Manual Shift 2.3 Turbo- DOA after 300 miles

[First Ford Since 1984]

Picked up my new Bronco after waiting 22 months on May 4. Turbo died the next day. It has been at the dealer waiting on parts for over 17 days now without an ETA. First Ford since 1984… kind of getting the same quality feeling I experienced when I bought a Range Rover and a Mini Cooper……

Initially, Service Engine Soon light popped up. Followed by non-functional cruise control, then, Service Engine Light….

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[JoshuaPrieto]

Not good, I'm sorry there! Hopefully you get good news soon

 

[Tricky Dick]

Unfortunately this isn't the first 2.3 turbo that's been bad. At least all that I have seen have been low mileage so it doesn't seem likely to spring up on you 5k later like the 2.7 valves.

 

[GoPre]

FYI, I had a similar situation. Badlands/manual/sas. Bronco was down for a month to replace the turbo. Got her back a few days ago and so far so good. In fact, it’s even more fun than I thought.

 

[Rick Astley]

Unfortunately this isn't the first 2.3 turbo that's been bad. At least all that I have seen have been low mileage so it doesn't seem likely to spring up on you 5k later like the 2.7 valves.

Just you wait until the 2.7 folks are getting towards 100K miles on their rigs and BOTH turbos fail like they do on the F150's. Typically it happens just after they are out of warranty, 60K miles for the factory warranty folks, or 100K miles if they had the extended warranty.

That will be fun to sift through the "My fully depreciated $50K rig needs $7K worth of new turbos, Ford lost me!" threads bare handed.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Just you wait until the 2.7 folks are getting towards 100K miles on their rigs and BOTH turbos fail like they do on the F150's. Typically it happens just after they are out of warranty, 60K miles for the factory warranty folks, or 100K miles if they had the extended warranty.

That will be fun to sift through the "My fully depreciated $50K rig needs $7K worth of new turbos, Ford lost me!" threads bare handed.

Yet another reason I chose the 2.3, I saw that coming.

But honestly, how many of today's members are going to still have their Bronco through it's full warranty? A higher percentage than the normies I'm sure, but I'm guessing at least half of Bronco buyers will have moved on to the next cool thing by then.

 

[Rick Astley]

Yet another reason I chose the 2.3, I saw that coming.

But honestly, how many of today's members are going to still have their Bronco through it's full warranty? A higher percentage than the normies I'm sure, but I'm guessing at least half of Bronco buyers will have moved on to the next cool thing by then.

Good move on the 2.3. It's proven to be low maintenance with only a few recurring issues for Mustang, RS and Ranger. Sure, each has had their own specific issue but they are pretty cheap repairs.

The number of non-functional new parts these days has certainly gone up in volume and frequency. It's almost like every supplier has issues building their products these days (wasn't it just Ford?).

You're also correct, very few will still have their Bronco in 7ish years time. Just look at how quickly the Prius faithful abandoned platform to suckle the taxpayer teet for those flashy Tesla's! (Random fact: Both Teslas and Prius all have turn signals from the factory! it's operator ego which prevents their use).

 

[Wolfpack]

How long should a turbo last in the 2.3? That's the engine I plan on getting, but have no experience owning a turbocharged engine. How much does it cost to get replaced outside of warranty? I keep my vehicles a long time.

 

[DogHauler]

You can't spell trouble without turbo

 

[thesocalexplorer]

How long should a turbo last in the 2.3? That's the engine I plan on getting, but have no experience owning a turbocharged engine. How much does it cost to get replaced outside of warranty? I keep my vehicles a long time.

Over at the mustang ecoboost forums, looks like the 2.3's are holding strong over 100k miles. Many members are running stronger tunes for 60k+ miles on otherwise stock components. I think it's a pretty stout motor and should see 150k miles easily, with diligent maintenance.

 

[Tricky Dick]

Over at the mustang ecoboost forums, looks like the 2.3's are holding strong over 100k miles. Many members are running stronger tunes for 60k+ miles on otherwise stock components. I think it's a pretty stout motor and should see 150k miles easily, with diligent maintenance.

I think 100k for a turbo should be the baseline expectation. The great thing is there's only one to replace and it's easy to get to and relatively inexpensive. Would also be an opportune time to upgrade if that floats your boat.

 

[Havoc1]

There's a tsb for the turbo....

 

[dejones64]

Dang, I’m getting 2.3 w/manual. You’d think they could get the issues ironed out by now.

With a turbo, to extend its life,
- keep your foot out of it until up to operating temp,
- let it idle for at least a minute, let the turbo spin down, before shutting it off

Any other tips?

 

[Aman]

Dang, I’m getting 2.3 w/manual. You’d think they could get the issues ironed out by now.

With a turbo, to extend its life,
- keep your foot out of it until up to operating temp,
- let it idle for at least a minute, let the turbo spin down, before shutting it off

Any other tips?

Buy the Ford ESP and then...

 

[BlueOvalBandit]

- let it idle for at least a minute, let the turbo spin down, before shutting it off

Unless you just did a REALLY hard pull, there's no need to idle before shutting down. Water is still circulating after shutdown due to convection. The water/coolant would need to boiling off to coke the oil.

Any other tips?

Use a good oil and change it. Don't do the extended oil change intervals. Part of oil's job is to suspend and carry particulates away but the filter won't capture everything.

Use a GOOD air filter. Those high flow filters often come at the price of letting more particulate matter through, especially if you run in dusty conditions. Small particles impacting an impeller that's turning 100K+ rpm will erode it over time.

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