So, I have to admit that I didn't know this was a thing until last Saturday. The truck in question is a 2014 F150 EcoBoost with 26,000 miles. On my way to Virginia Beach for vacation I noticed a significant loss of power and my CEL came on. On even the slightest grades the transmission would have to shift down to 4th gear just to maintain 70 mph. A stop at the next AutoZone revealed P0016 & P0299 to be the codes causing the CEL. I continued on to the next Ford dealership with a service department open on Saturday and explained the problem. After about 20 minutes I was informed that I would need a new timing chain & turbo. I explained that I was hundreds of miles from home and questioned if I could safely continue to Virginia Beach. I was told "probably, but no promises" that the timing chain won't jump time because they don't know how bad it is.

I continued on to my destination, trying to keep the RPMs as low as possible. I dropped the truck & paperwork from the previous dealership off at Beach Ford in Virginia Beach at 7 am on Monday morning . They still have it today and I am amazingly driving a Ford provided rental. The staff at Beach Ford has been great and I would recommend them to anyone. They have been so awesome to deal with that I am seriously considering making the drive when I purchase my next vehicle. As of right now, even though my truck isn't fixed yet, they have earned my future business.

Now, on to my concern - once this is fixed, can I trust the engine? Should I be concerned this this will happen again? Are there reports of these engines having repeat episodes of a second stretched timing chain? What caused this and how can I change what I do to reduce the chance of it happening again? Being that this is my second EcoBoost engine and both have had problems (the 1st was a 2011 with misfire issues that continued until the day I traded it), I am a bit paranoid about the future of this truck. I want to keep it, but at minimum I will be getting an extended warranty to cover future problems.

 

I've heard of timing chain stretch in other engines, but it's rare. On the Ecoboost I hear it's quite common.

Possibly Ford made an improved timing chain from what I've read.

The whole point of a timing chain is to last the lifetime of the engine.

 

I picked up the truck this afternoon. I think my issues (bad turbo & timing chain) may have been in the works for a while because the truck seems to run better than I ever remember. Anyway, the timing chain and tensioner were replaced under TSB 17-0026. I have searched around Google & can seem to find a copy of this. Does anybody have a copy of this or a link?

Tomorrow will be the test. The 500 mile trip home will hopefully reveal any issues that may pop up.

 

https://ford.oemdtc.com/TSB/17-0026.pdf

 

Thanks.

This appears to be the latest in a list of several TSBs to address this issue. Considering 2 years have passed without another updated TSB, I am hoping this one actually works in the long term.

 

I wanted to reach out and see if the new timing chain fixed the truck? Did you keep it? We have a 2012 F-150 with 74,000 miles that had the same P0016 code come up with the same drive difficulties as described as the original post.

 

The P0299 code, you need to call your dealership and get a Turbocharger Boost Pressure Relief Valve PART# AA5Z-9U465-A. I go one for $57 and works great now. I would lose power going up slight hills and now I have all my power back.