Went to North American International Auto Show...

Ohio XB · 16-01-2011, 06:39 PM

My wife and I attended the North American International Auto Show on it's first day open to the public, today, Saturday. She really wanted to be there because Ford was disassembling the EcoBoost engine that everyone has been following in the torture test videos that Ford has been posting. She works in the plant where that engine is built. She's installed intake manifolds, throttle bodies, wiring harnesses, and currently performs the Dock Inspections; the last inspections before the engines go on the truck to be shipped to an assembly plant.

I will say she took "a few" pictures of the engine after it was disassembled and a couple of the process which was being projected on a large screen. This was done in front of a very excited crowd of people and everyone was very surprised by the results.

Before they started the disassembly my wife stepped up to one of the engineers who was present for the task. It turns out it was Ford V6 engines Program Manager Jim Mazuchowski. He was glad that she came to the show and was enthusiastic that she came particularly to see the disassembly of the engine. They talked about the process in the factory and what my wife did and was finding with the engines. Phil Fabien, an EcoBoost Engineer who you see in a couple of the videos, was also there to explain what they were looking for and what spec's they were going to check during the teardown.

Then it was time to take apart this engine which had run 150K miles on a dyno subjected to extremes not possible in the real world, pulled 55 tons of timber uphill, ran wide open for 24 hours at full turbo boost pulling an 11,300 pound trailer around a race track, drag raced other trucks uphill with a 9,000 pound trailer, and then ran the Baja 1000 and finished, in the dirt, sand, bumps and jumps.

My wife and I were surprised by what we saw.

I'll post a video of the pictures she took tomorrow as soon as I get done editing them.

Steve

Iggypoppin' · 16-01-2011, 06:46 PM

Can't wait for the pics Steve! Ecoboost V6 will be a good thing IMO.

Kryton · 16-01-2011, 08:21 PM

Should be interesting to see what the inside looked like.

**ebxr8240** · 16-01-2011, 08:25 PM

Ahhh !!! Hurry up !!! Aha...

tex · 16-01-2011, 08:30 PM

Thanks for taking the time, look forward to checking this out.

chevypower · 17-01-2011, 03:55 AM

Hey Steve, went to YouTube and nobody else seems to have videos up of this engine dismantled. You may be the first! So hurry up! haha. I would have thought Mike Levine at Pickuptrucks.com would have had something up by now. Maybe he is waiting till tomorrow.

gcg2503 · 17-01-2011, 07:38 AM

At least give us a hint Steve!

I am guessing a very positive result ;)

Ohio XB · 17-01-2011, 08:36 PM

Here's your hint. The reason I am not in bed right now is because I am waiting for the video to finish uploading to Youtube. It's at 78% at the moment and then it will take some time to be converted.

Here's an idea.....when the engine was brand new it dyno'd at 365 HP and 420 lb. ft. of torque. They did a compression test and leak down test on the engine before putting it back on the dyno after being removed from the Baja truck. The numbers after 162,000 equivalent miles....

364 HP, 420 lb.ft. of torque. It lost 1 horsepower.

Steve

Ohio XB · 17-01-2011, 09:02 PM

Ok, the video is done being uploaded but it is not done being converted or something. Right now the aspect ratio is off (not wide enough) but I know the video I uploaded is right.

Here's the link to the video I made from the pictures my wife took of the engine teardown. That is my wife with the Ford Manager of V6 Engine Programs.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFfRcwesqNg

If you wait another hour or so it should look right, I would hope.

Steve

mcmn · 17-01-2011, 10:55 PM

good work mate!!!

**ebxr8240** · 17-01-2011, 11:50 PM

Thanks Steve...

**Mechan1k** · 17-01-2011, 11:58 PM

Not bad at all for the amount this engine has been through.

Ohio XB · 18-01-2011, 06:00 AM

My wife said you could wipe off most of the parts and put them back on the assembly line. I didn't see any reason why you couldn't just put the thing back together and keep going to see what you get out of it. I will be suggesting that to the powers that be when I get back to work.

Steve

charles_wif_xf · 18-01-2011, 09:37 AM

Going by the video, I dare say she's right Steve. That engine pulled up extremely well!!!

phillyc · 18-01-2011, 10:30 AM

Terrific posting Steve. Nice video work too!

Ohio XB · 18-01-2011, 08:52 PM

Thanks guys.

Of course Ford is doing an indepth inspection and measurement of every component.

The crank journals still looked like new. They did not appear to have been used at all. The crank is forged.

The buckets for the valves still had mirror finishes on them.

The cam lobes had no sign of wear what-so-ever, not even any heat marks.

The rod bearings looked like new.

The crank bearings were the only internal parts that showed any real sign of having been used. Make that the bottom halves of the bearings were the only parts that showed signs of having been used.

Oh, of course the pistons showed useage, that's a given. The rings were all wonderful. The valves also had carbon and usual tan colored material that you find in an engine running with a proper mixture.

I was expecting to see at least signs if "usual" wear in the engine but really didn't see any.

It's really late here right now. I'll post some fair sized images in here tomorrow.

I spoke with another engineer (can't remember her name). She was in charge of the lower part of the engine, as she said. We usually call it the short block. I asked her about the beefy design of the engine (block construction, 6 bolt mains, girdle) and she told me that they know the engine will be hopped up by their owners, and that Ford will also want to squeeze out even more power down the road, so they took the step now of making things very strong so that it can take anything that is thrown at it. She said it was nice working for a company that has that kind of foresite and was willing to spend the money to make sure that the engine was capable of future ideas, power demands, and technology.

Steve

**Bluehoon** · 19-01-2011, 11:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ohio XB

Thanks guys.

Of course Ford is doing an indepth inspection and measurement of every component.

The crank journals still looked like new. They did not appear to have been used at all. The crank is forged.

The buckets for the valves still had mirror finishes on them.

The cam lobes had no sign of wear what-so-ever, not even any heat marks.

The rod bearings looked like new.

The crank bearings were the only internal parts that showed any real sign of having been used. Make that the bottom halves of the bearings were the only parts that showed signs of having been used.

Oh, of course the pistons showed useage, that's a given. The rings were all wonderful. The valves also had carbon and usual tan colored material that you find in an engine running with a proper mixture.

I was expecting to see at least signs if "usual" wear in the engine but really didn't see any.

It's really late here right now. I'll post some fair sized images in here tomorrow.

I spoke with another engineer (can't remember her name). She was in charge of the lower part of the engine, as she said. We usually call it the short block. I asked her about the beefy design of the engine (block construction, 6 bolt mains, girdle) and she told me that they know the engine will be hopped up by their owners, and that Ford will also want to squeeze out even more power down the road, so they took the step now of making things very strong so that it can take anything that is thrown at it. She said it was nice working for a company that has that kind of foresite and was willing to spend the money to make sure that the engine was capable of future ideas, power demands, and technology.

Steve

Thoroughly enjoyed the video, thank you.!
Few questions if I may:

1) What was condition of turbo's (inc bearings)?? Were they shutting the motor down hot? I.E. After loaded race car test, did they do a cool down or simply shut it off?
2) What maintenance was done throughout torture test life?
I.E. Engine oils, coolants, plugs etc?

Little things granted, but interesting none the less.

How did gearbox / diff fair throughout, granted it's about the motor I'm just curious as to how other parts faired.

Not surprised the engine came out as well as it did, a lot to be said for never babying your motors....

LXL15 · 19-01-2011, 12:34 PM

Wow. I don't really know much about engines, but that thing came out looking almost brand new.

And excuse my ignorance, but what will the Ecoboost engine be used for? sedans, trucks, etc?

Fantastic quality video too. Very good to watch.