My 1997 7.3 is really getting old and I'm looking at a 2008 F-350 with a 6.4 Liter diesel 3.73 rear end SRW. I need the truth and nothing but the truth about what to expect from the 6.4 Liter. Give me the low down before I put the cash down.

Your responses are appreciated!

I do not own one, but was considering buying an 08 F-250 with the 6.4 in it, but did not. I can share with you all the info I found out when doing my research. To sum up all that I learned, Ford has been having a lot of trouble with their diesels since since they strayed away from the old mainstay 7.3L. The 6.0
L, which took the 7.3's place, was a disaster; plaqued with compression problems and not delivering the horsepower and fuel economy it was supposed to. In addition they are said to have been extremely sensitive to even slightly dirty fuel and air filters which robbed them of of performance that was already lacking. Can't remember if 07 or 08 was the first year they went to the 6.4. Seems like 08. This is supposedly what the 6.0 was supposed to be. They seemed to have ironed out the compression problems, but again fuel mileage was something like 6-8MPG far lower than the Duramax or Cummins from GM and Dodge. I didnt do much more research on the 6.4 to see if it was still sensitive to air/fuel filters after hearing about the MPG.
This again just info I gathered talking to several owners, visiting internet chat rooms, and talking to a couple of diesel mechanics.

Honestly I would wait another month or two and find an 09 still on the lot. Thats what I did and they will be anxious to move them.

Hope this helps.

Adam

adamhunter is right on.

The company I work for has been running Ford F-250 4x4 diesels for years. The 7.3L is the by far the best. I have been in a 2006 F-250 6.0L and just this morning after 138000 miles, it started blowing smoke from coolant getting past the head gaskets. I BABIED that truck. Every one of the other 6.0s didn't have half that mileage before going in the shop for the same problems. We do pull some very heavy loads which had a lot to do with it.

As for the 6.4s, we have had lots of problems with the ones that first came out. It was horrible. A couple trucks went back to the shop 3 times in the first two months after purchase for various problems. The 6.4L is a self-cleaning engine. You cannot add fuel treatments and when the engine decides to clean itself, Ford advises you to pull to the side of the road and let it complete this process. We have purchased a few Duramax 6.6Ls and had no problems so far. But, I'm a firm believer in waiting a few years after a new engine comes out before Ford works out MOST of the problems. I think it's still too early to buy a 6.4L. If it were me, and I had my heart set on the 6.4L, I would get to know a good diesel mechanic. He'll have to stay up to date with changes in the engines and won't feed you a bunch of shit like the dealership will.

For what it's worth, I'm a Chevy man. If I was buying straight off the lot, from experience, I'd buy Chevy. But, if my company decides to fix my truck and sell it, I'll make them an offer. It's still a damn good truck.

My brother in law had the 6.0 and traded it in for the 6.4 when they came out. His truck will run like a scalded dog, but he can't pass up a diesel stop either. Fuel mileage is TERRIBLE on these things, and diesel isn't getting any cheaper. You could always find a newer, and well taken care of 7.3.

IMHO, the cummins is the best motor out there. Too bad it comes wrapped in a Dodge.

I have an '03 Duramax right now, and have been pretty happy with it, but I'm about to have to replace injectors, which are both over-priced, wear out far too quickly, and are a major PITA to change. I could change my old 7.3's injectors for a few hundred bucks and two hours of my time. Now, I'm going the bargain route with rebuilt injectors for the bargain price of $1400, and a days worth of my time, with help from my other brother in law, who was a diesel mechanic in the Marine corps. Sorry for getting off topic a bit, I needed to vent...

www.dieselregistry.com

They are not real high on the ford or gmcs.
The latest iterations from ford have a dual turbocharger system that can charitably be described as a nightmare. I have a Dodge Cummins so I am a bit prejudiced. The neat thing about the Cummins, it's a real diesel engine. You can get parts and service for it anywhere, so you are not tied to Dodge. Of course, the fact that I have only been to the Dodge dealer for maintenance, not repairs or recalls is a plus. I have the 2004.5 version that came out with the 325 horse, 600ft/lbs of torque midyear package. 17-18 in town and 20-22 on the road.

Rich

Unfortunately government involvement has set back any improvements a diesel engine gave small trucks. As a 7.3 owner I would look over the gas offerings before buying a diesel.

Agreed! However, I own a good one, and I may be atypical in that I intend to keep this one until I die. Service life is 350-400,000 miles. That will take me about another twenty years.

Rich

The problem we have in the north east is the engine is running strong but the truck is rotted away. I am running a few vehicles at around 250,000 miles and there is not much left of them.

yeah, salting the roads will do that. Luckily we just have sand here to spread. Oregon and Washington are salters. I saw a very nice 450H/454 Chevelle convertible that was held together with rust in Portland a couple years ago for sale. It just needed a nice AZ body.

Rich

Try here;
http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum169/
thers also a 7.3 forum

And here for Chevy info
http://www.dieselplace.com/forum/index.php?

BTW I have a 99 7.3 ,326,000 mi , 06 Dmax 97,000mi

i go by ottomatic on both of those forums

quote:

Originally posted by 30378:
My 1997 7.3 is really getting old and I'm looking at a 2008 F-350 with a 6.4 Liter diesel 3.73 rear end SRW. I need the truth and nothing but the truth about what to expect from the 6.4 Liter. Give me the low down before I put the cash down.

Your responses are appreciated!

Needed a diesel to haul horses over mountains and, after trying the 3 makes chose the Crewcab Duramax with the Allison transmission (particularly for the Allisons downhill intelligent braking). Am just over 100,000 miles with no problems other than faulty injectors which were replaced under warranty.
Mileage to date is just under 18 mpg for city/highway/hauling.

Whether I would purchase another GM or Chrysler vehicle while these companies are Government run is another question.

We had another 6.0 go down on us today after 155,000 miles. And we have another 6.4 having problems(don't know exactly why yet). It is also being discussed that our company will not buy any more 4x4 Ford diesels. And the two 6.0Ls that are down will be sold as is and not be repaired.

A few co-workers and I were discussing this and an interesting point came up. And I think there may be some truth in it. You know how Honda stopped making the 300 FOURTRAX and most people couldn't understand why, since it was such a great ATV. They came out with the Rancher that has carb problems and electric shift that will eventually give you problems.

Ford did the same thing. The 7.3L diesel is without a doubt the best engine they ever made. All of our 7.3L have over 200,000 miles and still going strong. None of our other 6.0L or 6.4L come close. Do not expect these engines to give the same performance as the 7.3L.

There's a lot of money in repairs so why keep making something that last for so long. Kinda like a lightbulb that never burns out.

My advice would be to keep hold of your 7.3. Which is quite possibly the best diesel engine Ford put in thier trucks. The 6.0 and 6.4's really should have came with at least two spare turbos, EGR valves, and headgaskets. Like stated above, the in-line Cummins is prolly the best diesel out. But I'd never lower myself to buying a Dodge. Hehe.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Cockerman77:
The 6.0 and 6.4's really should have came with at least two spare turbos, EGR valves, and headgaskets. QUOTE]

Very true

240,000 on my Duramax. I've replaced a few sets of tires, 1 alternator, waterpump, and a hub assm. Pretty good service for a 2500HD 4x4. I don't think I could justify replacing it with a Fordge.
Butch

I have an 08 F250 with the 6.4. I've owned it 3 years and have about 58000 on it. I had a 7.3 previously and was going to buy a new 6.0 that was on my dealer's lot before the 6.4s hit the showrooms, but was talked out of it by the dealer (who is a friend).

Comparing the 6.4 to the 7.3 is not a fair matchup for the 6.4. My old 7.3 had quite a bit more power and got significantly better fuel mileage.

My 7.3 got around 15 mpg average and as much as 21 on the freeway, with not much drop off while towing. The new 6.4 gets a combined average of 11.5 MPG, 15 on the freeway and about 11 when pulling any sort of load.

The new 6.3 isn't a dog by any means, but it just can't pull the same hills under load that the 7.3 could.

That said, overall the 2008 truck is far superior to the older truck. The seats are more comfortable, the ride is far better, the cab is significantly quieter, and it just feels like a much better built truck. There are no rattles or squeaks like my old truck had.

I haven't had nay real problems with my 6.4 at all. The radiator (or some part of it) was recalled, and the computer had to be re-flashed, but both of those were handled when the truck was at the dealer for maintenance anyway.

The regen cycle is very annoying. You lose power, it smells like hell and the first few times you will swear that something is wrong with the engine.

Not sure if it is just my specific truck, or if it is a common thing, but my truck seems to run like crap when nearing the end of oil life. Even my wife notices that once I get around 8000 to 9000 miles past the last oil change. It runs rough and sounds different. If my wife can notice it, you know it's there, because she knows nothing about cars and just drives the hell out of them until the wheels fall off.

The owner's manual recommends a 10K change interval, and I use synthetic oil and change the filter every 5000 miles. Who knows what the heck it is, but I can tell without looking at the odometer when I am nearing 9000 miles by the way the truck runs.

If I could have gotten the new truck with my old engine (7.3), I would have been in hog heaven.

I just changed the oil on my cummins yesterday.I change the oil myself with some help from my brother.I used 11 quarts of Amsoil 5w-40 diesel oil and three cans of molly slip.I love my Dodge so far.The only thing it's missing is a renewal to the sattelite radio subscription so I can listen to my favorite channel-soul town channel 53.

6.4 is a POS on a good day. My service writer says there in one constantly in for something. They are supposed to be improved from the originals but still not that great.

The 2011s are getting on the lots already....yet another new motor, if you want to be a guineau pig. LOL

I've got a '01 F250 PS Diesel, 215,000 plus, finest diesel on the road at the time !!!!!
I've add an AFE stage II intake and a 4" Magnaflow, cat. back.
Lots of gittee up and go and 20 or so combined city hwy driving if I keep my foot out of it

Some of the 6.0 were OK at best, some were junk.

THE BEST THING FORD COULD DO WOULD BE TO BRING BACK THE 7.3 THEIR BOTTOM LINE WOULD REALLY GO UP THEN!!!

If I was buying a new diesel right now, I'd go get a Dodge.

quote:

Originally posted by RVL III:

THE BEST THING FORD COULD DO WOULD BE TO BRING BACK THE 7.3 THEIR BOTTOM LINE WOULD REALLY GO UP THEN!!!

Couldn't agree more!

quote:

Originally posted by RVL III:

f I was buying a new diesel right now, I'd go get a Dodge.

I wish I could get a pickup with a Dodge Motor, Chevy Transmission and Ford Body and Cab. THAT would be ideal.