I've own my 2011 F150 for 3 months now. (Scab/EB/4x4/3:73) No doubt it's a nice truck to drive, and will spoil a guy quickly. I've been having some issues since delivery, and have had others crop up along the way. It's taken nearly three weeks to get an appointment, but yesterday at 7:30am, it went into the dealership for the following:

1. MISS/STUTTER AT IDLE: This issue has been present since taking delivery of the vehicle. At first it was only present at a cold start. It now occurs whether the engine is cold or warm…in Park, Drive, or reverse. At idle, the tach needle flutters, the engine sound changes, and you can physically feel/see the truck intermittently shutter. (2ND TIME TRUCK HAS BEEN IN FOR THIS ISSUE)

2. VERY POOR MPG: The best MPG I have been able to achieve has been 16mpg on the highway…this occurred while driving on flat/level ground, at 64 mph in Alberta, Canada. The best I have been able to achieve “in town” has been 14mpg….and that is while driving the truck as GENTLY as possible, and still keeping it moving forward. (SECOND TIME TRUCK HAS BEEN IN FOR THIS ISSUE)

3. TRANSMISSION/ SHIFTING: 1-2 Upshift AND 2-1 down shift , and 5-4 UP AND DOWN shifts are randomly very hard/violent or “mushy” as if the tranny is searching for the gear. With very light throttle, the 1-2 up shift is randomly VERY hard, with a random loud “clank” that can be heard/felt throughout the vehicle. The 2-1 down shift “stutters”. 5-4 downshift and up shifts do not produce noise, but sometimes the shift is violent, and other times it seems like the transmission is “searching” for the gear.

4. RADIO/CLIMATE CONTROLS/DISPAYS GOING “WACKY”: On 30 June, I was pulling onto I-15 northbound, from 10th Ave. South. Speed was approx 45mph….the radio volume started slowing going up…to maximum. None of the radio or other environmental control would work. When the radio volume indicator reached it’s maximum, all indicators on the radio screen changed to what appeared to be dual climate control indicators (this vehicle DOES NOT have dual climate controls), with two temp readouts, with the fan indicators on full, and the outside temp indicator read 00F. Again, none of the radio or environmental control would operate/work. I pulled over, shut off the truck, restarted it, and everything was normal again…it has not happened again since. (A/C was NOT on, windows where open, and I was driving normally (gently). UPDATE: On 12 July I was making a slow left hand turn (15 mph)..the radio started cutting out, then went out totally, and the Display went totally blank (all LEDs went out). I hit a small bump about 50 yards down the road, the radio cut in and out a few times, then everything started working again.
UPDATE: On 19 Jul: Driving slowly on a side street (less than 10mph) I made a slow left hand turn….the radio sound went out, then a few seconds later, the entire LED display went out…when I hit a small bump about 10 seconds later, everything came back on.

5. CHECK ENGINE LIGHT FLASHING 3X: On 5 July I was traveling at 35mph on the Northwest bypass, flat/level ground. The “Check Engine” indicator flashed three times then went out.
UPDATE: On 8 July, the “Check Engine” light flashed 3X then went out. This time I was traveling at 40 mph on flat level ground (Northwest Bypass)
UPDATE: On 13 July the “Check Engine” light flashed again. This time I only caught two flashes, but it MIGHT have been more. The light went out and everything seemed normal.I was traveling at 35mph, east bound on 10th Ave South.

6. “BELL TONE” SOUNDING FOR NO REASON: On the return trip on 5 July (see #5), in the same general area (approx 10 mins later), The “bell tone” (like opening the door with the key in the ignition) went off 3 times for what seemed like no reason. (doors were closed, my seatbelt was in place, with speed and terrain as described in #5) No further instances have occurred to date.

8. UPDATE SYNC TO LATEST VERSION: SYNC unit upgrade to version 3.2.2. Refer to bulletin number 11-06-09. Currently SYNC often fails to recognized voice inputs, and very often the sound/prompts stutters. (I've tried downloading the update myself, with no success. After contacting Ford, they told me "please schedule an appointment with your dealership to install the update".)

The lousy MPG is on the verge of me regretting buying an EB. I have a few friends in town who purchased trucks similar to mine, and they are getting 17-19mpg in town, and 20+ on the highway.
More so, the issue with the electronics going "wacky" really worries me....all too often those are problems that are impossible to replicate, and generally go unrepaired until something major happens.
I'm expecting to be without my truck for a few days....we'll see.

I've also asked the Service Manager for a detailed report when things are complete. I'll come back and let everyone know how things turn out.
It's now Friday morning, and I've not heard anything about the truck. I think I'll give it until around noon today, and maybe drop by the dealership to see where we're at.

 

Wow sucks to hear but I hope everything gets worked out.

 

Ed, I'd start researching the lemon laws in your state.

 

By similar, do you mean they also have EB's or are your friends running 5.0's?

I took a little drive to the lake today, about 75 miles round trip, 60mph, and the computer told me 21.5 mpg avg. I trust my computer avg mpg's, it's always close to hand calcs, at least in my case. The computer avg doesn't seem to work for everyone, I'm sure most people on here have seen the term "Lie-O-Meter."

That hurts to be getting less than advertised mileage when you likely bought the EB in part because of it's mileage capabilities. Hope you get your issues worked out, nothing worse than being stuck with a glitchy vehicle.

 

When was your built? Mine was built Feb or March and got held a the factory for a month and wouldn't tell me. It had 25 miles on it when I got it and the others that came off the truck usually had 3-5 miles, I've had similar troubles with #1 and #3. The will probably try to reflash you PCM and TCM. It will help a little with the shifting but there will still be some random junky shifts every now and then that will make you sick to your stomach thinking you paid so much for a brand new truck that shifts poorly.

Have you ever put it in gear and had it just rev up. Happens every 3-4 morning for me. It is very frustrating because when the truck shifts like it should it works like a dream and when it jumps and clangs it makes me want to pull over, light it on fire and walk home.

Let me know what you come up with.

 

I'd also like to add another point. What makes the poor shifting so hard to accept (besides it's so random) is that every thing else about the truck is beyond compare. I've never been more blown away by something in my life. Ford did an incredible job top to bottom with this truck and it shows how hard the tried to make the best 1/2 ton one the road hands down. Everything else works so great it makes things a little more frustrating when something isn't right and it's hard to pin it down to get it fixed. I'd be happier if the tranny would just grenade and there'd be no question.

 

WOW I am so glad I got the 3.31 gears. All the others seem to not be able to hit 20mpg!
Today I went for a long drive and did about 250 miles. I got 22mpg, and I was within the speed limit and did not punch it. I didn't drive like a senior by any means, I just wanted to see how good I could get the millage.

 

So far 5000 miles and no problems, well, mechanically speaking. I bet I'm the first that has has their EB windshield replaced. Piece of brick from tractor trailer cracked my windshield and no other damage thank goodness.

19.9 to 22.5 is what I'm seeing on fuel mileage. I ran the fuel down as far as I will ever let it go the other day. Fuel light comes on, somewhere around 35 - 40 miles left to empty. Drove down to 13 miles to empty. Filled up to third click (auto stop) on nozzle. It took 26.215 gallons. I ranged out at 513 miles. $96 fill up. I'm guessing 26 gallons is the nominal amount it will hold not including expansion and fill tubing.

All good so far and the fastest, smoothest, quietest, riding truck I have ever owned.

 

ok here is a question for everyone that owns 2011 EcoBoost 150 FX4, can anyone tell me if Ford made just black running boards for this truck. reason im asking, I bought Brand new and the dealer had to bring it from another dealership because i wanted sun roof and shifter in floor and the ones they had didn't have them. But I recalled it had BLACK running boards. Well when they called me the next day to pick up my truck, it didn't have any, make a long story short, they ordered new, came in chrome, i said BLACK guy Black, they said it was mistake and they were going to get my the ones I asked for. Well I thought they had the right ones but when I picked up my truck, they were grey with black inserts and black end caps, he said they dont make them black for my truck. ANYONE KNOW ANY DIFFERENT PLEASE POST ME A PICTURE OR PART NUMBER

 

Hmmm I don't recall them being black. All I have seen is chrome running boards except for the Raptors...

 

I have over 7000 km now on mine and just starting to notice some of the same problems as Ed. The hard downshifting didnt start to happen until about 1000 km or so ago. It is also starting to "knock" at start up until the vehicle warms up.
Another problem is when going into reverse, there is a loud "clunk" noise and shakes the truck. I think i'll call this week to get an appointment for this and get them to figure it out. I do have the ESP and FMPP so not too worried about anything yet.

 

the running boards do not some in black. They are a gun metel grey with black inserts.

 

Well, the saga will continue this week. Last Friday the dealership called and said they were waiting on Ford to get back to them about the issues, and if I wanted to drive the truck over the weekend, I could. It's scheduled to go back in on Tuesday morning. Nothing was accomplished while it was there that I know of.

Over the weekend, I had the "wacky" radio thing happen again....making a slow left hand turn, the station went in/out, then the entire display went blank. Everything came back on about 100yds down the road.

I mean pretty much identical trucks (EB/Scab/4x4/3:73)

That's exactly why I chose to go with the EB....had I known then, what I know now, I would likely have purchased a 3.7 or 5.0.

Pretty much the same story with my truck. It was built on 19 Feb, went back to the factory on 21 Feb, and then was re-released on 23 Feb. It did not get loaded for delivery until 7 April. (one can only speculate as to why). I've also kept an eye on the TSBs issued by Ford since then, and the vast majority of those TSBs are on trucks produced between 1 Jan-1 Apr of 2011. My truck had 27 miles on it when I took delivery, with a "tag" hanging on the mirror stating "This truck was randomly selected for a test drive". RIGHT Seems like a lot of trucks produced around the same time where taken back to the factory, re-released, and then hung out in Dearborn for a month or more before being shipped. While I have no proof (beyond how "non-typical" my truck acts), all the circumstances add up to there being something seriously wrong with many of the trucks produced in that time frame with the EB. I have a nagging suspicion that this is going to get frustrating for me, but I will keep at it until they make this truck "right".
If/when the dealership gets things figured out, I'll be sure to come back and let everyone know.

 

Just wanted to update... I turned off the gear display on the dash and just drive the truck now versus constantly checking to see what gear it's in and things are better. I never gave the truck a chance to learn how I drive because I was always over compensating trying to aviod bad shifts, which confused the computer. I still have a random jerky shift every now and then but nothing terrible over the last 150 miles.

 

We are back from a 5700 mile vacation. Left KY and spent 14 days driving across to the Rockies and touring. All Interstate travel was at the speed limit plus 5 mph. That put me at 75, 80 and 85 mph most of the way. I did a lot of driving in the Rockies. There were three of us in the Super Crew 4X2. It has a 315 rear end. My wife and grand daughter packed enough stuff to fill the bed level full. The average mileage for the trip, start to finish, was 21.5 (hand calculated). There were absolutely no issues in the higher altitudes. I love this truck.