What causes these engines to fail?

[rotation_nation]

I am evaluating bigger turbo options - considering the whoosh hybrid and s280 in particular. Reliability is very important to me. I recognize that adding power/torque is always a risk, but I was curious if the forum has a good sense of what typically causes these engines to fail.

it sounds like heat was a big one on the pre 2016 cars, but that has been addressed in the newer vehicles (mine is 2017). Outside of heat, it would seem logical that high torque setups (hybrid) would put the most stress on pistons and connecting rods, but I read somewhere that there have been more failures with bigger turbos like the s280, which make less torque albeit at higher RPMs (hence more power). Not sure if the above statement is true or not, but it would be great to understand any common threads among those with blown engines.

I just want the most reliable setup I can find, likely sticking with stock fuel system.

 

[STRemy]

headgaskets-----> with added power. the block has slits between the cylinders to allow coolant to get between the cylinders. when you add boost and get around that 300 wheel mark the cylinders has a tendency to oval. they make a shim to drop into that slit to prevent this. there is hardly any meat in the cylinder walls between cylinders. there is a class action in the works for all of the ecoboost 4 cylinders about this. the 1.5-2.3l engines are all effected by this.
but its the block that is the root cause of the issue.
in factory trim they are more or less bulletproof.
timing belt is #2 fail so change it at 100k not 150k. oil sludge and carbon build up tied at #3. change oil ever 3k with the best stuff money can buy. I run penzoil platinum 5w30 (you can go up with the second number and down with the first number but never go up on the first number or down on the second). you can fix the carbon issue if you go with aux injectors to match your turbos increased fuel needs. the fuel in the intake cleans the stuff out pretty well. the direct injection on all engines build carbon tend to do this, just how it goes.
others on the forum will know more about performance stuff, im just the tech at the ford dealer that opens them up and points at the problem and i don't know much about the high hp side of the 1.6l.

 

[rotation_nation]

headgaskets-----> with added power. the block has slits between the cylinders to allow coolant to get between the cylinders. when you add boost and get around that 300 wheel mark the cylinders has a tendency to oval. they make a shim to drop into that slit to prevent this. there is hardly any meat in the cylinder walls between cylinders. there is a class action in the works for all of the ecoboost 4 cylinders about this. the 1.5-2.3l engines are all effected by this.
but its the block that is the root cause of the issue.
in factory trim they are more or less bulletproof.
timing belt is #2 fail so change it at 100k not 150k. oil sludge and carbon build up tied at #3. change oil ever 3k with the best stuff money can buy. I run penzoil platinum 5w30 (you can go up with the second number and down with the first number but never go up on the first number or down on the second). you can fix the carbon issue if you go with aux injectors to match your turbos increased fuel needs. the fuel in the intake cleans the stuff out pretty well. the direct injection on all engines build carbon tend to do this, just how it goes.
others on the forum will know more about performance stuff, im just the tech at the ford dealer that opens them up and points at the problem and i don't know much about the high hp side of the 1.6l.

Very helpful. For number 1, I guess my question is whether it’s high HP or high torque that causes this ovaling issue. S280 and hybrid occupy very different places on the torque/hp spectrum so I’m trying to understand if it’s more of a high RPM power or high low end torque root cause.

 

[STRemy]

Neither and both at the same time. Torque is the amount of work the engine can do, hp is fast it can do that work. Torque can be made in 2 ways, high pressure or long stroke. Why diesels make so much Torque is the long stroke.
It's cylinder pressure that ovals them.

 

[rotation_nation]

Neither and both at the same time. Torque is the amount of work the engine can do, hp is fast it can do that work. Torque can be made in 2 ways, high pressure or long stroke. Why diesels make so much Torque is the long stroke.
It's cylinder pressure that ovals them.

Power is actually work, not torque. Torque is how forcefully the output shaft twists and power is the speed at which it exerts that twisting force (and therefore how well the engine will be able to take advantage of gearing to multiply that torque at the tire).

diesel engines run at much higher compression ratios than gasoline engines, the primary reason for generating more torque. Longer stroke also helps them generate more torque.

 

[atlantaM3]

Generally, the same issues as most other tuned turbo engines - too much boost, too much timing, lots of heat, not enough fuel/octane - resulting in too much cylinder pressure and/or detonation. So erode the ring land, break a ring, erode a piston, bend a rod - lots of options for 'BOOM!'

 

[rotation_nation]

Generally, the same issues as most other tuned turbo engines - too much boost, too much timing, lots of heat, not enough fuel/octane - resulting in too much cylinder pressure and/or detonation. So erode the ring land, break a ring, erode a piston, bend a rod - lots of options for 'BOOM!'

Thanks. I would think these sorts of outcomes are more causally related to extreme torque spikes…which is why I was surprised to see a comment that more people have failures on s280s than whoosh hybrids. Maybe that comment isn’t accurate, curious to get the groups thoughts now that both turbos have been in operation for many years.