5.0 Engine blown up at just under 58k miles

[apMechorse]

It's never good when an engine decides to add an inspection port on its own. If this was at all common, I'm sure that we would have heard of multiple similar reports already. Hopefully, the new short block will give you many years of uneventful service.

I had assumed a tiny issue like this would probably have made a splash on here if it had been at all common place, but also figured I might be on the higher mileage end of the spectrum for this gen so I'd post incase someone else finds out that the also have pistons that want to defect to the outside as well.

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[JExpedition07]

Surprised, the wrist pins and rods on the 5.0 are no joke and good for around 8-900 horsepower. Weird that one failed at stock power levels so young with no power adders. Curious if they find anything.

 

[MillstoneF150]

That IOLM is gimmicky in my opinion, and it seems like 10k is the most, under the most ideal conditions. But sounds like something else was up. Good luck and extended warranty sounds good right about now.

 

[TJSparky]

I hope it wasn’t the “indestructible belt”

 

[apMechorse]

Surprised, the wrist pins and rods on the 5.0 are no joke and good for around 8-900 horsepower. Weird that one failed at stock power levels so young with no power adders. Curious if they find anything.

I'm curious as well. When I asked the service manager about it this was his reply:

"We may not know exactly, with a catastrophic engine failure of this nature Ford may not have us pull it down to the actual cause. The repair is clearly evident so in these instances in the interest of saving time and money they most likely won't have us dismantle the engine but usually this is caused by a rod bearing failure on the crank. The bearing fails, causes excessive heat and that in return weakens the aluminum connecting rod and it finally lets loose and causes what we are seeing right now."

My guess is that in the grand scheme of things they would have the dealer tear down the engine locally if there was concern about whether it should be considered a warranty item or not, but from the sound of it they will likely be sending it back to Ford so the cause can be more accurately pin-pointed. If they have an interest.

In all likelihood, I will not find out exactly what caused it.

 

[apMechorse]

That IOLM is gimmicky in my opinion, and it seems like 10k is the most, under the most ideal conditions. But sounds like something else was up. Good luck and extended warranty sounds good right about now.

I've had good luck with newer versions of oil monitors. I know early versions were basically just glorified trip odometers, but with this one I have been seeing a fair amount of variance depending on driving patterns. On the other hand, about 80% of the driving I've done so far is moderate to long distance interstate driving not towing anything, so not a whole lot of strain on the engine.

 

[JExpedition07]

I'm curious as well. When I asked the service manager about it this was his reply:

"We may not know exactly, with a catastrophic engine failure of this nature Ford may not have us pull it down to the actual cause. The repair is clearly evident so in these instances in the interest of saving time and money they most likely won't have us dismantle the engine but usually this is caused by a rod bearing failure on the crank. The bearing fails, causes excessive heat and that in return weakens the aluminum connecting rod and it finally lets loose and causes what we are seeing right now."

My guess is that in the grand scheme of things they would have the dealer tear down the engine locally if there was concern about whether it should be considered a warranty item or not, but from the sound of it they will likely be sending it back to Ford so the cause can be more accurately pin-pointed. If they have an interest.

In all likelihood, I will not find out exactly what caused it.

The connecting rods on the 5.0 are sinter forged steel, not aluminum. But I get what they are trying to say there lol.

 

[B-real]

I've had good luck with newer versions of oil monitors. I know early versions were basically just glorified trip odometers, but with this one I have been seeing a fair amount of variance depending on driving patterns. On the other hand, about 80% of the driving I've done so far is moderate to long distance interstate driving not towing anything, so not a whole lot of strain on the engine.

Regardless of changing your oil at 2k or 12k, your oil change interval is NOT the cause of the connecting rod failure. It will be interesting to hear if the dealership does a tear down and failure analysis, but generally for a hole to be blown in the side of the block, something has to prevent the piston from being able to travel all the way up, and the connecting rod is the part that gives first. Often times a dropped valve will cause this, but oil changes going a bit longer than standard is not going to be the root cause. This is also not me advocating to go longer than the manual states.

 

[Polo08816]

I've had good luck with newer versions of oil monitors. I know early versions were basically just glorified trip odometers, but with this one I have been seeing a fair amount of variance depending on driving patterns. On the other hand, about 80% of the driving I've done so far is moderate to long distance interstate driving not towing anything, so not a whole lot of strain on the engine.

On my N55 (BMW engines) I've been doing 5,000 mile OCIs versus the recommended 10,000 mile OCIs. However, on the track car with the N55, I've actually been doing 2,500 mile OCIs during the track season.

 

[Texas8709]

Dang, sorry to hear about that. Hopefully this is isolated down to a bad component, and not some hidden gremlin in the gen3 coyote.
For what it's worth to any other Coyote owners that are now worried, I just went over 200k miles on mine and the engine is still strong. Only engine related issue I've had was the crappy plastic coolant T-connector starting to leak at about 90k miles. But it was easy to catch and replace and has been fine since. And my truck hasn't had any easy life. My normal teenager-like driving style, plenty of miles towing decently heavy loads, forgetfully exceeding mine or ford's preferred oil change interval many times, and almost it's entire life with a pretty aggressive tune on it (ridiculous but awesome revving it up to 7000rpm when flooring it). I can't say much good about the 6spd transmission (original died at 100k miles but the tune surely had something to do with that), but the engine has been solid. I think I've just done the T-connector and I think I replaced 1 spark plug about 40k miles ago.
But obviously the new 5.0s are quite different. If I'm remembering correctly though, didn't they get stronger internals when they started using the gen2 or gen3 Coyotes?

 

[Texas8709]

Do all of those changes apply to the f150 version too? You gen3 guys are able to rev up to 7500 like the Mustangs?!? Or is it same internals but a software limiters on RPMs?
I know with mine it had a different intake or exhaust camshaft, different exhaust manifold, and i believe more piston cooling.

 

[blk2021cv]

The 2021 model year is when cylinder deactivation was added to the 5.0L Coyote engine. I don't want to be all gloom and doom but it has only been a little over two years since cylinder deactivation was added. I do truly hope this is a one off and not a larger issue that will come up more often as the 2021's and beyond start aging.

 

[apMechorse]

Dang, sorry to hear about that. Hopefully this is isolated down to a bad component, and not some hidden gremlin in the gen3 coyote.
For what it's worth to any other Coyote owners that are now worried, I just went over 200k miles on mine and the engine is still strong. Only engine related issue I've had was the crappy plastic coolant T-connector starting to leak at about 90k miles. But it was easy to catch and replace and has been fine since. And my truck hasn't had any easy life. My normal teenager-like driving style, plenty of miles towing decently heavy loads, forgetfully exceeding mine or ford's preferred oil change interval many times, and almost it's entire life with a pretty aggressive tune on it (ridiculous but awesome revving it up to 7000rpm when flooring it). I can't say much good about the 6spd transmission (original died at 100k miles but the tune surely had something to do with that), but the engine has been solid. I think I've just done the T-connector and I think I replaced 1 spark plug about 40k miles ago.
But obviously the new 5.0s are quite different. If I'm remembering correctly though, didn't they get stronger internals when they started using the gen2 or gen3 Coyotes?

Did the 6 speed at least shift smoothly? If so I might be a little jealous... ?

 

[JExpedition07]

DOHC cylinder deactivation is nothing like a pushrod engine. It’s a solenoid based hydraulic spring pin that locks the roller follower in/out. Very simple design and the PCM knows to lock the roller follower in the activated position if it senses any sticking and will keep the system off until the CEL is cleared. Ford also made the system a serviceable unit that is simply under the valve cover as a pull out assembly. Very easy access for repairs and replacement unlike a pushrod engine where you have to pull the heads off the short block. If you don’t think this system is reliable, I certainly wouldn’t trust turbochargers either lol.

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