rbohm

ok i checked my average fuel economy on the trip odometer, still on my first tank of gas, and i am averaging 20.5 mpg at this point. all city driving.

"eating" head gaskets usually indicates excessive cylinder pressure for a number of reasons. starting with detonation, excessive boost pressure, lean fuel mixtures, overheating, poor head and block preparation upon the first gasket replacement, IE no machine work to make sure the gasket surfaces are flat and properly prepared. i dont remember if the ecoboost engines are open deck designs or not, but if they are then the cylinders need to sit proud of the out edge of the block by a couple thousandths to get proper sealing. if you still have issues with head gasket sealing, then one option is to use an old racers trick of "O" ringing the block or head and using stainless steel wire rings to really seal the head gasket. as for the strut issue, what struts are you using? what kind of driving are you doing? junk struts and lousy roads means more replacement of shocks and struts.

not advisable to drill holes in the intake, even small ones. all you would need is for a screw to fall out and cause a vacuum leak that would throw codes that would be hard to find. as for cleaning the intake valves, the way ford technicians recommend is removing the head and pulling it apart and using a wire brush to clean the valves. that is most effective way to do it that cause the least problems. others have removed the intake while the engine is warm so they could scrape the backside of the valves and vacuum out the resulting debris. if you do this they suggest a warm engine and NO cleaner, except a vacuum cleaner to remove the debris. and CRC has a new chemical out for cleaning GDI intake valves, that according to one video on youtube does s good job of cleaning the valves. but you have to follow the directions on the can to the letter. at this point i think any of the three are acceptable, but be very careful when using chemicals to clean the valves with while the engine is running, as you can cause problems in the turbo and the catalytic converter. so the best way is likely the first way. if you want to keep your car on the road as long as possible, then grab a good head from the salvage yard and clean those valves up, might as well do a valve job while there, and make sure the head gasket surface is nice and flat for what ever gasket you will use. and swap heads when you are ready to do so.

usually unless the turbo is coming apart and scattering shrapnel in the motor, you basically just lose power. if the seals are coming apart though, and you are getting oil into the combustion chambers, the intake valves will carbon up and creat a restriction in the port, also costing you power. at that point the head needs to come off to clean the valves.

also noting that this is late, but i just bought my escape, 2016 titanium 2.0 ecoboost, so i have no basis for fuel economy yet. i will check my trip meter and see what it says though next time i am out in the vehicle.

i had an 05 grand marquis that i traded in on my escape. before that an 82 fairmont, and before that a 98 taurus wagon.

a 2016 escape titanium fwd 2.0 ecoboost motor. i want to get it down about 2" all around. thanks