News: Ford to replace 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine after just 4 model years

Paul_The_Aussie

Paul_The_Aussie

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In an unusual move, Ford Motor Co. is phasing out its current 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine after just four model years.

Ford said today it is replacing the engine with a new 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder early next year beginning with the redesigned 2015 Edge. The current engine, which debuted in the 2011 Edge, will be gradually replaced in other vehicles.

The last engine in a Ford vehicle with such a short life was the 3.9-liter V-8 in the retro-styled 2002-05 Thunderbird.

Most engines have a life span of at least 10 years.

Scott Makowski, chief engineer for Ford?s large inline four-cylinder engines, said rapid improvements in engine technology led to the demise of the current 2.0, which has the highest production of Ford?s EcoBoost engine family.

The current 2.0 is offered in at least a dozen vehicles globally, such as Fusion, Focus ST, Edge, Escape, Explorer, Taurus, Lincoln MKZ and MKC in the North America, the Ford Falcon in Australia, and European cars such as the Mondeo and S-Max people mover.

The new 2.0 shares almost no parts with the current engine. It will deliver a better combination of fuel economy and power, Makowski said.

EcoBoost engines -- which feature direct fuel injection, turbocharging and variable cam timing -- have been criticized for delivering either power or fuel economy, but not both, in larger vehicles such as the Explorer and Edge.

Makowski said the new 2.0 has a new block, redesigned cylinder head, Borg-Warner twin scroll turbocharger, revised fuel injectors and higher compression ratio. It weighs about 10 pounds less than the current engine.

The new head has three exhaust ports routed into a manifold that channels exhaust gas pulses from cylinders 2 and 3, and 1 and 4, separately into each scroll of the turbocharger. This reduces the time needed for the turbocharger to reach full speed. The result, Makowski said, is a more responsive vehicle.

?We don?t go backwards,? Ford's Makowski says of the company's newest 2.0-liter EcoBoost four-cylinder engine.

Photo credit: RICHARD TRUETT

Ford officials would not comment on the new 2.0?s power output, which will be rated higher than the current engine?s 240 hp and 270 pounds-feet of torque. ?We don?t go backwards,? Makowski said.

The 2.0-liter EcoBoost is part of a three-engine North American lineup for the redesigned Edge. The Edge Sport will also be available with an EcoBoost engine, the new 2.7-liter V-6 that will debut this fall in the redesigned aluminum-bodied F-150, and a nonturbo 3.5-liter V-6. European versions will be offered with a diesel engine.

All engines will be combined with six-speed automatic transmissions. The new 2.0 will be available with all-wheel drive, which was not offered with the current 2.0.

Makowski said the new engine makes that powertrain combination possible because the new engine has a broader torque curve.
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http://www.autonews.com/article/201...iter-ecoboost-engine-after-just-4-model-years

Interesting.
 
Are there any TSBs related to the current 2.0? I wonder if Ford found some issue requiring a new block. Though up coming fuel economy requirements may indeed be the instigator.
 
Maybe they rushed the current 2.0 turbo to keep up with the flurry of TSIs from elsewhere, and now did things properly with four more years of R&D?
 
Doubtful. The EcoBoost series was originally to be called the TwinForce and had at least 5 years reported development. They were talking about the first of the production EcoBoosts going into cars back in January 2008. (There was a LOT of talk on the Ford and Jag forums about that back then.)

The 2.0 is actually one of the oldest of the US-market EcoBoosts, having first shown up in public at the 2008 NAIAS in the Explorer America concept. The development chain goes at least as far back as the 2002 Geneva show, where the Duratec SCi 1.0L 3 cyl turbo direct-inject motor first appeared. Further to 2001, if you count the naturally aspirated DISI Duratec SCi predecessor shipped in the Mondeo. (Which we sadly didn't get in the X-Type.) There's some further speculation that Ford's development *may* trace to the 1997 release of the Nissan Leopard with the VQ30DD direct-inject engine; at the time, Ford and Nissan were operating a joint venture and sharing some technology.

Considering the development times, pretty sure it's not a hasty engineering crash project being replaced. My guess is that Ford's figured out something and the upcoming CAFE mandated number boost is forcing them to replace the 2.0 sooner than would otherwise happen.
 
argatoga said:
Are there any TSBs related to the current 2.0? I wonder if Ford found some issue requiring a new block. Though up coming fuel economy requirements may indeed be the instigator.
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None that I know of. I have a Focus ST and I've heard no real horror stories from these engines (at least not stock ones) and carbon buildup doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as with other DI engines.
 
I just remembered, the ecoBoost 2.0 shares the block with the MZR Mazda engine, could it have anything to do with the split between Ford and Mazda?
 
Paul_The_Aussie said:
I just remembered, the ecoBoost 2.0 shares the block with the MZR Mazda engine, could it have anything to do with the split between Ford and Mazda?
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Ford's supplying the block to Mazda, not the other way around - so that doesn't explain it either.
 
Spectre said:
Ford's supplying the block to Mazda, not the other way around - so that doesn't explain it either.
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Whoa, hold on there. Mazda is the one who began development of the MZR as an evolution of the B series (which goes back to the 1980s) engines. I'm not really sure how things worked between Ford and Mazda but I'm pretty sure Ford made Mazda fold up their excellent K-series V6 and concentrate on designing the Duratec/L/MZR series 4 cylinder engine (eventually handing it back off to Ford who continued development into Ecoboost) , while Ford handled the V6 engines.
 
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Eunos_Cosmo said:
Whoa, hold on there. Mazda is the one who began development of the MZR as an evolution of the B series (which goes back to the 1980s) engines. I'm not really sure how things worked between Ford and Mazda but I'm pretty sure Ford made Mazda fold up their excellent K-series V6 and concentrate on designing the Duratec/L/MZR series 4 cylinder engine (eventually handing it back off to Ford who continued development into Ecoboost) , while Ford handled the V6 engines.
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You need to go buttonhole a Mazda mechanic and ask him about the non-KL K-series engines.

Also, what does the place it was designed have anything to do with where the blocks were built or who is supplying who? Last I checked, Mazda still is buying the blocks from Ford instead of making their own. Paul was (apparently) thinking about the Ford/Mazda split as being the cause of Ford changing designs, i.e., Mazda not making the block available to Ford. That's not the case.

I think I may have found out the real reason why they're changing out the engine, though. Looks like they're moving production of EcoBoosts for NA market cars from Valencia Spain to Cleveland Ohio. The last time they did something like this it was when they brought the Jag V8 over and made it here for Lincoln and the Thunderbird. Turned out to be beneficial modifications and revisions that time, too.

http://www.autoblog.com/2013/02/22/ford-starting-up-2-0l-ecoboost-engine-production-in-ohio/
 
Do some googling, the 2.0 liter ecoboost definitely has carbon build up problems.

Do some googling, the 2.0 liter ecoboost definitely has carbon build up problems.

jasonof2000 said:
None that I know of. I have a Focus ST and I've heard no real horror stories from these engines (at least not stock ones) and carbon buildup doesn't seem to be as much of a problem as with other DI engines.
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At 25000 miles a ran a scope in to my 2.0 liter ecoboost and found very noticeable carbon build up. If you visit youtube you will find my post along with others and they will show that the problem can be pretty significant. Sorry to bring bad news.
 
Would adding multi electrode spark plugs lessen the carbon build up?
 
93Flareside said:
Would adding multi electrode spark plugs lessen the carbon build up?
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No, just make it less likely to foul out and stop running. In fact, it may make it more likely to carbon up, not less depending on gas flow in the combustion chamber and other factors.
 
Ok, why?
 
93Flareside said:
Ok, why?
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See the recent discussion on the RTAE thread; basically, the additional electrodes disrupt the flow in the chamber and provide "shadows" that the flamefront will have problems propagating through.
 
torvald said:
At 25000 miles a ran a scope in to my 2.0 liter ecoboost and found very noticeable carbon build up. If you visit youtube you will find my post along with others and they will show that the problem can be pretty significant. Sorry to bring bad news.
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I don't care what your experience is. Every few months I go check various forums for any real proof of a wide spread carbon problem, I can't find any. Most people saying there is are either selling catch cans or come from other engines with problems. I've even expanded my search to the V-6 ecoboost and again no wide spread reports. Even those who do say they have this "issue" do not report drivability issues.
The engine has been out since 2010 in multiple cars over multiple brands and yet what is there besides fear mongering? I can't find anything I'd consider proof of a problem.
 
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