Hole Drilled in Intercooler Fixes EcoBoost Misfire

UPDATE: A year and a half and 45k miles later, this truck has 227k miles and hasn’t had a single problem since.

This is definitely one of the most interesting fixes I've done. The owner of this 2011 Ford F-150 EcoBoost truck with 182,000 miles had a very intermittent misfire problem that only occurred when accelerating onto a highway. The problem ended up being water collecting in the intercooler (charge air cooler) as was being pushed into the intake when under high boost conditions.

After extensive research on the Ford forums, I finally decided to bite the bullet and drill a 3/32" hole in the driver side of the intercooler directly underneath the post intercooler pipe connection, which is the lowest point on the intercooler. A ton of water and oil came out when the hole was first drilled. A year and a half and 45,000 miles later, he hasn't had a single misfire since.

Really cool fix. If you drive your EcoBoost easy for the fuel milage, but experience a misfire when you step on it to accelerate onto an interstate, try drilling on hole in the side of your intercooler. The only side effect is oil residue underneath the intercooler. But if you can live with that, go for it.