Forum Discussion

ib516's avatar
ib516
Explorer II
Nov 11, 2018

Tell me your horror stories (Diesel)

Ok, so browsing through the thread about the 2011 Ford diesel left me in shock. Seems like there were many issues with the early builds of that engine. I know the Cummins and Duramax of that generation had their own issues (mostly emissions related?).

How are the newest gen Ford 6.7L diesels holding up (2015+)?
Are their similar stories for the Cummins and Duramax in the latest gen (2014+)? I know the Cummins has been 370hp/800tq for a while (in the 2500), have they worked out the kinks in that one? Are failures common? I only know one guy with a 2014 Ram 6.7L Cummins SRW 3500. He has had plenty of recalls and was losing coolant a while back, but I think that was the famous water pump issue. He has had no serious issues. His is a 370hp/800tq version with a 68RFE auto. But that's a sample of 1 which is pretty meaningless.

I went with a 6.4L Hemi last time I was shopping as it suited my needs better and frankly, I was scared away from diesels (all of them). At that time, my research told me they weren't worth the gamble. What I mean by that is their superior towing performance wasn't worth it to me when they could cost me tens of thousands to repair if they failed, and they were all (my opinion) having reliability issues in the 2011 to 2013 time period. I thought they were mostly pesky ones to do with emissions, but I'm just not into check engine lights on new trucks.

Are the diesels getting better? Should I put them back on my shopping list for my next new truck?

I'll likely be towing under 10k GVW, and it'll likely be a TT around 30'. I do want to log some miles though, and that will include some long distance touring (cross Country type).