Powerboost CEL P237C/Exhaust Heat Exchanger Leak Megathread

[Snakebitten]

Maybe I’m asking the wrong question here, but just curious to try and make sure things are fixed correctly on my truck because it seems my dealership doesn’t care to find out the actual cause of my issue. About 3 weeks ago I got a flashing check engine light in my 2021 Powerboost. Truck was suddenly running really rough. Slowly drove it to nearest dealership and it’s been there since. The dealership is saying that the number 2 cylinder is shot. Apparently the spark plug was bent when they looked at it. They are ordering a long block for the truck and just started putting it in today. Throughout the process I’ve been asking for a root cause of why this happened, as the truck only has 9,000 miles on it. The dealership is telling me that they won’t know, they can’t know, and they won’t look any further into the cause, but will fix the damage and make sure the truck runs. They’ve said it could be that something overheated, but that’s as far as they will go. I never got any overheating lights or warnings, and heard the fan loudly running a few times, but never anything concerning. I didn’t check coolant levels at all, as I never got warning lights for overheating, and was more concerned about getting the truck to a dealership when this all happened. But, my question is….could the issue this thread is about have caused the engine to overheat, or been running hotter than it should have been, causing the damage to the engine? I don’t know enough about engines to answer on my own, but clearly my dealership isn’t going to answer it, and I don’t want to have engines replaced every 9,000 miles. Thanks!

I do not believe that you lost a cylinder as a result of the exhaust heat exchanger leaking. If your truck actually has a coolant leak and it was severe enough to cause overheating, you would have seen dash warnings and at some point the truck would derate its power output in order to protect the motor from overheating damage. That process isn't something hidden within a simple check engine light.

I've been around the 3.5 Ecoboost since it's inception in the 2011/2012 F150. Although these Gen3 3.5 Ecoboost are substantially refined compared to the original Gen1, they still are capable of suffering a catastrophic cylinder failure as a result of a factory defect with one of the combustion chamber components.
The pistons are still nothing that would impress a motor builder, considering they are cheap built-to-cost cast pistons for a motor making 100+HP per liter. Losing a piece of piston skirt is not rare in these motors. Or a bad injector could quickly ruin a cylinder in multiple ways.

Obviously nobody can provide a trustworthy internet diagnosis from your single post, but I personally don't believe a leaking exhaust heat exchanger is the reason you are getting a new longblock.

Regardless of the real cause, I would at least like to see Ford provide you with the equivalent of a Ford ESP extended warranty in order to alleviate the concern that you might have in the back of your mind.

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[LHoffmanjr22]

I do not believe that you lost a cylinder as a result of the exhaust heat exchanger leaking. If your truck actually has a coolant leak and it was severe enough to cause overheating, you would have seen dash warnings and at some point the truck would derate its power output in order to protect the motor from overheating damage. That process isn't something hidden within a simple check engine light.

I've been around the 3.5 Ecoboost since it's inception in the 2011/2012 F150. Although these Gen3 3.5 Ecoboost are substantially refined compared to the original Gen1, they still are capable of suffering a catastrophic cylinder failure as a result of a factory defect with one of the combustion chamber components.
The pistons are still nothing that would impress a motor builder, considering they are cheap built-to-cost cast pistons for a motor making 100+HP per liter. Losing a piece of piston skirt is not rare in these motors. Or a bad injector could quickly ruin a cylinder in multiple ways.

Obviously nobody can provide a trustworthy internet diagnosis from your single post, but I personally don't believe a leaking exhaust heat exchanger is the reason you are getting a new longblock.

Regardless of the real cause, I would at least like to see Ford provide you with the equivalent of a Ford ESP extended warranty in order to alleviate the concern that you might have in the back of your mind.

I actually have asked for that, and was just turned down. My experience with Ford customer service, and the service manager at the dealership where my truck currently sits has been horrid. They won’t tear the engine down to try and find a root cause, and based on tonight’s conversation it seems this is so my truck isn’t out of service for 30 consecutive days. “Coincidentally,” this is the exact number of days necessary for my truck to be considered a lemon in my state. I was not the first person to throw that number out, but rather it was the customer service rep trying to provide a reason for why the engine wasn’t being investigated further. I’ve asked many times for some kind of explanation or best guess based on actual facts about what failed, and I’ve just been told time and again that I’ll never know and if Ford ever finds out, I won’t be told.

Those details are off topic for this thread though! I appreciate the response. That’s a little reassurance that something that’s not being replaced isn’t the core reason for this headache. Thank you!

 

[Thunderchief]

Contact Ford Motor Company ---

FMC at 800-392-3673

When the FMC Answering Machine starts its menu, ask for or select "Warranty". Tell them your story and your concerns for future problems. Ask for an Extended Warranty - I think the proper name is Premium Care Plan Extended Warranty.

It extends your warranty 2-years and a bit more mileage but you have to pay a small deductible for each service visit.

It is not transferrable. I think it is only good at your Dealer but I am not certain about this.

 

[TN Rotty]

So in the words of @Roscopcoletrain , "Good News! Good News!"

Service Rep called yesterday and said the heat exchanger just came in (it must have been one of those 356 to be shipped the week of 7/11 for the 326 on back order). He then apologized and said he couldn't get me in till next Thursday. I think he was surprised when I said I was really happy it was in, really appreciated him calling me and understood/had no problem about waiting to get it installed. I wonder if he hears something different from his other customers...

I'll be getting the Trailer Brake software update and Steering Column (check) recall done at the same time. I hope the update doesn't mess anything else up. The truck runs/shifts/drives great on the present SW version.

This comes at a good time, as I have a long road trip coming up in a couple months - that wasn't expected till next year. I really wanted to use the F150 for the seats and Blue Cruise on this trip. I'll still be carrying coolant with me, but hopefully will not need it at all.

So wish me luck, "My little fat buddy(buddies)."

 

[70Mach1]

So in the words of @Roscopcoletrain , "Good News! Good News!"

Service Rep called yesterday and said the heat exchanger just came in (it must have been one of those 356 to be shipped the week of 7/11 for the 326 on back order).

Congrats! 30+ days now for me with no end insight from the update today . I’m starting to forget I had a truck.

 

[BigD71]

No CEL for me, but I noticed the coolant puddling in my garage. Going in for service tomorrow. We'll see what happens.

 

[TN Rotty]

Congrats! 30+ days now for me with no end insight from the update today . I’m starting to forget I had a truck.

For non-drivable trucks it looks to be between 30 and 60 days. I'm hopeful yours is on the shorter end of that range.

 

[Snakebitten]

.......

I think he was surprised when I said I was really happy it was in, really appreciated him calling me and understood/had no problem about waiting to get it installed. I wonder if he hears something different from his other customers...

So wish me luck, "My little fat buddy(buddies)."

You think?

Not only are you a good sport about such things, but you have also been generous with your time and efforts for others and an encouragement whether you intended to or not.

I for one hope that after your truck gets fixed that you find that you actually have one of the good ones now and end up with many years and thousands of miles of enjoyment from the truck.

 

[TN Rotty]

You think?

Not only are you a good sport about such things, but you have also been generous with your time and efforts for others and an encouragement whether you intended to or not.

I for one hope that after your truck gets fixed that you find that you actually have one of the good ones now and end up with many years and thousands of miles of enjoyment from the truck.

Thanks Sir - You're no shirker in the time/effort/encouragements section yourself. You might try to post a little more often though (only 2k post 3k reactions) - LOL. High praise indeed.

From my point I try to inject dry humor in when there's nothing else to be done but wait, so why curse the waiting line? I will say I did not get a chuckle with my routine on Saturday with 8 folks outside of Gamestop waiting for the store to open (1 hour late and hot) for a rare shipment of PS5's. I think resellers only laugh after they gotten their merchandise, not before.

 

[Matthyius]

I'm a little over 2000 km past the repair and the trucks still running well so happy about that and seems like a big win there
Hopefully it holds

My new problem is the dealership has decided they want to give me the cheque and have given me two excuses a couple weeks ago about why it hasn't happened yet
I'm not sure if they're hoping I'm going to forget that I did everything to negotiate that with Ford customer care after they stranded me for 2 months and they're hoping I'm going to forget they had said they wanted to sit down again after everything with corporate was settled and then we would see what they could do or they're just that incompetent
Either way after they screwed up the service on my wifes new Escape as well I think its time I start looking for a new dealership this one hasn't done anything right in any of my or my wifes dealings with them

 

[Dds2014]

I have about 4,000 miles now with no leaks. I am now working with two intermittent problems. The Air Conditioner sometimes freezes up with heavy ice on the lines and no air into the cockpit. The transmission sometimes stays in 8th gear when stopped or going very slow, like circling a round about.

I’ve experienced the air conditioner problem at about 500 miles first road trip in my truck I could hear motor blowing air behind dash but nothing really coming out of vents and hot inside cabin it was 105 degrees outside that day. Got to my destination and when I came back in an hour AC was working again. Haven’t experienced this problem since gonna take some long road trips here soon hopefully it doesn’t happen again temperatures gonna be around 105-110F will update

 

[TN Rotty]

On the AC freezing problem, from a google search:

1. #1: Have Your HVAC Technician Check for Refrigerant Leaks. ...
2. #2: Check and Change Your Air Filter. ...
3. #3: Make Sure Your Blower Fan Is Working Properly. ...
4. #4: Check Your Condensate Drain Line. ...
5. #5: Check Your Vents.

On older vehicles, we've had both low Freon/refrigerant and a blocked drain line cause freezing of the AC unit which then resulted in no cool air.

 

[Jglew82]

The A/C problem is more than likely a biased evaporator sensor. TSB to replace the evaporator assembly. Mine did the same thing on my first road trip back in may, also in Texas, also 100 damn degrees outside.

 

[Oxford_Powerboost]

I’ve experienced the air conditioner problem at about 500 miles first road trip in my truck I could hear motor blowing air behind dash but nothing really coming out of vents and hot inside cabin it was 105 degrees outside that day. Got to my destination and when I came back in an hour AC was working again. Haven’t experienced this problem since gonna take some long road trips here soon hopefully it doesn’t happen again temperatures gonna be around 105-110F will update

TSB 22-2089 for your A/C

 

[Dds2014]

TSB 22-2089 for your A/C

Thanks! I’ll wait to see if it happens again since I’m not too fond of them ripping my dashboard apart, got rattles in my door already when I turn the volume up to 15 from the passenger door don’t want any extra rattles

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