2.5 breaks in

[MLB]

at 6700 miles my TC is suddenly much smoother and peppier than it used to be!

I noticed the idle seemed smoother and then i chirped the tires coming off stops a few time and I don't floor it.

The top end performance is noticably better as well.

Will see if the mpg change, currently avg 26.4mpg long term (math done, not the stupid inaccurate computer reading).

 Have liked the car a lot for a stripped cargo van, now I like it even more. 

[Willygee]

I bought mine(16 TCXLT cargo) w 10k and was very impressed with the smoothness and power..i wonder if other "new" miles owners noticed any changes?

[Beta Don]

I think any gasoline powered vehicle driven predominantly on the highway runs much better than one driven mostly around town  -  They 'load up' and don't 'clear out' until you get some high speed miles on them

 

True story  -  I had an old Datsun 240Z that I was very familiar with and I took it to Germany when I was stationed there.  I noticed after about 100 miles on the Autobahn doing about 90 mph it suddenly began to run much better  -  More pep and obviously a good bit more horsepower too.  After 50 miles or so around town, that all went away, only to return after another long, fast run down the Autobahn.  The difference was very, VERY obvious!

 

We have two electric cars which do 98% of all our in town mileage and the TC pretty much only gets started when we're headed out of state . . . . we keep a trickle charger on it for weeks at a time.  We average between 28 and 29 mpg on most trips, depending on the speed and terrain  -  We came really close to 30 one time on a 50 or 55 mph tankful.  Anything driven mostly at the speeds it was designed for works much better, in my experience.  Around town, stop and go is really hard on any gasoline powered vehicle  -  This is where EV's really shine . . . . their around town mileage is much, much better than their freeway mileage

 

Best results are always driving something the way it was designed to be driven  -  The opposite of an EV around town?  An empty pick-up truck with only the driver aboard . . . . tons of those around here!

 

Don

Edited September 22, 2017 by Beta Don

[Osco]

My 2015 2.5 L Is now at 84,000 and has lived most of Its life hauling 500 to 900 pounds of work stuff over the rear axle.

Bought It one year old, used with 20k miles for $12,000 less than new.

I was sure It was 'broken In' but was I ever wrong. 

Must have been all city miles.

I switched to Mobile 1 full syn oil and changed at 10K mile Intervals, I was driving 1800 miles a week In the Florida heat

mostly Interstates and In and out of cities, At about three tanks of gas before each oil change I added a bottle of Chevron's Techron

fuel system cleaner.

The feeling people get with a new engine breaking In, like another here noted at what,,6,700 miles,,, I felt that times two from

20k miles to 25k miles. So It must have been dirty Inside, Injectors, carbon on the Piston tops, who knows ??

Engines hate to run slow in traffic, they need to breathe and rev to run right.

Have retired now so my Connect no longer works hard but still runs like new, does not even need plugs yet..

My new long term fuel mpg average is 21.4 with an even mix of Inner city and rural driving.

Getting my tranny flushed at Ford this week.

May clean my K&N Air filter this week,, maybe, the filter goes at least 50k miles before It even needs cleaning,

about 50k on It.

FWIW A K&N filter tested t dirty 50K miles was passing more air with less suction than a brand new OEM filter.

NOTE !

If you do a K&N filter and ever over oil it you will make a mess of your air box and air meter manifold.

And you will need a throttle body cleaning big time..

The recharge kit,, use the spray on oil, never the liquid, follow the directions to the letter.

If you over oil it start over from scratch..

The air meter controls air flow so your engine will run exactly then same as any air filter gets dirty,, to a point.

When I first got this truck I ran the stock air filter to about 35k miles, the engine had sudden problems. low power,

My smooth Idle was gone, It was sudden like unplugging a spark plug, With 800 pounds in the back

and me needing Interstate speeds of 75 to 80 It was so bad I had to find the closest auto parts store.

I put It the K&N, drove away with no problems after that...

 

I actually drove a filter so dirty the air volume meter could no longer compensate...

 

Again, my dirty 50k miles on it K&N shows no sign's of needing a cleaning, last time I check I could still see through It..

 

Ok I'm done :P

Edited November 27, 2017 by Osco

[G B L]

Nice post you definitely are keeping your foot in it .  Make sure ford uses at least 12 qt's to get a good flush.

[Beta Don]

3 hours ago, Osco said:

Again, my dirty 50k miles on it K&N shows no sign's of needing a cleaning, last time I check I could still see through It..

I'm wondering how you KNOW it doesn't need cleaning??  If my mpg average was only 21.4, I would be changing SOMETHING and a 50K dirty air filter would be at the top of the list!

 

Don

[Fifty150]

On 11/27/2017 at 8:49 AM, Beta Don said:

  If my mpg average was only 21.4, I would be changing SOMETHING 

 

Don

 

 

Based upon my driving style, and driving conditions, MPG has always been bad.  Most of my driving is in stop & go traffic.  Even the freeways around here are stop & go freeways.  You just sit there, moving 2 car lengths ever few minutes.  The AC is always on.  San Francisco is only a 7 X 7 mile city.  If I get on the freeway at all, it is only for about 3 miles of bumper to bumper, stop & go traffic.  Very seldom do I drive on a freeway, at freeway speeds, for any distance which will allow me to get HWY mileage.  My mileage results indicate that my vehicle is stopped and idling, more than it actually goes.

 

[Beta Don]

Based on what you show, you really need add an electric vehicle to your stable!!  EV's get better around town mileage than freeway mileage and that includes running the A/C

 

We have a pair of Mitsubishi iMiEV's that the wife and I drive for about 90% of our transportation needs  -  Our TC sits in the garage most of the time with a battery tender on  it so the battery stays up.  Sometimes it gets started once a month or so, sometimes not for 6 weeks or so

 

True, the EV's cannot haul everything you will need every day, but with the back seats folded flat it's like a mini station wagon and it will carry a lot  -  I remember hauling the 250 pound 54 inch mowing deck home from the Kubota dealer one time, and a list of everything the EV's have hauled would be a very long one.  Some folks even have mounted trailer hitches to their EV's to handle even bigger items  -  When we need a trailer (which is pretty rare) we fire up the TC and use it . . . . . It needs a little exercise every so often anyway

 

My motto has always been to drive whatever is best suited for the needs at hand, which means the smallest, most economical vehicle which can do the job.   If you seriously look at all the pick-ups being driven, I would venture to guess than most of them are hauling/towing nothing and have only the driver aboard  -  What a waste!

 

Our EV's have about a 75 mile range and 90% of the time, that's all we need.  When they can't do the job, we use something bigger.  I'm a part owner of an old Dodge diesel 3/4 ton truck which I probably use once or twice per year when I need to do something the TC can't handle.  Between the TC, the old truck and the two EV's, we're pretty well covered for everything we need to do . . . . and as I mentioned a couple times, around 90% of the time it's the EV's that move us where we need to go . . . . and for about 1/4 what it costs us to drive the TC.  In almost 6 years, the total maintenance on the first EV we bought has been two cabin air filters, one set of tires and a set of wiper blades  -  No oil changes, no transmission service, no engine maintenance at all, (plugs, filters, timing belts, etc) no tune ups . . . . . about as maintenance free as you can get

 

Don

[DARKV8DR]

So far I'm averaging 24 mpg's with a little over 1200 miles on the speedo. I have notices, when pulling up to a light a tad rough idle. Once you stop and put the vehicle in park, when stopped, the idle is smooth. Any suggestions?

 

Thanks

Paul 

Edited November 29, 2017 by DARKV8DR

[Fifty150]

Beta Don,

 

A plug-in electric just will not work for me.  I live in The City.  My cars are parked on the street.  I have no way of charging the vehicle.  And as far as I know, there isn't a hybrid pickup truck or van on the market yet.  So there is no way that I am seating 7 in a Prius or plug-in electric.  And none of those are capable of towing a boat, carrying plywood, or operating on unpaved off-road conditions.  Well, maybe if I spend $$$$$$ on a Tesla, but then again, where would I plug it in to charge?  I would love to have a vehicle that was more efficient fuel wise, but it will not work for me.  It's already hard enough moving the cars around every day so that I do not get parking tickets.  

[mrtn]

Workhorse is probing the market for a consumer version of their hybrid truck: http://workhorse.com/pickup/

 

[Beta Don]

11 hours ago, Fifty150 said:

A plug-in electric just will not work for me.  I live in The City.  My cars are parked on the street.  I have no way of charging the vehicle.  

Man, I really feel your pain!  I  would really hate to live where I had to park out on the street

 

There's nothing I hate to see more than nice vehicles parked out in the weather 24/7.  I've been very lucky over the past 50 years or so to have always had garage space for at least 2 or my cars so they are only out in the elements when they are parked away from home.  Our current garage holds 4 cars and I have a covered shed where I can park another 2 or 3.  Even my trailers are parked out of the weather

 

Granted, most EV's can't do much of what you've listed, but I'm betting most of that are things you do only seldom, right?  You carry around 7 people much of the time?  Well, you have a van for that.  I'm sure there is a significant percentage of your transportation needs where you only need room for 2 or 3 (many times, just 1) and that's where an EV could really save you money.  You're lucky in that California has the most extensive recharging network of any place in the USA  -  Here where I live, we have next to nothing.  In 6 years, we've only recharged away from the garage one time.  In California cities, you can recharge in nearly every other block

 

If I was looking at a new EV today, I would give the Chevy Bolt a close look.  Price is about the same as we paid 6 years ago, but the Bolt has about 225 miles of range, where we only have about 75

 

Don

[G B L]

On 11/29/2017 at 1:59 PM, DARKV8DR said:

 I have notices, when pulling up to a light a tad rough idle. Once you stop and put the vehicle in park, when stopped, the idle is smooth. Any suggestions?

Your TC is acting normally.  4 cyl's with  automatic transmissions don't have the idle quality that a 6 cyl or 8 cyl has.

 

GM had two Hybrid Pickups  2005 and 2009 to 2013 Series 2

[Fifty150]

5 hours ago, G B L said:

 

 

 

GM had two Hybrid Pickups  2005 and 2009 to 2013 Series 2

GM should do a better job of marketing, and be aggressive with fleet sales.

 

This is the first I've ever heard of a hybrid pickup.  And I've never seen one on the road.  I'm in The City.  Fleet vehicles are everywhere....from the tens of thousands of government vehicles, to local utilities, to construction companies, tradesmen, and industry specific distributors.  Everywhere I go, there are tons of white trucks and vans.  Mostly Ford trucks and vans.

[G B L]

Fifty 150 I agree with you.  GM is famous for the introduction of advanced stuff followed by marginal support and then pulling the plug just as the Idea will start to catch on.

[Osco]

I properly cleaned my K&N Filter a few weeks back, it was really dirty.

The air meter/mass air flow sensor or what ever the electronics uses to regulate air Into the engine must have had plenty of air volume

and little vacuum increase because my 2.5 L engine runs exactly as It did with the filthy K&N...

So It must be true what K&N said, "A K&N filter that is 50% clogged can pass more air than a new OEM filter"

https://www.knfilters.com/filter_facts.htm

 

My engine has always ran smooth, strong and efficiently. 

It's my heavy foot and traffic that makes me burn more gas and get a bit less MPG from what some of you enjoy that are willing to drive easy.

I will not drive slower or accelerate slower than traffic around me, I prefer to blend In :P

[mrtn]

K&N lets most dust particles past, hence not being clogged even when dirty.

[MLB]

On 1/18/2018 at 7:05 PM, mrtn said:

K&N lets most dust particles past, hence not being clogged even when dirty.

 

THIS!  Well documented in trucks, motorcycles, etc
It basically has holes way too big to filter much of anything.