Turbos shutdown on Highway

[Shine270]

Was traveling on the highway, hit the gas slightly to go up a hill and the truck felt like it lost normal power. Powertrain light came on (little wrench in the lower right of the dash).
Truck was running fine overall but just didn’t have the normal power.
Flipped around the guages to see that the turbo boost guage was flatlined regardless of throttle input. Drove like a normal 2.7l V6.

Took the truck to the dealer and they performed tsb 22-2357 / waste gate sensor position fault.

To that - prior to the issue, when you’d back off the gas, you’d hear the rush of air from the turbo wastegate. Now, that is completely gone.
Searching this forum, no one else has posted about this issue.

Anyone else ever experience this?

If not, PSA - if your turbos suddenly stop working, it may not be catastrophic (which was my fear) and just a simple PCM reprogramming.

Sponsored

 

[fordhouston]

Drove like a normal 2.7l V6.

damn i bet you were getting quite the fuel economy then haha

 

[Ford Motor Company]

Was traveling on the highway, hit the gas slightly to go up a hill and the truck felt like it lost normal power. Powertrain light came on (little wrench in the lower right of the dash).
Truck was running fine overall but just didn’t have the normal power.
Flipped around the guages to see that the turbo boost guage was flatlined regardless of throttle input. Drove like a normal 2.7l V6.

Took the truck to the dealer and they performed tsb 22-2357 / waste gate sensor position fault.

To that - prior to the issue, when you’d back off the gas, you’d hear the rush of air from the turbo wastegate. Now, that is completely gone.
Searching this forum, no one else has posted about this issue.

Anyone else ever experience this?

If not, PSA - if your turbos suddenly stop working, it may not be catastrophic (which was my fear) and just a simple PCM reprogramming.

Hello there! Are you still experiencing this loss of power concern? If so, I would like to look into it on my end. Please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your Ford dealer. Thank you!

 

[{tpc}]

Not sure if this follows with this, but ever since I took a long towing trip with my 3.5, it seems like the tip in point changed on mine. No wrench, no issues at WOT or anything like that, but it feels like they don't come on as early as before.

And my fuel economy went up. Not a huge amount, but I did notice. Its tapered off a bit since then, but not sure if the gas formulations this time of year also play a part.

 

[jakearb]

Was traveling on the highway, hit the gas slightly to go up a hill and the truck felt like it lost normal power. Powertrain light came on (little wrench in the lower right of the dash).
Truck was running fine overall but just didn’t have the normal power.
Flipped around the guages to see that the turbo boost guage was flatlined regardless of throttle input. Drove like a normal 2.7l V6.

Took the truck to the dealer and they performed tsb 22-2357 / waste gate sensor position fault.

To that - prior to the issue, when you’d back off the gas, you’d hear the rush of air from the turbo wastegate. Now, that is completely gone.
Searching this forum, no one else has posted about this issue.

Anyone else ever experience this?

If not, PSA - if your turbos suddenly stop working, it may not be catastrophic (which was my fear) and just a simple PCM reprogramming.

Make sure the sensor on the air intake is plugged in and sealed. I replaced my air intake and didn't properly seal the sensor and my 2.7L did the same thing you're describing. Lost all boost and it drove like a NA 2.7L. Plugged it in properly and my problem was fixed.

 

[Shine270]

Hello there! Are you still experiencing this loss of power concern? If so, I would like to look into it on my end. Please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your Ford dealer. Thank you!

After the local Ford dealer performed the TSB and updated/reset the PCM, things seem to be working correctly, although I have noticed that the pressure release/waste gate "pppssssttt" of the turbos is gone completely. When I used to let off the gas while in the boost range, you would hear the pressure dump. Now it's silent and the turbo boost just drops to zero.

As noted by {tpc} - I do feel like the turbos don't kick-in as early or as often as before; perhaps that is part of an update?

 

[stangsandatruck]

I had the same thing happen about a month ago. Passed a truck on the highway and let off the gas - wrench and check engine light appeared and it felt like a NA 2.7 V6. Had the PCM update applied and its been great since. Other than having to relearn shift patterns, the PCM update went smoothly and turnaround was quick.

I'm not 100% sure that the 'psssssssst' noise has been changed but there are times where I feel like before it was more prevalent before the update. The boost PSI hasn't changed at all on my scanguage.

If anyone with the 2.7 has the wrench / check engine combo and wants to see if its the wastegates - go into the fender area and look to the rear of the shock (may have to pull back the liner a bit) wastegate actuator rods are located there. One will be very far out and thats the one that is faulting. Mine was the driver side acting up and compared to the passenger it was quite noticeable.

 

[Calson]

This is a commonly reported occurrence for those with the 2.7L engine while towing. It is why after doing my own research in 2022, I bought a truck with the 3.5L engine instead.

The turbo lubrication is getting too hot and so the engine computer is initiating a shut down of the engine to protect the bearings. Bad programming as the computer should send a warning to the display alerting the driver that in X minutes the shutdown will take place.

I had a problem with my GM diesel engine and the factory programming where a sensor reading would result in the engine going into limp mode and the maximum allowed speed was 55 mph. At that speed the truck is not safe to drive on a freeway and I ended up cancelling 3 vacation trips do to various computer malfunctions. I fixed the problem by selling the truck and buying the Ford truck with a gas engine.

 

[Shine270]

Hello there! Are you still experiencing this loss of power concern? If so, I would like to look into it on my end. Please send over a private message with your VIN and the name/location of your Ford dealer. Thank you!

Well, my turbos went out again. About 6months after the first issue.
Dealer is now saying the wire harness is bad and needs to be replaced. ~$3,300.

 

[DadBald]

Woah that's a heck of a wire harness!! How do they know it's not the sensor?

 

[CoolCoyote]

Well, my turbos went out again. About 6months after the first issue.
Dealer is now saying the wire harness is bad and needs to be replaced. ~$3,300.

Unfortunately you'll find the FoMoCo social media account to be of no help at all, when you actually need it. $100 says they will not even respond to you.

Anyhow, if you were under warranty 6 months ago when the initial problem happened, I'd lean heavily into the dealer and tell them they didn't diag it correctly initially.

 

[Calson]

The problem has come up on many RV forums with trucks with this engine shutting down without warning on the highway with a trailer in tow. My guess is that the engine overheats the oil lubricating the turbo bearings and shuts down to protect itself. People have reported waiting for 30 minutes and then being able to start the engine and continue.

To me that is a serious safety defect and the reason I bought a 2022 with the 3.5L ecoboost engine.

 

[staying_tuned]

Perhaps an aftermarket inline oil cooler would help on the oil feed line. We've got a track car that we ended up adding two setrab fanpacks and they've helped tremendously. Cooked oil is no good long-term on the turbo lines & bearings (nor your engine as some is expelled over time) even if they resolve via software to get you back on the road.

 

[Str8Shooter]

Well, my turbos went out again. About 6months after the first issue.
Dealer is now saying the wire harness is bad and needs to be replaced. ~$3,300.

Is the repair covered by warranty, or did some critter chew through the wiring? It should be easy enough to just repair the wiring...it's not rocket science.

 

[Shine270]

Woah that's a heck of a wire harness!! How do they know it's not the sensor?

According to the tech, any jostling of the harness is throwing random codes. Shrug.

Sponsored