Thinking about a Ford F350

I recommend checking over on thedieselstop.com.

They are known to have few problems but the biggest complaint I have personally heard from people I have met is about the poor fuel economy.

I will tell you I had a very bad experience with my 08 Powerstroke. Bought new in March of 08. Shortly there after I had the well known radiator issue/recall. It was replaced under warranty. I then had the #3 injector go bad and was replaced. Had a rear main seal then two more injectors. All the while it had a random regen issue that could never be fixed. It would fog out traffic around me with occasional grey smoke. It was embarrassing. To boot the thing got atrocious fuel mileage and when pulling was no better fuel mileage wise than my F-150 was. When it wasnt in the shop it was nice. Plenty of power and decent ride. It just got to the point that I knew my warranty was coming to an end and there is no way I could afford to own a truck that required the cab to come off to do major engine work. Do yourself a favor and stick with another GM diesel or a Dodge. The new 6.7 Ford may be better but I haven't kept track of them due to swearing off Ford diesels for life because of their cab off design for work.

I've always liked Ford and in 2008 we were going to buy one but after hearing about all the problems they were having with their diesel bought a Chevy. But tomorrow we are planning on buying a 2013 or maybe a 2014 350, not sure which one at the moment. I think they have solved the problems they had.

Personally I would give the 6.4 a miss. It may be better than the 6.0 for reliability but Ford does not have pending litigation against International Harvester (who made the 6.4) for nothing.
The 6.7 diesel seems to be doing OK EXCEPT for the very few reports of Ford not covering High Pressure Fuel Pump issues.
GM uses the same pump and has seen similar very low failure rates, but IS reported to be honoring the warranties.
If you're looking for a 2008 1-ton, I strongly suggest you reconsider a Duramax. Very few issues with that vintage.

As a former owner of 6.7 Ford, I recommend you stick with a DuraMax. The 6.7, while "maybe", a bit better than the previous post 7.3 diesels, has not been fully vetted. Many owners from the Ford forums are reporting they are considering dumping their 6.7's before the warranty expires.

The 6.7 HPFP problem, while relatively small in numbers, strikes without warning and takes out the entire fuel system. The cost to repair is over $10,000.00 and Ford requires Field Service Engineer(FSE) inspections on all HPFP repairs...and warranties are denied until owner can prove he did not cause the failure.

The Diesel Fuel Conditioning Module, fuel filter assembly to the wondering, is about useless. It does not trap emulsified water and requires almost 8 ounces of water in its trap before it turns on the Water In Fuel(WIF)light. If you do get a WIF message, and your HPFP fails, the WIF event has been recorded in non-volatile memory forever and your warranty is gone.

Keep in mind that in the Bosch CP4 world, all manufacturers are seeing above normal numbers of complete HPFP failure. Porsche uses the same pump in their expensive Cayenne SUV.Prse has publicly stated that the CP4 is "delicate". Audi uses the CP4 in their diesels as well. The y called the pump fragile. VW, the nexus of the ongoing NHTSA investigation into CP4 pump failures, has settled with NHTSA for the time being. They were told by NHTSA to either fix them all to 100,000 miles with no questions asked or face recall on them all.

Then, we get to GM and Ford. They use the same Bosch CP4 pump. Their answers, under oath to the NHTSA, show nearly identical failure rates. They numbered in the hundreds for each manufacturer and that was over a year ago. The difference, GM has warrantied all of their failures...Ford routinely denies their failures. This is indisputable...just look at the Ford boards and the GM boards. Many complaints about Ford warranty...when the Moderators leave them up and not one complaint anywhere about GM failures...

All in all...Too many negatives for me...I traded mine for a DuraMax...very happy...

Regards

My 08 6.4 didn't skip a beat for over 72K towing a 15K fiver for over 54K of that. Average fuel mileage towing was 8.4.

Your wise doing your homework. You might also check the Ford forums for lots of information.

Here is one of my favorite posts on the 6.4 PSD.

Good Luck

I have a 08 F350 super duty with the 6.4. This is, without question, the finest truck I have ever owned. Not one issue on this truck in the six years I have owned it.

I pull a 28' TT and my average mileage is 9.1(manually figuring).

In short, I could not be happier with the truck.

I would not recommend the 6.4 L PSD. Fuel mileage is poor. Very Poor. While it is better than the 6.0L, radiator, injector issues as well as some others do seem to be a problem in many of them.

As other have noted, the GM Duramax of that era is a better choice. Or the Cummins RAM. Or step up to the 6.7 PSD if you really want a Ford.

I have a few Ford tech friends that I chat to about engines.

Almost everyone I talk to said they would rather have a 6.0 than a 6.4. :E Now that is saying something!

Just some of the common problems they talk about:

Fuel pump problems which takes out the whole fuel system to the tune of 10K+.

Radiator problems. Many more than one, some 4+.

Making oil problems.

Rocker arm failures.

Catastrophic engine failures.

Turbo failures.

But, as they say, it's your money and your gamble. :)