Typical problems for the 6.4?
 

I currently own a 2006 F250 with the 6.0 engine. I have decided that I should have purchased an F350 dully so am looking at my options. I have just recently discovered (I’m late to the party I know) that the 6.0 has wide spread problems with the oil cooler, EGR cooler and head bolts. So I am thinking about trading to the 6.4 F350 rather than staying with the 6.0. Does the 6.4 have any similar problems that I should be aware of?

6.4 does not suffer from EGR issues or oil cooler issues and head bolts.

It will suffer from an EGR issue perhaps with alot of extended idling unless you do a high idle mod.

Be aware the 6.4 does have EGR and now also has the DPF (diesel particulate filter) to trap soot. that can or not be problematic. Depends upon your usage.

The dpf requires cleaning as part of the drive cycle. Could be anywhere from 50 miles to over 600 miles depending upon usage/load/fuel quality ect.

You have to drive it to clean it. It uses an injection of raw fuel sent down the exhaust into the dpf to super heat it and burn the trapped soot off. Then that soot turns to ash which is harmless to the enviroment.

So that makes for a clean tailpipe in the the 08 and diesels.

This sytem can be an issue if you are a city or low speed driver.

Another though here is commuting or short drives. This motor works best and will have fewer issues with longer operations then with shorter ones. Getting hot and staying there is better for this motor.

So...how do you plan to use this if purchased?

I use my truck to pull my 10,000 lb 5th wheel RV about 2-3 times per year and a little bit of yard work here and there. But mostly it is my daily driver. Going to work and back is a 16 mile trip on the highway each way. The reason I would like to move to the 350 is so that when I upgrade to a larger 5th wheel RV, I will not be limited by the truck.

Hwy miles are good. I think you would be ok then and be able to keep it from giving you issues.

I would also note that in stock trim an F350 6.4, ha rather any 6.4 truck will get mileage you are not expecting, and in a bad way, compared to your 6.0

Popped radiators, complete fuel system failures, cracked pistons, poor fuel mileage, cavitated front covers (4 and 550's), are just the few I can think of. Run great when deleted and tuned and are more reliable.

I was not aware of that. Good information.

Are these wide spread problems? I don't mind to inhance parts of the engine but I would most likely not delete anything.

typical mpg's are all over the map.

I get about 13 city and 16--17 hwy empty

radiator don't outright fail. Issue is the seams start to leak. Was a totally wide spread problem that is much better now. Will never leave you on the side of the road.

I have 60K and my orginal radiator and I tow heavy all the time.

Fuel system on anything with Common Rail High Pressure systems are sensitive. Water will trash it in a hurry.

Monthly drains and fuel filter changes at 10K are a must. Get fuel from high volume places will help.

I'd say, other than the emission system being troublesome on some of the 6.4s, the biggest wide-spread complaint is the fuel economy.

My truck is in the shop now with 62k miles having the fourth rad installed. The last one was in May but the one before that was Feb and we replaced the lower hose and t-stats for $560.

Today, I got the call that this replacement is covered under 12/12 warranty. Then he said, "since your hoses have been taken off and on so much, they're showing wear so we recommend changing them.....for.....$527". I asked them to reuse the hoses since my 450 will be here in four weeks. I hate to leave it for the next guy, but if history repeats itself he'll be replacing the rad in 12-15k miles anyway. :-X19

If you want a 6.4, look for a '10 model--best chance of minimum problems. I would purchase another one based on the performance of my 450.
Joe

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...el-towing.html

I found a long discussion on the capacity of your current truck last year. It seemed to be the general consensus was that you should still have 4-5k lbs before you overload your current truck which could net you a larger toad with no issues. I only referenced it because you got me wondering as to the capacity of your current truck. Googled (verb----lol) it and this was the 3rd link.

I have seen all the issues above with 6.4 and also seen them go on and on with no issues. All of the ones I am around are heavily loaded and spend a large part idling-high idle but still idling. 4 originally- 2 have died( high mileage/hours) and 2 others keep on, one of those had an engine failure under warranty at low miles. All are 08 models and all have had the radiator put in them. Most only one time. Sometimes fuel system issues can be a nightmare with some dealers when it comes to proving that there was no contamination.

I am not a big mod person either but I think if I were to get one, I would delete the DPF and get the tuner that will allow it to run once its gone. Most have done it are reporting an increase in fuel mileage. No first hand experience with that one though.


All that being said, of the 4-they still had less engine issues than the 6 liter trucks we have that do not work as hard. no egr/oil cooler/ or any of those issues. Less fuel mileage though but reliabilty is equally important for the job that they do. Our 6.0 trucks did not deal with the idle time they have to endure as well as the 6.4 trucks do.

Whats different on the powertrain of the 10 that the 08 was lacking?