Hello, Long time member with a question, mostly read vs write on the board. Quick question for those with much more knowledge than me.

I am looking at three f250 trucks now, 2 of them are diesels (2008 and 2010) and 1 is a 2008 5.4 L. All are very similiar in crew cabs, 4x4, 6.5 beds. The price is similiar in the 2008s, with 2k difference between the diesel and gas and the 2010 is about 13k higher in price. All have roughly 42k miles. I would like to buy the diesel but am concerned about some of the negatives that I hear about the 6.4 and reliability factor. I am sure you guys have debated this to death on this board but just looking for an insider opinion. I tend to buy trucks every 20 years and not looking to sell this for a while, just dont want to get 6 months down the road and have to pull the cab cz there is a major problem.

The 5.4 is a nice alternative but moving 4 quarter horses may be a problem between nj and wyoming.

I guess my question is are the 6.4 liter problems reported wide spread or are they avg problems reported by people with bad luck in buying trucks? radiator leaks, head gaskets, trans failing, EGRs melting, etcetc.

Thanks in advance.

eric

 

radiator leaks are the most wide spread issue. They don't blow up on you, rather they start to leak at the seams. To date I know of no one that was stranded on the side of the road because of it.

I still have my orginal one.

the other issue is the regen process. Does two things. Tends to make oil in your crankcase unless you are working the motor and the resulting lower fuel ecomony.

I get along fine with mine but It is not my commuter vehicle. I run it and run it hard.

If you look them over carefully and the maintance is all up to date and you are **** on maintance yourself then it is worthy of consideration.

 

Thanks for reply, i would be using this as a daily driver and often wonder if the resale values are lower b/c of the a bad economy and a truck that gets 12-14 mpg and costs alot more than a kia. I will keep up the research and look over all of them with a fine tooth comb. Thanks.

 

how long is your commute and over what kind of roads?

 

If you decide on the 5.4 don't expect better fuel mileage then the 6.4

 

Gas milage is a non issue in trucks this size, in my humble opinion. It takes fuel to move 10k lbs and i am not purchading the truck expecting any great fuel mileage. The commute is roughly 10 miles each way, some slight inclines, nothing major, towing prob 10 x yearly, moving trailers full of 10 gallon potted trees, ( about 800 of them) between our farm and greenhouses, towing horse trailers on occasion. Mh wife will be driving the truck 50 percent of the time and i just want something that i dont have to worry in. Thats the reason i started looking into diesel engines and wanted 300 plus k miles with regular maint. Hope this helps

 

Big thing about the diesels is they need to be worked or lets put it this way. Get up to full operating temps. They love the hwy.

Sounds like you would put it to work on occasion.

 

I would have to say full operating temps should not be a problem, now will we run full boost and spin the wheels, prob never. Just looking for a work horse that can idle for hrs in the field as i load trailers, rip trees out of the ground on our property and can drive my family safe and reliably from nj to the mid west without hesitation.

 

The 6.4 diesel does not like idling. The Ford manual advises against it. Idling the engine tends to plug the DPF Diesel Particulate Filter. Do some internet searches on DPF.

 

That is very good to know, i will look into that, thankyou

 

Not good MPGs, but it pulls lots of weight like a dream. Don't use it as a grocery getter and it'll be reliable. Run it hard, it will serve you well. I bought mine to use as a truck. It's towing or hauling or it's not going. I've got commuter cars that get really good MPG as my daily drivers. Better MPGs would be nice, but as others have noted...I didn't buy it with that as a priority.

 

Yeah, only idle 3-5 minutes at the most and then shut it down. Only idle for an extended period of time in what is a called a high idle mode.

that has kinda changed over the years.

Now if you just come off the hwy and you have been towing then maybe a few minutes longer to let the turbos and stuff cool off but that is about it.

Even with a gas motor I would not idle for an extended period...that is like zero miles to the gallon doing that.

 

It really sounds like you would be best served by a gas truck from what I'm reading here. I have yet to hear of a diesel engine that'll go 300K miles with just regular maintenance. Heck, even the venerable 7.3L engines frequently had issues before 300,000 miles!

I have never heard of a 6.0L that has hit 300K miles without major repair work required, as even if everything goes well it would have needed a turbo, injectors, EGR cooler, EGR valve, possibly an HPOP, and maybe even head gaskets. These are not cheap repairs.

The 6.4L is based on the same platform as the 6.0L, but has some advantages. First the head bolts are a larger size and therefore it rarely lifts headgaskets. At least thus far. The EGR system seems to be better, but it now has two coolers which aren't cheap to replace. The HPFP seems to be very particular about fuel quality, but these sometimes fail even with fuel that tested good. This is a $10,000+ repair at a dealer, as it requires the removal of the cab and complete replacement of all high pressure lines and injectors.

I hate to say it, but this is not the engine for you if you want to be able to idle and not worry about expensive repairs when it goes out of warranty. It's a great engine, but I seriously doubt 300K miles with just regular maintenance. After the warranty period you have to be willing and able to come up with up to $10,000 in the event of catastrophic fuel system failure.

For your use and how long you plan on owning it I would recommend the 6.8L gasoline V10. It doesn't have the torque of the diesel, but it's a proven platform that's much cheaper to repair. These engines will also last to 300K miles if taken care of.

 

Lol, funny you should say that, did somemore research last night and i am agreeing with you about the diesel. The reason i am laughing is bc i just made an appoint to go see an 09 with 13k miles on it with a v10, seems the best fir what we are looking for. Will keep you posted. Thanks again.
Eric

 

in your shoes, I'd be looking really hard at the V-10. My neighbor has an older F-350 with the same size trailer as mine (about 13K lbs) and his V-10 pulls it decent enough. He lags behind me on the hills, but not that big of a deal - you can only tow so fast legally anyway.
You can roll the dice on the radiator problems with the 6.4's, seems like most of them have had a problem or will have a problem. I noticed some drips under my truck, so I traded it in. I loved the truck and the power, but was very dissapointed in the lousey mileage it got.