I hate my Powerboost

[Severdog]

One thing though since I’m not familiar with this transmission, how do you lockout the gears and then unlock them when driving uphill ?

Hi John, if you have the console shifter, hit the (-)button as many times as needed to drop the top gear from 10 down to 7 or 8. When you hit the top of the hill and the load drops off, you can hit the (+) button to put your top gear back up to 10. If you have the console shifter, there is are similar buttons. The dash display tells you what gear you're in, as well as the max "top" gear. Really slick and works great.

Sponsored

 

[Rubystang]

Hi John, if you have the console shifter, hit the (-)button as many times as needed to drop the top gear from 10 down to 7 or 8. When you hit the top of the hill and the load drops off, you can hit the (+) button to put your top gear back up to 10. If you have the console shifter, there is are similar buttons. The dash display tells you what gear you're in, as well as the max "top" gear. Really slick and works great.

Thanks for the explanation and pic. Yes, I have the console shifter that drops inside the console. I knew it was a 10 speed but just not how to drop down through the gears. The pic and explanation answered the mail perfectly. My main goal is to make sure I seat the rings properly to get maximum performance from the engine over time. From my understanding I need drive in Sport mode initially and to keep the RPM up and keep a load on the engine through acceleration and deceleration for the first 20-50 miles. After that I can drop to normal mode and if I encounter hills drop the gear to keep the RPM’s up until over the top and then go back to normal. Once home, change the oil immediately. Thanks again to everyone who provided input to help make sure I don’t screw up my new truck and give it the best chance to last a long time. I can’t wait to get the call so I can fly up and pick it up.

 

[MJ Heat]

I guess that I am just very lucky. My 22 Powerboost changes back & forth between the ICE & the Electric drive motor, & the transmission shifts so smoothly, that I have to watch the screen display to see the drive mode, gear setting, & shifts. I am 7000 miles in averaging 26+ mpg.

 

[mnstang]

I guess that I am just very lucky. My 22 Powerboost changes back & forth between the ICE & the Electric drive motor, & the transmission shifts so smoothly, that I have to watch the screen display to see the drive mode, gear setting, & shifts. I am 7000 miles in averaging 26+ mpg.

Averaging 26+?!?!?! Wow, you win the award in MPG department. I have 17k on my powerboost and lifetime MPG is 17.6mpg. But that is a mix of about 2k miles towing.

 

[MJ Heat]

Averaging 26+?!?!?! Wow, you win the award in MPG department. I have 17k on my powerboost and lifetime MPG is 17.6mpg. But that is a mix of about 2k miles towing.

My truck is a 157" 4x4. I have towed less than 100 miles so far. I have a hard roll up tonneau cover, but other than that try not to carry much extra weight unless it is necessary. My stock tires are kept at a couple of pounds over recommended pressure, & here is the most important part, I drive like an old man, because I am. Easy starts, but I go up through the gears to 9th or 10th pretty quick to get the best mileage. I bump the brakes to switch to electric on most downhill runs & watch the screen to go as far as the truck will in electric, while trying to keep speed & stay out of other drivers' way. My best 500 mile run so far was 29.2mpg, hand measured from the pump that I try to always use. I have literally only had to punch it a handful of times avoiding folks running lights, etc.

Needless to say, I am very pleasantly surprised to get this kind of mileage. So pleased in fact, that I have ordered a 23 Maverick Hybrid. The Maverick is rated at 37mpg, but I have seen folks posting that they regularly do much better, with some showing screen shots getting better than 50mpg (Probably old geezers like me).

I used my Powerboost to run my 2 freezers & refrigerator, & a few other circuits, when my power was out after the recent hurricane. The truck only ran about 3 minutes per hour, & I figure burned about 1 gallon of gas over most of a day (using calculations based on my typical mileage). So far, I love my Powerboost.

 

[Rubystang]

I guess that I am just very lucky. My 22 Powerboost changes back & forth between the ICE & the Electric drive motor, & the transmission shifts so smoothly, that I have to watch the screen display to see the drive mode, gear setting, & shifts. I am 7000 miles in averaging 26+ mpg.

MJHeat, just curious…. what was your break in process when you first got your truck ? Do you run synthetic motor oil and if so, which one ? Finally, what brand and grade gas do you run ? All factors in determining the performance of the truck over the long haul. I have a new 22 Lariat 4x4 due in any day now and will be flying up to the dealership to pick it up and drive it home. Not crazy about putting 1800 miles on it before changing the oil for the first time, but it is what it is. Always glad to hear when someone is doing well with their truck and you certainly fit the bill for that. Best of luck continuing down the road !

 

[MJ Heat]

MJHeat, just curious…. what was your break in process when you first got your truck ? Do you run synthetic motor oil and if so, which one ? Finally, what brand and grade gas do you run ? All factors in determining the performance of the truck over the long haul. I have a new 22 Lariat 4x4 due in any day now and will be flying up to the dealership to pick it up and drive it home. Not crazy about putting 1800 miles on it before changing the oil for the first time, but it is what it is. Always glad to hear when someone is doing well with their truck and you certainly fit the bill for that. Best of luck continuing down the road !

I really have not done anything all that special. I have been very easy on my truck for the most part. It started out shifting pretty easy with a few herky jerky moments, but really smoothed out over time.

Be easy on your truck at the start if you can. It will likely reward you for your patience over the rest of its life.

I took advantage of a complimentary oil change at the dealer recently & really, really hope they used the specified Motorcraft oil. The truck will follow or better the Ford recommended maintenance plan as long as I own it. I did the same on my 2015 F150 157” 4x4 with the 3.5 Ecoboost & it was running strong at 230k+ miles & still regularly got 21.5mpg when traded for this 22 Powerboost.

I only run 87 octane 10% ethanol regular gas. That is what the manual recommends & I always follow the recommendations of any product‘s manufacturer (Nobody knows their product better than they do).

I wish you The Best of Luck with your new truck!!!

 

[Snakebitten]

I have no argument with your recommendations, since you obviously have had great results.

But the owners manual states what are the minimum recommendations for the product.
Both the oil and the fuel you use, as well as the service intervals are the minimums.

No harm is implied by using 89, 91, 93 fuel
No harm is implied by using full synthetic Motorcraft over the blend.
No harm changing your oil earlier
No harm servicing your transmission before......

Those recommendations are the minimum.
That's an important clarification

 

[FrankThompson]

Just a note that according to the manual, premium (91 octane or above) is actually what is recommended for overall vehicle and engine performance, though it states 87 will work fine.

 

[HammaMan]

These are turbo charged engines that run at least 1 bar of pressure and have a compression ratio of 10:1. They really prefer to run w/ 91, but can detune when needed for 87. It's a neat trick. In winter you can burn 87 all day long for max performance. Towing things can get a bit hot, but even in winter I don't see 91 being needed. Intercoolers love cold dense air.

 

[MJ Heat]

I am frugal by nature. Trying to do all I can within reason to make my vehicles last, & getting the best reasonably possible real world fuel mileage has been a thing for me over the last 40+ years. At various times, especially when trying out new to me drive trains, I have tried E85/flexfuel, midrange, & premium gasolines, when listed as approved by the manufacturer. We all see things differently, but in my experience mileage & performance drops off so much with E85 that I believe that it cost more per mile than regular 87 octane. On the other end, I have gotten slightly better mileage & performance with higher test fuels, but I have never thought that the improvement was enough to offset the higher cost.

 

[Rubystang]

I am frugal by nature. Trying to do all I can within reason to make my vehicles last, & getting the best reasonably possible real world fuel mileage has been a thing for me over the last 40+ years. At various times, especially when trying out new to me drive trains, I have tried E85/flexfuel, midrange, & premium gasolines, when listed as approved by the manufacturer. We all see things differently, but in my experience mileage & performance drops off so much with E85 that I believe that it cost more per mile than regular 87 octane. On the other end, I have gotten slightly better mileage & performance with higher test fuels, but I have never thought that the improvement was enough to offset the higher cost.

One thing I have found on vehicles once you start getting the mileage on there is you have to keep the fuel system clean. On my older cars (carbureted) I would spray Gumout into the carburetor while the engine was running and keep the RPM up. You could see the metal cleaning up inside the carburetor. On cars with fuel injection I would get into the throttle body to clean it along with the cold air induction kit. They say the modern gasolines have all the additives to accommodate that, but I simply don’t believe it. At least not clean enough to keep the mileage at its peak throughout the life of the vehicle. It may help, but I see improvement every time I use the fuel cleaner in my gas. After I get about 10k miles on an engine I start putting Techron in the tank about every 5k miles. I notice a small improvement in both performance and mileage. The mileage goes up between 1 and 2 mpg. Anyone else use these fuel system cleaning products?

 

[22F150]

I have had a '21 powerboost for a full year now with 15k miles. Beyond issues with stupid things from day 1 like power mirrors not working and the 11 month debacle that has been, I just really dislike the ride. I was so excited to have this truck, after my '20 Ram was rear-ended and totaled after less than 2 years, because after living through the Texas snowpocalpyse the 7.2kw generator in this truck seemed to make it perfect. But since day 1, my Lariate pb has been a downgrade and disappointment from my Laramie 1500.

First, I love the idea of a hybrid with great mpg, lots of power and speed, and the built in generator. Not to mention the fact that I was able to put a hefty sum down and get 0% interest in Oct 2021. I thought this truck was going to be the best of all worlds. But what I found was this truck drives like complete crap. There are very noticeable jerks when switching between gas and electric plus accelerating or decelerating, especially around 3rd gear is extremely rough. Every time I accelerate or decelerate I feel these jerks, pauses, and jolts and it is driving me insane.

When accelerating up a hill I will hit third gear and then it feels as if it downshifts and throws me in to the back of my seat as it shifts higher. When decelerating it can be very sudden that it shocks people in the vehicle. Sometimes there is a hesitation when accelerating causing me to hit the gas a little more which then leads to a jerk forward once the truck catches up. Nothing about the ride is consistent or comfortable. I hate comparing it to the ram but the hemi ram was smooth in acceleration and deceleration all the time. During the last 11 months of dealing with other issues I have mentioned the issues with the ride quality each time I took the truck into service and the dealer has done nothing for it. On the work order it says "no work done." I Paid 68k for this truck, full sticker 1 year ago, and I couldn't be less happy with it.

Most likely I will need to hold onto this truck because current interest rates are terrible and no one will give me a decent trade in. I am one service appt away from filing a lemon law claim here in Texas for a buy back. If we have a power outage in the next winter or 2, the generator may be the only saving grace, if it's not in the shop.

I‘d agree the PB powertrain lacks refinement, especially from a stand still. The 1-3 shift is not smooth.

The other issue for me with the PB is the brake feel at slow speeds. When trying to slowly creep into the garage the brakes have a delay when releasing and it’s difficult to modulate the brakes with any finess. They seem very synthetic.

I’ve owned other hybrids and they’ve all been more refined and easier the drive smoothly.

 

[HammaMan]

I‘d agree the PB powertrain lacks refinement, especially from a stand still. The 1-3 shift is not smooth.

The other issue for me with the PB is the brake feel at slow speeds. When trying to slowly creep into the garage the brakes have a delay when releasing and it’s difficult to modulate the brakes with any finess. They seem very synthetic.

I’ve owned other hybrids and they’ve all been more refined and easier the drive smoothly.

Getting rid of the 1-3 skip shift would solve A LOT of the bottom end nonsense. ICE start w/ 1-3 shift = shudder every single time. Dumb thing should be an option in sync 4.

I don't have any issues with braking / creeping. When you're running on hybrid motor alone, should be quite smooth.

 

[Snakebitten]

Getting rid of the 1-3 skip shift would solve A LOT of the bottom end nonsense. ICE start w/ 1-3 shift = shudder every single time. Dumb thing should be an option in sync 4.

I don't have any issues with braking / creeping. When you're running on hybrid motor alone, should be quite smooth.

I've managed to "learn" how to get a 1-2-3 shift out of the 10r80 MHT in Normal mode with just the right approach with the throttle. It's a very narrow approach however, and I don't always succeed. But yea, it's so much nicer than the 1-3 momentary fall-on-its-face.

My previous generation 10r80 was a "tuned" truck and I admit that it was more elegant. But untuned it wasn't better than this Powerboost transmission strategy has been.

Sponsored