The Ford Motor Company 3.5L engine belongs to a family of engines known as Cyclones but are commonly branded Duratec. It is a dual overhead cam six cylinder that first made its appearance in the 2007 model Ford Edge. The 3.5L was used in various Ford models such as the Taurus, Taurus X, Flex, and F-150. Lincoln used the engine in the MKX and MKZ. The 3.5L is rated for 265HP and 250LB FT of torque. In 2011 it was updated to have twin independent variable cam timing to increase the horsepower to 285 and torque to 253LB FT. Current production of the 3.5L engine is by Lima Engine in Lima Ohio.

The 3.5L is an all aluminum engine with an open deck and cast-in liners. It has a bore and stroke of 92.5mm x 86.7mm. Ford uses a forged crankshaft held in by 6 bolt billet main caps. Cooling is provided by oil squirters that have been cased into the block. These squirters are designed to squirt oil on the bottom of the pistons to cool them. It is timing chain driven with two smaller chains running the intake and exhaust cams. In an attempt to reduce noise in 2011 Ford switched the main roller chain to a silent type chain but kept the two smaller chains. Because of the position of the engine within the vehicles it uses, and internal timing chain driven water pump located in the valley.

In 2007 the 3.5L was voted one of the 10 best engines by Ward. It is rated to have a lift expectancy of 200,000 miles. One of the main issues with the 3.5L engine is the fact that the water pump is driven off of the timing chain. This presents and issues because with the water pump being behind the timing cover leaks aren’t as easily visible which can cause cooling issues if the vehicle runs low on coolant and lubrication issues if the coolant begins to substantially mix with the engine oil. The 3.5L is currently still in use but is being downsized to a 3.3L which debuted in 2018 in the F150.