads are out from the crank. Regardless, Subaru engineers pump the hell out of their engine oil which is spec'd with a 0W20 full synthetic.
 

wawazat

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Incredible to think there are 3 generations of Coyotes now. I like the second gen, it has cast iron cylinder liners and an aluminum block. Not totally sold on the 3rd Gen yet, no liners, plasma deposition of iron on the aluminum block. Ford did get 3 extra cubic inches out of the "5.0" Coyote with that change, currently up to 307 cubic inches. Is it a good engine overall? Only time will tell. The 5.4 was good in concept, however has had two major issues:

1) Spark plug ejection
2) Cam Phaser issues

The best one can do is take care of their car, change oil often, get issues fixed, don't beat the snot out of it and hope for the best.
I prefer to wait until an engine has been out for a year or two and see what kind of mods people are throwing at them. Just give it a year and follow some shops that are throwing nitrous or turbo kits at them and see if they start swapping Gen 2 blocks into Gen 3 cars or vice versa. If it can hold up to the power guys are putting down on Gen 2 motors with turbos, it should last a good long while with bolt ons or no mods at all and thorough maintenance.
 

fishincoop

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The 3.5 eco boost had a cam phaser recall as well, I just took mine in this year. The 6.2 L had a cam phaser issue……it’s pretty serious when so many of your engines have the same issue. Now I can’t say my truck made it all the way to anything without a major repair! I do like the engine, I think the 3.5 eco boost has plenty of power and torque and sounds great too. But it’s not going to make it to 200’k club with no issues as it lost that title at 25,000 miles.
When Eco-boost came out years ago, I said “ won’t touch one til I meet a man who says - original owner, 250+k miles, no problems. ………….. I’m still waiting for that man.
 

fishincoop

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The best one can do is take care of their car, change oil often, get issues fixed, don't beat the snot out of it and hope for the best.

Well said. Permission to add:
- “get what you can afford”. And
- “don’t bash others doing the same with another brand”.

We all burn the same over-taxed, inflation- driven, oil-speculated over- priced gasoline/diesel…….
 

cowadle

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front wheel fell off my tundra one morning. bad lower ball joint,,,,common problem i found out,,,,,, neighbor drove up and commented" well? you sure drove the wheels off of that one.
 

Ready_fire_aim

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front wheel fell off my tundra one morning. bad lower ball joint,,,,common problem i found out,,,,,, neighbor drove up and commented" well? you sure drove the wheels off of that one.
What year?

The 2000-2006 had the ball joint issue. But it’s really not a problem if you just replace them with OEM Toyota every 75k-100kish miles

Almost every old tundra/Tacoma/4Runner I’ve ever bought gets OEM LBJs replaced immediately after I get it. They are a faulty design and must be maintained. Can be quite dangerous if they break on a Highway.
 

cowadle

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What year?

The 2000-2006 had the ball joint issue. But it’s really not a problem if you just replace them with OEM Toyota every 75k-100kish miles

Almost every old tundra/Tacoma/4Runner I’ve ever bought got OEM LBJs replaced immediately after I get it. They are a faulty design and must be maintained. Can be quite dangerous if they break on a Highway.
2000
 

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