How do you like your 5g?

[sgtsandman]

I'm poking around on the Ford web site, and looking at Broncos with a 1.5 L engine. WTF????? That just doesn't seem like it should possibly work. And no manual trans that I can find for the 2021s. Huh.

Maybe they don't have all the configs on the site.. but jeez, a 1.5L engine? And the 'big' engine is the 2.0???????

You sure that wasn’t the Bronco Sport? I’m pretty sure the small engine in the big Bronco is the 2.3.

There is a big difference in size between the two. The Sport is Honda CR-V/Ford Escape size. The Bronco is along the same size as the original full size Bronco.

 

[sgtsandman]

I’ve found that dealerships shine in some departments and suck in others. This is a generality. One dealership I dealt with had a decent sales department and a great parts department. Their service department on the other hand, I would never let them touch one of my vehicles again. It could have been just the one guy. It could have been that they were a bad mechanic or had a bad day. Regardless, I didn’t want to chance that one person having access to my vehicle ever again.

Another, the sales department was scum. The parts department was good. I never used the service department that I remember.

The current one I deal with, the parts and service department are great. I keep going back to them. I never used their sales department. So I can’t comment on that. I have a friend at another dealership that is a salesman. I’d rather put food on his table than some stranger. The local dealership gets my parts and service dollars though.

 

[MikeG]

It's the Sport, correct. Found the other one, finally. Looking now. Makes more sense, but still.....

The description of the Fusion with the 1.5 3 cyl reminds me of the Geo metro that one of my sisters had in the 1990s. It was a manual, and she had to shift gears like she was rowing a boat to get it to move....

 

[sgtsandman]

If it’s an Ecoboost engine, it might do better. But the vehicles have had a 3-Banger were found to be wanting and they were smaller than the Bronco Sport. But they were also Suzuki made pieces of crap that were pretty much throw away vehicles also.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Ford made 3 cylinder tractors back in the 50's/60's, the engines were awesome, surprisingly smooth too.

 

[MikeG]

Probably a giant flywheel on the tractor engine.

 

[Curious Hound]

Probably a giant flywheel on the tractor engine.

Probably a bigger displacement 3 cylinder. But tractors normally have a lot of gear reduction too. So it takes very little horsepower to apply a lot of torque.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Probably a bigger displacement 3 cylinder. But tractors normally have a lot of gear reduction too. So it takes very little horsepower to apply a lot of torque.

Bigger but not huge. Hp is not measured at flywheel which kinda mucks it up comparing to car engines, tractor engines are built to make torque at low rpm and to sit there doing that for its lifespan.

https://www.tractordata.com/farm-tractors/008/9/4/8943-ford-4000.html

Just spitballing, take 55hp, add 20 for drIveline loss... you are in the ballpark for period small car base I6 engine hp.

 

[racsan]

Probably a giant flywheel on the tractor engine.

not only that but they dont rev all that high (compared to a car/truck) and you have much lower gearing. Look at the N series flatheads from 39-51, 120 cid 23 hp 4cyl, but very capable. I think the rear end ratio was something like 7.5 :1
The ‘49 john deere A was a 321 2-cyl, 975 full throttle no load rpm, and a pulling beast. Im not sure what the gear reduction on those was.

 

[Curious Hound]

I generally shy away from dealerships. But I will not paint them all with the same brush. There are two in/near Columbia, SC that I will never go to. The one, actually in Lexington, I went to to have front wheel bearings serviced on my 88 F150 4x4 about 30 years ago. It also had a noise that concerned me. This was before I knew much about working on vehicles, didn't have many tools and no garage to work in. Anyway. When the vehicle was finished, I looked and there were huge gobs of grease on the lip at the top of the coil spring buckets. It looked like the mechanic had scooped a bunch of grease out of the tub and just scraped his hands clean there - on both sides of the truck. They also said they didn't hear any abnormal noise. As I drove down the road, I heard the noise. So I turned around and went back, steaming mad. I got the service manager to ride with me. Before we got off the lot, he said " You need u-joints." So we went back. I also complained about the mess and told him I wanted a different mechanic working on my truck and I wanted the front wheel bearings re-checked to make sure they actually got done and done properly. They made good. But I was always skeptical after that.

Another newer dealer in that area many years later won my praise. I had a 1990 F350 crew cab with 7.3l diesel that developed a starting problem. I ruined a starter and set of batteries dealing with it. One day I went to this new dealer to ask about the problem. The service Mgr explained that there was a tiny check valve that would go bad. That let the fuel drain back to the tank over night and make it nearly impossible to start in the mornings. It would work great throughout the day. He gave me a quote for repairs and also to me it would be easy to replace myself. So I bought the check valve, went home, replaced it and never had another issue with that truck. That, to me, was good service.

I have since worked with some fine men that previously worked at dealer service departments. After hearing what that job is like, I have even more respect for all the good dealership service techs out there.

 

[MikeG]

Poking around on the Ford web site, it looks like some of the engines have a combination direct injection / port injection. Wondering if that will help prevent carbon buildup on the intake valves. Can't figure out if the 2.3 EB has that, or just direct injection. It was in the specs for some of the bigger and non-turbo motors.

 

[sgtsandman]

Poking around on the Ford web site, it looks like some of the engines have a combination direct injection / port injection. Wondering if that will help prevent carbon buildup on the intake valves. Can't figure out if the 2.3 EB has that, or just direct injection. It was in the specs for some of the bigger and non-turbo motors.

The 2.3 is direct injection only. Some of the Ecoboost engines have had injectors added to the ports but not all of them. It does seem to that adding the port injection solves the build up issues. But, as previously stated, the engine does have an oil separator built into the PCV system. How good it is and does it prevent the build up issue? I don't know. I think the separator was a carry over from the original Duratech engine the Ecoboost engine is based on.

 

[Blmpkn]

I generally shy away from dealerships. But I will not paint them all with the same brush. There are two in/near Columbia, SC that I will never go to. The one, actually in Lexington, I went to to have front wheel bearings serviced on my 88 F150 4x4 about 30 years ago. It also had a noise that concerned me. This was before I knew much about working on vehicles, didn't have many tools and no garage to work in. Anyway. When the vehicle was finished, I looked and there were huge gobs of grease on the lip at the top of the coil spring buckets. It looked like the mechanic had scooped a bunch of grease out of the tub and just scraped his hands clean there - on both sides of the truck. They also said they didn't hear any abnormal noise. As I drove down the road, I heard the noise. So I turned around and went back, steaming mad. I got the service manager to ride with me. Before we got off the lot, he said " You need u-joints." So we went back. I also complained about the mess and told him I wanted a different mechanic working on my truck and I wanted the front wheel bearings re-checked to make sure they actually got done and done properly. They made good. But I was always skeptical after that.

Another newer dealer in that area many years later won my praise. I had a 1990 F350 crew cab with 7.3l diesel that developed a starting problem. I ruined a starter and set of batteries dealing with it. One day I went to this new dealer to ask about the problem. The service Mgr explained that there was a tiny check valve that would go bad. That let the fuel drain back to the tank over night and make it nearly impossible to start in the mornings. It would work great throughout the day. He gave me a quote for repairs and also to me it would be easy to replace myself. So I bought the check valve, went home, replaced it and never had another issue with that truck. That, to me, was good service.

I have since worked with some fine men that previously worked at dealer service departments. After hearing what that job is like, I have even more respect for all the good dealership service techs out there.

Myself and my family have had more bad/shady experiences with dealers than good ones, so I have no problem painting them with the same general brush. Its just my experience, that can't be rightly discounted. Women get it the worst.

Dealers being scumbags certainly isn't a hard and fast rule.. but a little paranoia induced caution when dealing with someone who stands to gain quite a bit by pulling the wool out of your ass isn't a bad thing.

 

[Curious Hound]

Myself and my family have had more bad/shady experiences with dealers than good ones, so I have no problem painting them with the same general brush. Its just my experience, that can't be rightly discounted. Women get it the worst.

Dealers being scumbags certainly isn't a hard and fast rule.. but a little paranoia induced caution when dealing with someone who stands to gain quite a bit by pulling the wool out of your ass isn't a bad thing.

That's no better than saying all Iraqis are scumbags or all Muslims are scumbags or all Rottweilers are vicious. It's that kind of unwarranted generalization that creates problems.

 

[Dirtman]

All tires are round.