Ford 6.4 diesel?

Winged One wrote:

anaro wrote:
I bought an 09 f250 with the 6.4 used in 2011 with 32,000 miles on it. The truck looked to be in mint condition except for needing a new set of tires. It tows beautifully. It handles my 7000 lb tt like it's not even there. the truck was built to tow. Other than towing capability, This truck has been a huge headache for me. It has been in the shop with all kinds of issues. It smokes really badly during regens (this is a known problem with the 6.4). It does frequent very long regens also (25-30 miles) especially in cold wet weather. After about 4 or 5 trips to 3 dealerships over this, a reprogram was done but it still smokes worse than a campfire made with wet firewood. The transmission feels like it jumps sometimes, no problem found by ford. I can be driving down the highway and it suffers a sudden brief loss of power, 2 dealerships later, still no problem found by ford. It frequently has a very loud roar at low speeds that almost sounds like stepping on the accelerator in neutral. Dealership can't find anything. Took it in for my yearly inspection last month. Had to get a rear axle seal replaced (covered by my extended warranty). They thought it had an oil leak but couldn't Find it. This is only some of the problems we have had. On top of all that, it only has approx 1500 lbs of payload. We are now getting ready to trade it with only 71,000 miles on it for a Silverado. I have since read that if you are looking at a 6.4 you can tell the difference between a smoker and a non smoker 6.4 by looking for soot in the tail pipe.

Mine did similar things (heavy smoke, loss of power, loud roar). Thought it was a smoky regen. Turned out to be a bad #8 injector.

No check engine light. Got a couple of codes myself by using a Hypertech Max Energy Econ programmer that I had. Found the codes it was giving indicating #8 injector random failure.

They haven't been able to find any codes but I have been long suspecting injector problems. A friend of mine had some similar issues with his 6.4 and it ended up being an injector as well.

anaro wrote:
I bought an 09 f250 with the 6.4 used in 2011 with 32,000 miles on it. The truck looked to be in mint condition except for needing a new set of tires. It tows beautifully. It handles my 7000 lb tt like it's not even there. the truck was built to tow. Other than towing capability, This truck has been a huge headache for me. It has been in the shop with all kinds of issues. It smokes really badly during regens (this is a known problem with the 6.4). It does frequent very long regens also (25-30 miles) especially in cold wet weather. After about 4 or 5 trips to 3 dealerships over this, a reprogram was done but it still smokes worse than a campfire made with wet firewood. The transmission feels like it jumps sometimes, no problem found by ford. I can be driving down the highway and it suffers a sudden brief loss of power, 2 dealerships later, still no problem found by ford. It frequently has a very loud roar at low speeds that almost sounds like stepping on the accelerator in neutral. Dealership can't find anything. Took it in for my yearly inspection last month. Had to get a rear axle seal replaced (covered by my extended warranty). They thought it had an oil leak but couldn't Find it. This is only some of the problems we have had. On top of all that, it only has approx 1500 lbs of payload. We are now getting ready to trade it with only 71,000 miles on it for a Silverado. I have since read that if you are looking at a 6.4 you can tell the difference between a smoker and a non smoker 6.4 by looking for soot in the tail pipe.

Mine did similar things (heavy smoke, loss of power, loud roar). Thought it was a smoky regen. Turned out to be a bad #8 injector.

No check engine light. Got a couple of codes myself by using a Hypertech Max Energy Econ programmer that I had. Found the codes it was giving indicating #8 injector random failure.

I had a 6.4 from new and sold with over 64k miles (currently have the 6.7). The difference between 6.7 and 6.4, 1.5 to 2 MPG difference, would be the newer 6 speed transmission and addition of the Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR)to open up the exhaust flow on the 6.7. Only had to replace upper radiator hose on 6.4 due to failed seal - did myslef. I had much respect for the engine and would buy one again. Especially the ease of access to the fuel filters and oil filter on top of the engine versus the the 6.7. Be aware that many folks would install tuners and do DPF/EGR delete to get 500+HP, then blame engine when it puked.

I bought an 09 f250 with the 6.4 used in 2011 with 32,000 miles on it. The truck looked to be in mint condition except for needing a new set of tires. It tows beautifully. It handles my 7000 lb tt like it's not even there. the truck was built to tow. Other than towing capability, This truck has been a huge headache for me. It has been in the shop with all kinds of issues. It smokes really badly during regens (this is a known problem with the 6.4). It does frequent very long regens also (25-30 miles) especially in cold wet weather. After about 4 or 5 trips to 3 dealerships over this, a reprogram was done but it still smokes worse than a campfire made with wet firewood. The transmission feels like it jumps sometimes, no problem found by ford. I can be driving down the highway and it suffers a sudden brief loss of power, 2 dealerships later, still no problem found by ford. It frequently has a very loud roar at low speeds that almost sounds like stepping on the accelerator in neutral. Dealership can't find anything. Took it in for my yearly inspection last month. Had to get a rear axle seal replaced (covered by my extended warranty). They thought it had an oil leak but couldn't Find it. This is only some of the problems we have had. On top of all that, it only has approx 1500 lbs of payload. We are now getting ready to trade it with only 71,000 miles on it for a Silverado. I have since read that if you are looking at a 6.4 you can tell the difference between a smoker and a non smoker 6.4 by looking for soot in the tail pipe.

I've heard experiences on both ends - no serious problems and then nightmares. From what I can tell, if you can establish a good maintenance and repair history (i.e. all of the first and very little of the second) it should be a good example.

Another thing about the 6.4 is it needs to be worked hard. There not good at running around as a grocery getter.

6.7 tow rig wrote:
Here is my personal experience with my 08 6.4. Bought new, and kept it until last year when the 5 year hundred thousand mile warranty ran out. It had 27,000 miles at that time. I got rid of it because the cab had to come off twice for engine repair, I had two injectors replaced, each at different times, a radiator, rear main seal and bedplate and lastly several software updates to attempt to make it quit smoking during regen. All replaced under warranty. I couldn't afford to keep it without warranty so I traded it for a Cummins.

Expect the fuel mileage to be atrocious. Pulling our old camper with it which only weighed about 7000 lbs I was getting 7.5 to 8.5 mpg and averaged 11 empty. When it was running it ran good and had tons of power. I say save the headache and get a Cheverolet or Ram.

just found to the trucks he uses are 011 F-450. not a ford guy so not sure if F-350 would be same cab set up??
don't over ls look the statement here "the cab had to come off twice for engine repair"

my son works for a company that has some of these units. it seems they have to take the cabs off quite a bit. not a huge problem but a lot of work and every time they do one, they have more electrical problems and cab rattle than they had before.

I'm enjoying my 2010 F450 a lot. Most of the serious problems I've read about were on the '08 model years. A lot of the bugs were fixed by the 2010 MY, but there are a couple of upgrades you need to make sure have been done.

Take it to a Ford dealership that has a good Diesel tech and have him inspect the truck for you. It should already have the improved radiator design, but the upper and lower rad hoses that were originally on mine were prone to leak at the rad end until they changed the design (put a second o-ring in I think). If they aren't the new style have them replaced, and make sure a coolant lift is used to refill the system. It's virtually impossible to get all the air pockets out of the cooling system without one.

All of the Ford recalls and campaigns related to the 6.4 should already be on this truck, but the Diesel tech can verify this when he inspects it. Another important one related to the cooling system is the presence of a venturi-tee in the plumbing between the top of the vertical EGR cooler and the degas bottle, should be there already on a 2010, but it should be checked for. I'd consider putting a coolant filter on it.

Unless you can can absolutely verify the past maintenance on the truck I would start fresh with a full fluids and filter replacement. The tech inspecting the truck will need to pull the fuel and oil filters anyway, and with as few miles as it has, it's very possible the filters have never been replaced. The two fuel filters should be pulled to see if there is evidence of water getting past them.

The tech can also check the software level of the ECM and update it if needed.

Regarding the way the engine runs during regen, I wouldn't say mine runs poorly at all. Maybe they did with the early ECM levels, but not at the latest level. In fact, one of the first 6.4 problems I remember reading about was shooting flames out the tail pipe during regen. :E I'd kind of like to have that feature on command, but it's probably hard on the engine. :W It was fixed with a software update. I can usually tell when mine's in regen just by he change in the sound, but the message panel in the dash also tells you when the regen starts. But the fact is, regen or no, when you put your foot in it the engine wakes up and goes.

A useful addition for the 6.4 is a Scangauge, Egge Insight, or similar product that will allow you to monitor outputs from sensors the ECM is using that aren't displayed (or aren't displayed precisely) with the handful of gauges in the dash. Engine coolant temps, exhaust gas temps, tranny temps, voltages, etc. Two very important ones to keep an eye on are the coolant temp (ECT) and oil temp (EOT), and the "delta" between the two. Any more than 15 deg difference between the two when the engine is up to operating temp and under hard sustained loads is a sign of trouble. The ECM monitors that as well, and will limp the engine and turn on the check engine light, but this is one area that I think a little human monitoring and intervention is a plus. An added benefit of the Scanguage (and I assume the similar products as well) is the ability to read trouble codes from the ECM.

While that truck's 5-50 warranty has about a year left on it, the engine and EPA mandated stuff are covered out to 100K miles if I'm not mistaken. Mine's got about 68K on it, and the only problem I've had in the relatively short time I've owned it (2 years) was a EGT sensor failure that was covered by the emissions warranty.

:):)

If you buy it to PULL, you won't be disappointed. I had a '10 F350 6.4L and it was a fantastic towing machine. TRUE, it does like to consume fuel. I towed my 42ft 5th wheel that weighs around 15,500 pounds. Very good truck. The 6.4L loves to be worked very hard. It doesn't like the city driving that much. The regens on it lasted longer than on my current 6.7. The engine braking system actually works better on the 6.4 than on my 6.7. The 6.4s had trouble with oil dilution with fuel, but only if you shut them down continuously during the regen process. If you take good care of it, use only Ford filters and follow the severe duty maintenance regimen, it will be a good truck. My new truck gets better fuel mileage and is a little more smooth, but at times I miss my 6.4. Go over to the Ford Truck forums here and do some reading. They are not a perfect truck by any means, but are there really any of those out there?? Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

A guy at work who has a 09 6.4 uses his truck as a daily driver and who pulls some serious gooseneck trailer with round bails that will make you squirm when seeing it, has over 220k miles on his truck and has only replaced a idler pulley and a pan hard bar on the front suspension.

He doesn't plan on replacing it anytime soon.