Love, Hate, Love…

[Dannyboy80]

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[pavementends]

I feel like my truck is the hot but kinda crazy chick with a good heart…

Your therapist would tell you "don't date projects!"
Your truck friends would tell you "Too much tech, get a 1978 F-150 Highboy instead!"
Your truck is saying "don't give up on me, I can change!"
From what I'm learning about my third F-150 and fifth dirt bike, they all have issues just a matter of figuring out if you can deal with them or, yeah, muster the determination to fix them

 

[Jloyd98]

Hey all,

I’m posting this topic purely out Of curiosity and, to an extent, for my own entertainment. Contribute/participate if you so choose.

I’m still new to Powerboost ownership - Had my truck for a little over a month now. I’ve previously owned a 2017 Ecoboost and a 2015 5.0 as well. Always been a big fan of F-150s as they’re great looking, super capable and generally reliable rigs. So, when I learned of the Powerboost with all its new tech and, particularly, the pro power onboard feature to use with my TT, I wanted one.

When I first got it, I was elated - Perfect color, features, etc. THEN, the quirks started to surface…

• Cold start gremlins (noises)
• Hard shifts to/from certain gears
• Shaking with light throttle under load in higher gears
• Light intermittent vibrations in gas pedal while cruising on highway

Then, in doing research, I learn all of these things are pretty commonplace with no resolution available from Ford.

So, my knee jerk was that I bought a turd and needed to sell it. I was pretty pissed! However, as I’ve sat with the quirks and driven the truck more, I now just want to try to figure them out so I can keep this thing because, otherwise, I absolutely love it.

Is that just me or has anyone else had this torn, up and down relationship with their PB? I know many have thrown in the towel and gone back to an EB or even changed brands but I’m feeling compelled to make this work. Like a challenged marriage you just don’t want to give up on - I feel like my truck is the hot but kinda crazy chick with a good heart…

I hear you. Mine has had its fair share of quirks. The leaking exhaust heat exchanger back in July led me to order a '23 Tremor on 8/1. I was done with the Powerboost experiment. A lot changed over the course of being without my truck for 3 months. Plummeting value, high interest rates, and key features being deleted, has me thinking I'll keep the Powerboost for the long haul. I bought this truck specifically for the 7.2kW Pro Power generator, so giving that up seemed to defeat the whole purpose of upgrading from the '20 3.5 I had previously. Furthermore, I decided that being into the '23 Tremor for an additional $15k plus over my '21 Powerboost just didn't make much sense...(as cool as the Tremor would be to have).

Thankfully since getting my truck back after the 3 months, and having multiple issues addressed, and OTA updates installed, it seems to be a much different truck now, and for the better. Hopefully the majority of the kinks gave been worked out now, and she'll give me years of trouble free miles to come.

 

[Jloyd98]

Great to hear that your issues seem to be resolved. Hoping Ford does some soul searching and decides to issue some recalls and/or acknowledge items needing addressing via some TSBs that get disseminated to all dealers so we can all get consistent help in making these trucks as amazing as they have the potential to be.

I, too, thought about ordering a new truck. Was considering switching over to the Tundra TRD Pro Hybrid. But, similar to you, don't want to drop another, likely, $15k only to get a truck with less features (mainly pro power). Not to mention one that's slower and, frankly, not as good looking. Though I'd be willing to bet it would never break...

The Fords look much much better IMO! You never know, they all seem to have issues across the board these days. Hoping things get resolved for you. Good luck!

 

[thebigdu]

OP, I'm with you 100% on your sentiments here. I've had my truck since April and have about 7,500 miles on it. If the dealer would just do something about harsh shifting/jerkiness at slow speeds and the vibration under light throttle at highway speeds, I would be so much happier with the truck and could ignore the other random quirks. It's a great all-around vehicle; I'm just very bothered that a truck this expensive in 2022 can't just do the most basic task smoothly...drive. It's like a fancy new phone that excels at everything except making calls. I have perused Ram listings and even looked at building a 2023 F150 with the 5.0, but the MSRP jump is insane. Likely would have gone for a Ram before my F150 if not for the complete lack of powertrain innovation on their part.

Anyway, I'm keeping this thing for the foreseeable future...let me know if you have any luck ironing out your truck's kinks, and enjoy it!

 

[KBKEITH]

For some reason I feel the need to listen to Alice In Chains.

 

[KBKEITH]

Literally the reason I used that title in lieu of, say, “love hate relationship”… One of my favorite bands of all time.

Perfect title.

One of my favorite bands of all time as well.

 

[Snakebitten]

I honestly don't know what I would do if one of the 3 Powerboost exhibited an issue that I wasn't willing to live with AND the factory authorized warranty department (dealership) couldn't or wouldn't address the issue.
I'm pretty patient, and an optimist by nature, so I'd most likely convince myself that Ford will eventually figure it out?

Having said that, as mentioned above, I have had 2 personal use Powerboost trucks over a span of nearly 2 years, and a company Powerboost for about 1 ½ years. None of them have ever visited a dealership or service department except a recall on the work truck.
I have FDRS, so applied that recall to BOTH of my personal Powerboost.

One thing for sure is that I would verify that the truck was fully up to date with updates, just in case that might solve an issue.

As far as coldstart noise, cruising vibrations, and low rpm surging or missing, I would NOT trust the factory fill on the 10r80 MHT, nor the pcm shift strategy the truck shipped from the factory with. I believe my 2021 would have had 4 pcm updates by now, and my Job2 2022 has had one as well.

 

[Snakebitten]

There's a VIN lookup thread where fellas will voluntarily look up your VIN and see what updates are available for your truck.

Sadly many dealerships will tell you that there aren't any updates available regardless. In all fairness to their dishonesty, they need to be paid for their time and can't charge Ford for just arbitrarily updating your truck.

 

[Snakebitten]

Oh, good to know RE the VIN lookup - I’ll see if I can track that down.

As for Ford techs not doing updates because they don’t get paid for them, that’s just sad if that’s true. Both that Ford doesn’t pay, and that the technician wouldn’t just take a moment to help another person regardless of payout.

I wouldn’t be able to not do the update if I were the tech whether I was paid for it or not - That’s like not helping another human being in distress/trouble because there’s nothing in it for you.

While it is rather creepy to me to even repeat what some have reported is the advice they got from the service department, it goes something like......

We can't just update your modules because there are updates available, but rather we need the customer to present a complaint about the vehicle that would be relevant to applying the update.

Or put another way, (my own personal interpretation) they need an excuse to write up a work order stating the customers complaint, and then that complaint being one that Ford would see as a legitimate reason to apply the available update.

For PCM updates, which are very much updates that address driveability issues, the complaint would need to fit that category.

I find the whole thing uncomfortable enough that purchasing the OBD adapter and the license for the software (FDRS) that diagnoses and applies the updates was warranted for me personally. In fact, it's a bargain, if you value avoiding frustration.

 

[JimL]

...I took the truck to my local dealer’s quick lane and they “topped off the ATF”. I posted a pic of the dipstick and a few people said it was overfilled… However, the cavitating noise stopped!...

So, I'm the dumbest guy in the room.... what is a "cavitating noise"? What does that sound like?

 

[rtf150]

Love Hate Love describes my experience with my PB to a T! Loved it until the heat exchanger leaked. Hated it while getting fixed. Loved it when I got it back. Ordered parts that Ford deleted so I can add back. Hated that! So I guess I’m going to keep it. But I spent some serious time looking for another option thinking I would sell/trade. So I definitely get it.

I’m experiencing everything you have described. Shudder at low RPM. Vibration in the gas pedal. I hate it but have experienced similar “things” with my previous F150’s. When it happens I get angry and floor it. Then I smile as I zoom past every POS GM/Ram/Tundra on the road!. LOL. I do love that!

 

[Snakebitten]

My immediate response would be a list of complaints… Some legitimate, some possibly made up

Does the FDRS usage have the potential to void your warranty in any way? I’d love to be able to just handle these things myself but that’s always my concern when it comes to tinkering with newer rigs under warranty. Particularly when they’re this quirky!

FDRS licensing is available to you from Ford. (Motorcraft)
It'd be strange for Ford to complain about a Ford truck being updated with the Ford software that was designed to update the Ford with a licensed user clicking the mouse.

Tons of us have been doing just that because the dealerships can't or won't.

 

[Snakebitten]

The mother of all threads on this forum

https://www.f150gen14.com/forum/threads/ecu-module-programming-guide-using-fdrs.8249/

Post #1 has 99% of everything you need to know.
I remember the day Iceman started the thread. I was driving a 2021 Platinum Powerboost at the time and it had FOURTEEN updates available. (Job1 2021)

Eventually I had applied around 24 updates to that truck before I turned it in when my special order 2022 KingRanch Powerboost arrived. The Platinum was SO much nicer than the original truck I had purchased. It ran better, drove better, and had new features. Whoever bought that truck would have no idea. It was perfect.

 

[Ford Motor Company]

OP, I'm with you 100% on your sentiments here. I've had my truck since April and have about 7,500 miles on it. If the dealer would just do something about harsh shifting/jerkiness at slow speeds and the vibration under light throttle at highway speeds, I would be so much happier with the truck and could ignore the other random quirks. It's a great all-around vehicle; I'm just very bothered that a truck this expensive in 2022 can't just do the most basic task smoothly...drive. It's like a fancy new phone that excels at everything except making calls. I have perused Ram listings and even looked at building a 2023 F150 with the 5.0, but the MSRP jump is insane. Likely would have gone for a Ram before my F150 if not for the complete lack of powertrain innovation on their part.

Anyway, I'm keeping this thing for the foreseeable future...let me know if you have any luck ironing out your truck's kinks, and enjoy it!

Hello, Brian! Send us a private message with your VIN and the name and location of your local Ford dealer. I’d be happy to see what I can do to assist. Thanks!

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