Boosting EcoBoost service

In May 2009, Ford began mass-producing an engine that has changed every vehicle it finds its way into. With the introduction of the EcoBoost engine family and its ability to deliver horsepower and torque normally reserved for the largest displacement naturally aspirated engines a V6 F150 with a trailer behind it or a 3 cylinder “hot hatch” now seems perfectly natural.

The original offering was the 3.5L V6 finding its way into the F150, Taurus SHO/Lincoln MKS and the Ford Flex/Lincoln MKT vehicles first. By utilizing a pair of small and speedy turbos on a dual overhead cam engine with direct injection and variable valve timing for each cam 365 hp came pretty easily and, as time has shown, reliably too. Not to take anything from the 3.5L GTDI engine; 100 horsepower and 100 foot-pounds of torque per liter is certainly rarified air for any performance engine. We also have to keep in mind that the 3.5L gives moms the kind of power to weight ratio in a seven-seater that most of us have come to expect from a two-seat sports car.

Yes, those numbers are good but Ford has another EcoBoost in the stable that produces 125 hp per liter and 148 foot-pounds. If we were talking about the Mustang GT producing this kind of power it would be sitting at 625 horsepower and 740 foot-pounds of torque all available from 1400-4500 rpm. Turbochargers sure are cool but this monster is really not a monster at all. It is the smallest of the EcoBoost engines with 3 cylinders and 1.0L of displacement. We might expect something this powerful to get horrible gas mileage and be mostly useless at low speed but the numbers look like 31mpg city/ 43 highway and 9.3 seconds to 60 mph. So enough with the specs let’s see how Ford makes such a small engine work. Be forewarned there are a number of technologies that may challenge your current beliefs regarding engine design.

From the foundation out let’s talk about the block. The 1.0L EcoBoost is the only engine in the line that has a cast iron cylinder block. Ford’s engineers went this way for two reasons. The first is strength. The latter is the theme of the entire 1.0L project and that is thermal efficiency. Ford says this engine warms up 50 percent faster with the iron block. The block has substantial support webs that tie the main caps to the oil pan rails. Inside the block there are piston oil squirters to maintain consistent piston temperatures.

The rear main seal retainer is moved to the back of the block to allow the rear main cap to have more rigidity.

To round out the rest of the bottom end you will probably notice that this engine does not have a balance shaft. Ford decided that they rob too much power instead applying a special misbalance to the flywheel to make this engine run smooth. The connecting rods are the powdered metal variety Ford has been using for many years. EcoBoost engines get a slight different metallurgy to make their rods stronger. The pistons are special in all EcoBoost engines to accommodate the direct injection nozzle mounted over the top of them. In Figure 3 you can compare the 3.5L direct injection piston on the right to the conventional DOHC 3.5L on the left. This is typical of EcoBoost piston design and yields a 10.0:1 compression ratio but runs on regular fuel.

Bolted to the bottom of the block is a large oil pump reminiscent of a race car’s external oil pump. The oil pan is a wet sump design but the oil pump is driven by a special Gilmer Drive belt that is submerged in oil as is the engine’s timing belt. Rubber timing belts offer quiet operation but cause frictional losses. Timing chains in applications like this cause frictional losses through the necessary timing chain guides. This belt design has been in use in commercial applications and Ford is confident that with reasonable and correct oil maintenance these belts are reliable for 150K miles.

Moving to the top of the engine we find an aluminum head with dual cams each equipped with a variable cam timing phaser electronically controlled by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) to advance and retard the cams to create different power band adjustments as needed. Because of the ability to let cool air pass through the engine or leave a little exhaust behind as required this engine does not have any exhaust gas recirculation. The valves each have a cup over the top, which will be familiar to those with experience in VW/Audi to allow shimming of valve to cam clearance. This appears to be like others using this design; adjustment will be needed at high mileage only.

Ford uses a returnless lift pump that feeds low-pressure (about 65 psi) fuel to the high-pressure mechanical pump that runs off of the cam. It generates up to about 2150 PSI. To ensure quick starts and adequate fuel to the high-pressure pump the Fuel Pump Control Module (FPCM) is triggered by the Body Control Module (BCM) when the interior lights come on. This will prime the system prior to start. Ford has also replaced the inertia switch with a signal generated by the Restraints Control Module (RCM) to inform the FPCM that an accident has occurred. This will turn off the low-pressure side of the system. Since most of these vehicles are push-button start, cycling the button on and off or the key on and off and back on will reset the system.

The engine management system departs from standard Ford significantly. It is wise to consider this a whole new system. To assist with self-diagnosis the management system has several pressure and temperature sensors. A Mass Air Flow (MAF) Sensor is not used. This is Speed Density with several twists. Like the MAF system, this management system is trying to determine the amount of air that runs through the engine along with its pressure and temperature all through the intake tract. Unlike most engine management systems, this one does not need to guess at how much fuel is being delivered. The system knows how much fuel volume the high-pressure pump can deliver and actually regulates and monitors the pump output. To assist in tuning fuel delivery, the PCM has a wide band oxygen sensor with new scan tool Parameter Identifiers (PIDs) that will display lambda and air fuel ratio. A visit to motorcraftservice.com for the free 262-page OBDII 2014 model information will give you more detail on the engine management system changes.One of the biggest losses of heat energy is the exhaust. This is why turbo chargers have made so much sense for small engines. Ford engineers have come up with a clever way to capture a good deal of this lost exhaust heat and use it to warm the engine quickly. The cylinder head has an integrated exhaust manifold that has coolant circulating

around it. The turbo simply bolts on a neck on the side of the head. To utilize this heat, the 1.OL EcoBoost has three cooling system circuits and two thermostats. As the engine starts up, warm up Phase 1 begins with the mini-cooling system. Coolant is circulated by the mechanical water pump around the exhaust manifold side of the head, into the heater core, oil cooler and through the turbocharger by way of an auxiliary electric pump.

The main thermostat allows bypass when engine speed exceeds 3,000 rpm to avoid excess pressure. The block thermostat begins opening at 158 degrees. When it reaches 185 degrees, Phase 2 begins. In this mode, the small cooling system works much like conventional cooling system bypass systems circulating coolant throughout the engine and heater bypassing the radiator until the engine reaches 222 degrees and the main thermostat opens bringing the entire cooling system online.

To assist in managing temperatures, the Fiesta has PCM controlled radiator shutters. These engines warm up very quickly. I have timed an EcoBoost 2.0L at 1 minute 40 seconds to fully warmed up on a 40-degree morning from a cold start. One final feature of the 1.0L cooling system is the electric auxiliary water pump that is used to circulate coolant to the turbo charger at certain times. It is used as an after shutdown cooling system when the engine has experienced high loads and a quick shutdown. The PCM has DTCs related to its monitor for the thermostat. With this tight control on temperature it can catch a thermostat that is performing below spec based upon time and temperature. The PCM also calibrates the radiator shutters at each start up by opening and closing them fully.

This small but mighty engine has taken advantage of seemingly every possible means to save and reuse heat energy. Its light-weight and high efficiency give the Fiesta great handling and near hybrid gas mileage. Some serious forward thinking for a company who, only a few years ago, seemed to build small cars as a CAFE adjustment for pickup truck sales. The fun factor is high and the technology is impressive.