Looking at a 2008 F250 6.4l

[rowekmr]

I am looking at a 2008 F250 King Ranch with 90k miles that is stock and will get a 3 year bumper to bumper Ford warranty. I know these engines had issues with front covers, valvetrain, and making oil (anything else?). I was only going to keep it a few years that I need it under warranty so any issues would be fixed wouldn't cost me more than the deductible. Many say these have to be deleted for durability reasons but because of the warranty I can't do that. How well (or bad) do these run stock if it's driven regularly, the maintenance is kept up, fuel kept clean and proper (Ford) parts are used?

I tried to search for past threads but nothing comes up with I enter 6.4l or 6.4 in the search box.

Thanks

[6_7_tow_rig]

I can only speak from my own personal experience with my 6.4. It was junk. Injectors, radiators, rear main seal, and a never ending regeneration issue that could never be figured out. At 36k miles I traded it in because I couldn't take it anymore. I was a Ford guy up to that point and it I just simply can't recommend that engine to you.

[dodge_guy]

1jeep wrote:

dodge guy wrote:

1jeep wrote:
I don't recall stating that an oasis report will show what is currently wrong with the truck but it should show what ford has done.

You don't need an Oasis report to know what is wrong with it! If the engine is a ford diesel and has a 6 anywhere in it, avoid it!!!!

really so now your insinuating that the 6.7 is also to be avoided...guess your the expert...its not like I own one.

No, just a good rule of thumb! sure maybe the 6.7 is OK, but I`de rather not take any chances.

[1jeep]

dodge guy wrote:

1jeep wrote:
I don't recall stating that an oasis report will show what is currently wrong with the truck but it should show what ford has done.

You don't need an Oasis report to know what is wrong with it! If the engine is a ford diesel and has a 6 anywhere in it, avoid it!!!!

really so now your insinuating that the 6.7 is also to be avoided...guess your the expert...its not like I own one.

[dodge_guy]

1jeep wrote:
I don't recall stating that an oasis report will show what is currently wrong with the truck but it should show what ford has done.

You don't need an Oasis report to know what is wrong with it! If the engine is a ford diesel and has a 6 anywhere in it, avoid it!!!!

[Flashman]

Why mess with Ford diesels at all - they are POSs - do a Chevy or a dodge - both are good engines.

[1jeep]

I don't recall stating that an oasis report will show what is currently wrong with the truck but it should show what ford has done.

[goducks10]

1jeep wrote:
if it is at dealer ask for the oasis report, this will show what ford has done and if the radiator has been replaced.

I deleted mine because I couldn't take any more of the loss of power when it did a regen.

You'll need more than an Oasis report. Back about 6+ years ago I was looking at a super clean 2005 F350 Lariat 6.0 owned by an elderly gentleman with 41,000 on it. I had the Oasis report done and all it showed was that the turbo was replaced and various maintenance stuff.
However I was opting for the Ford extended warranty and needed to have an inspection done before the warranty approval. The inspection (At a Ford dealer) revealed 2 codes and a bed plate leak. One code was for a glow plug and the other was a crank sensor. Those two weren't much, but the bed plate was. Since all 3 items weren't going to be covered under the extended warranty I passed on it.
Bottom line is get an inspection.

[rowekmr]

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. Can I ask how much of your problems were caused by the actual (poor) design or manufacturing of the drivetrain vs techs who really didn't know what the problem was or improperly diagnose the issues?

Lumpty wrote:
I had a '10 6.4 King Ranch. Beautiful truck. The bitterest taste of lemon. Ford bought it back after 18 months, 24,000 miles, and $20,000+ of warranty work. It was a turd. Short block replacement, one new turbo, transmission rebuild, and they never did figure out why it had a loss of drive problem while towing doing a 5 to 4 downshift. That was always reassuring trying to get the trans to reengage a gear, any gear, when you've pulled out to pass or started up a hill. The '11 6.7 replacement was as reliable as the 6.4 wasn't. Just traded that on a '16 F150, as I really don't need a big honkin' diesel to tow my 7,500lb 20' car trailer, and while that 6.7 had given me no issues, it was about to go out of powertrain warranty and after the 6.4 experience, a diesel going bad can get terrifyingly expensive to fix just like that. No more stinky trucks for me.

[rowekmr]

Wow 3 engines that's the worst story I have heard this far! What were the causes of the engine failures? What were the symptoms of the issues? Were the engines locked up or did they just replace them instead of repairing what was wrong? Was yours stock or did it have mods? I'm just trying to understand what happened.

COnative wrote:
"Thanks everyone for their experiences/opinions. From what I gather you have to really be on top of the maintenance and I learned the radiators are known weak spots. This one is really clean, rust free and I have a soft spot for King Ranches. I am not sure if I will get this one still researching thanks for the input and keep it coming."

Even if you are on top of the maintenance they are still a complete nightmare for some people. Mine went through 3 engines in under 55,000 miles. THREE! I had it for 3 years. Every year it was in the dealer for 3 months getting short blocks, long blocks, HPFP and new fuel rail lines, gas tanks, the list goes on... I went above and beyond on the maintenance. It was used mostly for towing with limited short trips. Mine was the Lariat plus, beautiful truck, but looks can be deceiving. King Ranch could be King Headache... I wouldn't take one if you gave it to me!

[COnative]

"Thanks everyone for their experiences/opinions. From what I gather you have to really be on top of the maintenance and I learned the radiators are known weak spots. This one is really clean, rust free and I have a soft spot for King Ranches. I am not sure if I will get this one still researching thanks for the input and keep it coming."

Even if you are on top of the maintenance they are still a complete nightmare for some people. Mine went through 3 engines in under 55,000 miles. THREE! I had it for 3 years. Every year it was in the dealer for 3 months getting short blocks, long blocks, HPFP and new fuel rail lines, gas tanks, the list goes on... I went above and beyond on the maintenance. It was used mostly for towing with limited short trips. Mine was the Lariat plus, beautiful truck, but looks can be deceiving. King Ranch could be King Headache... I wouldn't take one if you gave it to me!

[Lumpty]

I had a '10 6.4 King Ranch. Beautiful truck. The bitterest taste of lemon. Ford bought it back after 18 months, 24,000 miles, and $20,000+ of warranty work. It was a turd. Short block replacement, one new turbo, transmission rebuild, and they never did figure out why it had a loss of drive problem while towing doing a 5 to 4 downshift. That was always reassuring trying to get the trans to reengage a gear, any gear, when you've pulled out to pass or started up a hill. The '11 6.7 replacement was as reliable as the 6.4 wasn't. Just traded that on a '16 F150, as I really don't need a big honkin' diesel to tow my 7,500lb 20' car trailer, and while that 6.7 had given me no issues, it was about to go out of powertrain warranty and after the 6.4 experience, a diesel going bad can get terrifyingly expensive to fix just like that. No more stinky trucks for me.

[1jeep]

if it is at dealer ask for the oasis report, this will show what ford has done and if the radiator has been replaced.

I deleted mine because I couldn't take any more of the loss of power when it did a regen.

[rowekmr]

Thanks everyone for their experiences/opinions. From what I gather you have to really be on top of the maintenance and I learned the radiators are known weak spots. This one is really clean, rust free and I have a soft spot for King Ranches. I am not sure if I will get this one still researching thanks for the input and keep it coming.

[1jeep]

I had a 08 6.4, if it is stock the best thing you can do is delete it! I am not a fan of doing this but once mine was deleted it went well past 100k miles without an issue. I only sold it because I needed a crew cab truck and it wasn't.