Just got my latest Blackstone report and reviewed my records so thought I'd post the info I've got updating my previous post with additional information on my overall experience with my 6.4 thus far.

For those without time or patience to read my previous post here's a short summary.

This is an F350 Lariat 6.4L Crew Cab, Long bed, SRW, 5 speed auto, 3:55, 18" wheels.



The truck is bone stock except for the addition of a bedliner, Leer camper shell, and an Edge Insight. I picked up the truck in Portland at the end of last June and drove it home to Anchorage, Alaska with a two week stopover in Juneau, Alaska to put my boat back in the water after some maintenance. Drove the truck a bit in Alaska last summer towing a small travel trailer (@2500 lb), but the truck was not my daily driver.

<O</OAt the time I bought the truck, having done lots of research and learned a great deal about the potential issues I might encounter with the 6.4 PSD and the cost of routine maintenance and significant repairs, I opted to purchase both:

1. the Ford PremiumCare 7yr/100,000 mile Extended Service Plan (as close to and extended bumper to bumper warranty as I could get) for $2,375; and

2. the Ford Premium 6yr/100,000 mile maintenance plan with 5,000 mile interval service - $2,230 (because I live in Anchorage the truck operates in what is considered "severe duty" conditions, i.e. operation for extended periods below -20 F ambient air temperatures so requires the 5K service intervals.)

Based on my experience so far and continuing to read the costs of service and repair on these trucks I'm glad I bought both the maintenance and ESP plans. The maintenance plan will more than pay for itself over the six years considering the cost of oil changes alone. Add in air and fuel filters, etc. it's well worth the investment for me. I don't have good facilities for working on the truck (changing the oil at -20 F no longer appeals to me) and I'd likely never keep adequate documentation to protect my warranty.

I like the peace of mind from being able to tell Ford it's their responsibility if maintenance wasn't done or done right. Horror stories from others on the cost of major repairs convinces me the extended warranty was worth the cost. But, I could afford the upfront costs so that was of little concern. Then again, if I couldn't afford the upfront cost of a warranty I would have thought twice (or several times over) before investing as much as I spent on this truck.

Most of my driving in this truck has been highway (back and forth between the lower 48 and Alaska twice) with about half of the miles towing a small (@2500 lb) travel trailer and hauling @1000 lb of gear in the bed. Much of the travel has been in mountainous terrain with substantial grades (e.g. within Alaska, the Yukon and British Columbia, the Alaska Highway and the route through Kootenay, Banf, Jasper National Parks, through Grande Prairie, AB, and mountains in lower 48) It's been driven in ambient temperatures ranging from +80 F to -35 F. Ambient operating temperatures would probably average at out @ +30 F.

<OI've used Ford Cetane booster in every tank of fuel. Oil has been changed three times: at 4257 miles, at 7806 miles (to the 5W-40 full synthetic oil required by Ford for operating in the cold conditions here in the winter)and last week for summer operation.

Here's a summary of relevant data:
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Total Miles: 10,505


<O</OOverall MPG: 16.0 MPG

MPG Range: From a low of 11.19 to a high of 26.9.
(I know, I know - I wouldn't believe it either but it's been calculated multiple times and always comes out the same.) Out of 34 fill-ups I've had 4 segments where mileage ran 20 MPG or better and three exceeding 22 MPG.

For 65% of the total miles mileage was between 14 and 16.99 MPG.

For 17% of total miles mileage exceeded 20 MPG.

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Only 6% of total miles was mileage below 13 MPG.<O</O
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In general my experience has been that the Lie-O-Meter has been pretty accurate in giving average MPG. Significant differences between Lie-O-Meter and hand (or computer) calculations have been, I think, primarily related to significant differences in how I filled the tank. Overall I've tried to be consistent when filling the tank but conditions sometimes make that difficult. For example, filling the tank in the dark at -35 F leaves plenty of room for variation in fuel temp/volume and fill accuracy compared to filling at +70 F in full sun. Neither method is perfect. Both give me good approximations over time and end up about the same place.

<O</O
Total fuel used: 629.95 gal (have about 400 miles on current tank so this is incomplete and data on current tank not included in calculations.)

Total fuel cost: $2,106.77

Avg fuel cost: $3.34/gal (This reflects last summer's relatively low diesel prices in the lower 48 - cost of diesel here is currently $3.55/gal and was over $4.00/gal during the winter.)

Fuel & cetane cost: $.21/mile

Regens<O</O
#: I've had 23 regens total in the truck - an average of one every 415 miles with an actual range of from 50 to 1221 miles between regens (I can't explain the long interval unless I failed to notice/log one regen though my Edge Insight makes it hard to miss them.)

Duration: The regens have lasted, on average 17 minutes - though I admit I missed logging duration data on a few. Of those I've logged, duration has ranged from 4 minutes to 40 minutes - the longest occurring during slow speed driving. Regens have dropped Lie-O-Meter indicated mileage from .1 MPG for the shortest regen to 3 MPG (not the longest duration regen - go figure.) Overall regens drop indicated MPG by about .6 MPG.

Temperatures: Normal coolant operating temperature 194 F; engine oil 194 F (usually within a degree or two of coolant temp); transmission oil @ 160 F (not towing); EGT: from @350 F at idle to @650 F at 60 mph (@ 10 PSI boost) but increasing to varying between 900 F and 1350 F during regens.

Oil Analysis:
Data from Blackstone reports indicate that my engine is breaking in nicely. I had 2% fuel in my first sample @4,,257 miles but less than .5% fuel in the most recent sample or in the words of Blackstone "The diesel fuel that turned up in the last sample has disappeared completely here." So, the truck seems to be benefitting from good care and doing well. Comments from the first Blackstone analysis were:

<O</O"This Navistar PSD is looking pretty good for an engine entering the beginning of the wear-in process. the iron, copper and lead level are about what we would expect to see in a new engine, and as this 6.4L matures we'll look for these metals to drop to average. Silicon is from the sealers and gaskets used in the assembly of this engine, and is harmless in this form. We found 2.0% fuel, whie this is at our limit, it will most likely improve next time around. We'd probably change this oil soon, since the extra metals are making the oil abrasive."

I didn't buy this truck to be my daily driver and it hasn't been. But I've decided to give my other truck to a friend who will get greater benefit from it than I do, so this truck will see more around town use in the future. Doubtless my overall mileage will change with increased local non-highway use. But since I'm retired and do only what I want to do I'll still be able to minimize the city driving. It's definitely not a truck I "enjoy" driving in city traffic and some places it just can't go or won't go twice (like into a parking garage at the medical facility where I drove it to get some tests done, which had had a 6' 8" height limit and my shell scraped the top of the entry as I drove in very, very slowly.)

Overall, I'm still very happy with the truck - though, like every other 6.4L owner, I wish the mileage was better. But I'll take the tradeoff of the reduced partiulate emissions and just enjoy the ride. I think, given the experiences of others, I've been lucky in buying my 6.4 after most of the bugs were worked out and I've done the best I can to take good care of it. It has been serviced only by Ford dealers (under the Ford maintenance plan) and my experiences have been good so far with only one minor issue that I'm waiting for Ford Corporate to respond to - regarding a dealer in Coeur D'Alene, ID who charged me $46 extra for using the 5W-40 synthetic REQUIRED by Ford for the severe conditions duty my truck faced during the trip back to Alaska from the lower 48 last November - ambient temperatures ranging from +50 F to -35 F and everything below -20 F from Watson Lake, BC to Anchorage.)

The Coeur D'Alene dealer (Lake City Ford) "policies" were not to use the 5W-40 synthetic oil in changes done under the Ford maintenance plan (without additional charge) since it was not required for the CDA area. They didn't care that my maintenance plan was NATIONWIDE and that the oil WAS required for the conditions my truck was going to operate in. Not yet resolved with Ford but I've talked to a customer service rep (with sympathy but no real resolution to the key issue) and I've now got a letter in to Ford corporate about it.

The response from Ford customer service rep was that Ford disagreed with the dealer but they could do nothing but refer my concern/complaint back to the dealer because the dealer was an independent business not owned or controlled by Ford. A worthless response and not comforting. My complaint is not the $46. That's a non-issue - I spend double and sometimes nearly triple that every time I fill the tank. I'd pay it every time to make sure I had the right oil. My concern is the ability of individual dealers to negate the value of my "North American" maintenance plan based on their individual policies. We'll see, hopefully soon. If a dealer can decide locally what the maintenance plan does and does not cover based on their particular interpretation or local "policies" then the plan (and more importantly the warranty) are basically worth only what an individual dealer says they are.

This is my first automatic transmission. I got the auto in order to have the benefit of the 3:55 rear end (for what I hoped would be better mileage since I don't tow really heavy loads.) If I'd done a bit more research or stumbled on a particular thread earlier I would have probably bought a 6 speed manual transmission with 3.73 gearing. I would prefer the control I'd have and mileage would have been just as good or better. The gearing of the 6 speed and 3.73 rear end would actually be about the same as the 5 speed 3.55 if I calculate it right. But I've found it nice sometimes, particularly around town, to have the automatic. I just wish Ford had the 6 speed auto like the Allison in my hunting partner's GM which just seems to be a great transmission.

I was skeptical of some of the features of the truck that came along with the package figuring I had no use for them and would never use them (Bluetooth, sync, satellite radio) but I've found I DO use them - especially the satellite radio (though it barely works here in Anchorage due to latitude, surrounding mountains, and location of the satellite low on the horizon). But everywhere east and south of Tok, AK the satellite radio works and it's been great to have on long solo drives, as has the iPod connection and Bluetooth/sync with which I've made cell phone calls from all over AK, BC, AB, ID, etc. I got a cell phone on the Verizon network because it gave me the best coverage I could find for the US and Canada.

In buying the truck I specifically avoided the moon roof and navigation systems. After driving my wife's new Subaru Forester LX with a moon roof (couldn't buy one without it) I've decided I might have liked a moon roof in the truck. Don't have an opinion about the navigation system but am beginning to think I might have liked that too.

I hope this information is useful to others. It's about the only way I can repay others for the help they've provided me since I'm not an expert (as others on here clearly are) and would hardly even qualify as what was termed a "shade tree mechanic" when I was a kid.

Would appreciate comments or suggestions on ways I can more fully monitor the truck. Questions about my experience that are unanswered by the above are welcome.

 

Great report! I agree with you about the maintance plan in your circumstances as well.

 

Great post! Also, I remember when you posted about your problems with getting 5w-40 oil paid for with your maintenance plan.

Great job being on top of that, most aren't.

I asked my local dealer up here in Hudson, WI about 5w-40 oil in the wintertime and the service manager said they never use it on the 6.4s, just the 6.0s because they won't start otherwise .

 

Thanks for taking the time to write this up, it is good reading.

 

Brown-Dog, fantastic post with a lot of great information. I must admit that you do make me feel a little guilty for not keeping better records for my truck. I do keep track of oil changes and fuel filter changes, but as for the rest you make me look like a real rookie. Thanks again for the great info. I wish you many happy miles with your truck.

 

Thanks guys for your positive comments.

Note edited (and corrected temperature info). Apparently I need to edit better before posting.

Crazy001 - hard to understand how the dealers in Wisconsin can ignore the Ford requirement for 5W-40 synthetic oil. At least in areas of Wisconsin wheree several of my friends grew up temps commonly reach -20 F and lower for extended periods and would seem to require the 5W-40 synthetic for heavy work/towing. Will be interesting what Ford Corporate says in response to my letter.

My read of all the Ford 6.4L diesel materials I don't really have a choice of NOT using the 5@-40 synthetic if I want to protect my warranty when I'm traveling across areas with wide ranging temps and towing. I could get by with 0W-30 or 0W-40 with just low temp driving without towing. I'd want to use the better oil in any case as it's just a matter of a few dollars to protect the engine.

 

Yeah, I was surprised when he told me that. I'm new to the area, but from everything I've heard -20 isn't unusual up here. The issue with the 6.4L is cold starting. When the oil is that cold it's so thick that it can't be pumped fast enough to protect the engine during startup.

If the engine and oil are kept warm it doesn't really matter if you use 5w-40 or not, but up north unless it stays in a heated garage, that's just not likely.

It's truly amazing how many owners don't bother to read the diesel supplement and owner's guide...

 

As a Master Chief I would have expected more out of you.

 

Tom, in your situation of daily commute and what not it would be pretty easy for you just to keep your 6.4 plugged in when you park, right? I understand it would be nice to go with the winter oil but I'm just saying......

Brown Dog, that's a great post and a fun read.

 

FlyNavy- I retired 3 1/2 years ago after 26 years in submarines and have started to relax a bit now. On a side note, from a safety point of view.......did you realize that there are a lot more airplanes on the bottom of the ocean than there are submarines in the sky?

 

Thank you for your service. I flew P-3s out of Barber's Point and got out in '97 after a training command tour in Corpus Christi. Many times we would fly on our subs. I always thought it was funny that we would have to send you guys a message to turn on some noise makers because we counldn't find you.

I saw several of the airplanes brought up off the bottom of the ocean for accident investigation. RIP guys.

 

Yeah, I looked into that as a substitute for the expensive 5w40 oil. Unfortunately with the vast majority of the oil in the oil pan hung below the block, the block heater will do nothing to keep the oil warm. Would be MUCH cheaper to pay for a bit of electricity than an expensive synthetic oil change!

And at the end of the day, with replacement costs approaching $15K, it's well worth it to follow the manufacturer's recommendations for cold weather operation. If it melts down this winter I plan on giving the dealer no excuse to attempt to deny warranty coverage!