Bronco Reliability

[Dral97]

Did my best to get my 21 outside of the worrisome window (thanks to the mega thread on this site). Other than a split steering wheel hub (fixed under warranty), a shat out modem unit (fixed under warranty), and electrical gremlin (doesn't bother me enough for me to care); it's been pretty reliable *knock on wood*.

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[mpeugeot]

As I've said before, owning a Ford is all about being lucky. If you get a good one then it's fantastic. If it's been working great for three years it'll probably stay that way. On the other hand if you get a lemon then just have to sell/trade and try again with a new one

Well, I have rolled the dice 4 times now. We have a 2024 2.3 Mustang (15k miles) with no serious issues, a 2023 5.0 F-150 (15k miles) with no issues, a 2011 3.5 F-150 (255k miles) with no current issues (worst things being a leaking exhaust gasket, water pump, coolant hose, A/C compressor, A/C fan motor, and replacement of the transmission position sensor), and the 2021 2.7 Bronco with no serious issues.

Even the 2011 F-150 has needed less than $3,000 of work over 14 years. That's less than $250 per year or 1.2 cents per mile. It's not just luck, it's maintenance of the vehicle. Most people will be quick to tell you the 1st gen Ecoboost is a POS, it's not, but it is very maintenance sensitive... Don't do early and regular oil changes and it will punish you.

 

[adam1991]

Well, I have rolled the dice 4 times now. We have a 2024 2.3 Mustang (15k miles) with no serious issues, a 2023 5.0 F-150 (15k miles) with no issues, a 2011 3.5 F-150 (255k miles) with no current issues (worst things being a leaking exhaust gasket, water pump, coolant hose, A/C compressor, A/C fan motor, and replacement of the transmission position sensor), and the 2021 2.7 Bronco with no serious issues.

Even the 2011 F-150 has needed less than $3,000 of work over 14 years. That's less than $250 per year or 1.2 cents per mile.

Our first Ford was January of '23, a 57K mile C-Max Energi. No complaints at all yet, 20K miles later. That's one reason I was OK with buying the Bronco.

 

[JerryC]

Most people will be quick to tell you the 1st gen Ecoboost is a POS, it's not, but it is very maintenance sensitive... Don't do early and regular oil changes and it will punish you.

First gen ecoboost F150's were eating motors. I had one that didn't blow a rod out of the block. The cause wasn't the motor, it was water collecting in the intercooler. If you drove easy long enough water would collect and under load get drawn into the motor and hydrolock a cylinder and there goes a rod through the block.

Fords fix was to block off part of the intercooler so it didnt cool so well. The hack was drill a pinhole to let water out.

I didn't notice a lack of power after the fix.

 

[mpeugeot]

First gen ecoboost F150's were eating motors. I had one that didn't blow a rod out of the block. The cause wasn't the motor, it was water collecting in the intercooler. If you drove easy long enough water would collect and under load get drawn into the motor and hydrolock a cylinder and there goes a rod through the block.

Fords fix was to block off part of the intercooler so it didnt cool so well. The hack was drill a pinhole to let water out.

I didn't notice a lack of power after the fix.

Yep, that's why I flog my F-150 like a red-headed stepchild. LOL! However, this was a real problem with the first gen Ecoboost, which all could be resolved by running it hard.

I am not saying that Ford is perfect, but there is a lot you can do to prevent problems just by maintaining the vehicle, especially the Cam Phasers.

 

[mpeugeot]

Now wait a minute. Sure your Bronco has generally run great and with fantastic engine. But what about the rear shock strut going thru the tophat. You don't blame yourself for that one

The answer to that question is maybe.

In theory, since I had already installed the suspension myself (a non-sasquatch Badlands suspension on my Outer Banks) reusing the tophats from the Hitachi suspension, I may have been partially responsible (although I doubt that this caused the tophat failure). Despite this, my Ford dealership was willing to replace it under warranty. Also, as I have stated elsewhere, I don't baby my Bronco, it lives a full life.

As luck would have it, I already had a replacement suspension waiting to go in, so I elected to just install the new suspension (which I will be doing in a few weeks).

Bottom line is that my Bronco didn't leave me stranded and I was able to drive it 900+ miles home. A non-critical parts failure after 100k not so gentle miles both on and off road is hardly reason to throw in the towel on the Bronco.

 

[AJKitebrder40]

Let's face it... With soy wiring, plastic oil pans, plastic trim that cracks and scratches if you look at it wrong, and scores of individual microprocessors running everything, these vehicles are not designed or intended to last more than 10 or 15 years. Planned obsolescence at its best! It will be interesting to see if Bronco fans develop ways to keep these computers with engines on the road in 20+ years. I don't expect in 50 or 60 years there will be many 6G Broncos still on the road.

Hold up - the Bronco has soy-based wiring? My wife had a 4runner with it and rats were attracted to it like crazy, chewed through her wiring harness, $5k damage covered by insurance luckily.

Shit.......I'm going to have to put peppermint all over it.

 

[PrepVet]

I loved the ecoboost in my 15 Expedition EL. I was skeptical until I had it for a while. I really liked that engine. Too bad a deer killed that car.

 

[zoober]

My first Bronco was a ‘91 with the 302. Put 350k on it, with 2 transmissions.
no major engine work at all. But at 350k, it was getting a bit sloppy.

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