The cab isnt up. Its just sitting in my driveway. Im not super attatched to this truck in anyway so getting rid of it wouldn't be too much of a problem. I just wish it didnt happen so soon after getting it, or that it happend at all. Ive put a good amount of money into it but dont want to go down that road of bulletproofing it. I think im gonna just cut my losses and see what i can get for it and get a 7.3. The one i had ran really good, had to replace the tranny but besides that she ran good.

 

This happens a lot... The guy that owned the truck before you probably noticed the blow by issue (or had an injector hang open) and tossed the truck at a dealer. Then it falls in your lap and you are stuck with the repair bill.

But as was said above, with the heads on the truck you really have no idea what happened or what the solution is.

 

I have had your exact feeling many times. It is just getting so hard to find a non-beatup 7.3....I always preferred a manual 7.3 too...

 

I agree with all of this except I would never trust a 6.4 more than any 7.3 or 5.9 under any circumstance. Yes, the cummins swap project isn't for everyone in this position, but if you have the capability to deal with the project, I believe you would end up with a very solid, reliable, good mpg and powerful truck.

 

These reports for failure are pretty common with the 6.X engines. These engines were built by international for use in school buses where they did pretty well. Ford put them into the superduty line and applied the latest emmissions technology to them and the rest is history.


you definite do not want to sink money into this....it will continue to cost you big bucks.

 

In a stock platform the 6.4 is not a well configured engine i will agree with that, but it can easily be made just as reliable as any other auto diesel out there.

I remember after the 6.0 came out for a few years and everyone said there nothin to a 12 valve cummings or a 7.3. I also remember when the 12 valve cummins came out and a few years later started dropping engines at less then 80,000 miles from the killer dowel pin issues. Guys figured out how to correct the 12 valve problems, they figured out how to make the 6.0 reliable just like they have figured out the 6.4. Once the problems are identified they can be fixed.

Look i can point out the issues of any of the big three diesels on the market because i have worked on them all but thats not the point. Where fortunate to have a lot of enthusiasts that generally figure the problems out well before the manufacture. Theres even guys re-writting the emission tunes to correct the over fueling issues while keep the emission equipment on and in compliance in a stock platform. We hear very little about this because its not as exciting as the guys doing the performance mods, but never less the products are out there.


I want to point out you do not have to buy a brand new engine from ford and have it torn apart to be bulletproofed. Especially when most outside builders are using a new block and new cylinder heads, you find the guys that are building the engines from the block up. Why pay twice for a engine component thats not being used.

For example here is a machine shop that can build this type of engine.

Diesel Engines | Location & Contact | Parma, MI

They specialize in building engines with longevity vs performance in the mind of the buyer.

IF you purchased a new 5.9 or 6.7 doing a swap you would blow the budget thru the roof, so a 12-15,000 cummins swap is definitely using a used engine of unknown condition which should be pointed out as well. We could bullet proof a used 6.4 engine and still be under budget of a cummins swap with equal reliability.

At any rate i would recommend the original poster exhaust all efforts of research so that an informed decision can be made what to due with the truck.As part of that i would also recommend that as a part of that, the truck be taken to reputable shop that has experience with the 6.4 platform, who can look at the truck as many of the issues and information you have received seem very suspicious that a proper diagnose has been completed outside of hooking up the Ford IDS at best.

 

I think I miss worded my previous statement. Yes I agree that guys like Morgan from Midwest Diesel (one of the most respected 6.4 builders in the country) are a MUCH better alternative to a stock reman replacement. Morgan also offers a warranty with his work...

The funny part about any motor is they all have weak points. The one big draw back with the 6.4 is price and parts availability.

People often forget that almost all of the modern duramax variants have almost as many piston issues. They don't crack pistons but the wrist pins like to work their way out and make love to the cylinder walls. The hpfp failures are the same across the board. A hung injector will destroy any common rail truck. The difference is on a cummins or a duramax the cab doesn't need to go up every time you want to do anything. Both of those platforms also had on going support (that's why we see like 30 billion 6.6 variants) and were not put in place just to finish out a contract... Most people have no idea that Ford was given the 6.4 as a base platform but they cast their own pistons, designed the electrical system, came up with tuning in a very short period of time, and had little to no R&D time with it. Techs had to learn on the fly... If the motor is already out of a truck its not that expensive to upgrade parts on a 6.4 when compared to other motors. Its what you have to do to get to the damn motor that creates so many issues. It also didn't help that the owners manuals didn't properly tell their owners how to maintain their trucks...

The relationship between International and Ford is the reason why the 6.4 crashed and burned. Ford got stuck with half a motor and had to quickly come up with parts...

 

I agree its hard to work on in the truck and that truly is the down fall. With that being said with the right tools there very easy to work on. I have two post lifts at our shop and we can have an engine on the ground in about 2.5 hours on average sometime faster if necessary. I really don't consider that much compared to some other trucks my guys work on. Unfortunately any shop is gonna charge the book rate which is a lot more.....

 

That combined with how long it takes to get parts... That's why a lot of shops don't like working on them, many times once the cab is up they sit for a while (while the customer figures out where to get the money from or when the parts are available).

 

I'm in the same shape. I just bought a 2008 F350 and the 6.4 failed on the highway 400 miles from home. My only option (in my situation) was to do a remand. Have I just pissed away 18K?