I hear good things about the long block in diesel power,diesel world magazines and i hear bad things about people in the "real" world about them,other then the bad fuel economy. I want a newer truck like the 6.4 and i know they r easy to make power but at what cost, how long will they last. Any ideas,comments extra would be great on what u guys got. I guess i should say my goal wouldnt be extreme power, like 500 or so and try to get the best mileage.

 

Trying to get the best mileage should give you something to do for awhile. trying to get reasonable mileage is the goal of lots of folks on this forum. As to the longivity I think most would agree that the jury is still out. I've seen maybe a half dozen on the used market with 150 to 200K on them. The problem is that these trucks have some very expensive problems ($10,000)that can come up and most folks are reluctant to own one out of warranty. The fuel system can cost $10K or so to replace and it is not too hard to mess one up. Problem is most any big repair requires the cab to come off which means secondary shops and DIYs are sort of shut out. There is a ford tech on here who implies that a lot of the stuff that calls for a cab off repair can be done with the cab on. Anyway, you will see a lot of 6.4s on the market with right at 100,000 miles on them as that's when the warfranty ends. There are extended warranties available but I don't know much about them. Welcome to the forum BTW. Search through the treads and you will learn a lot about these trucks in a hurry. Good luck.

 

I hear this cited a lot in this forum, generally by the PSD detractors, and a big deal is made about the cab having to come off. Yet I recall various other sources, and pretty sure at least one tech that's posted here, that any decent shop with a 2 post lift can have the cab off in approximately 1 1/2 hrs. I'd wager that in the overall scheme of semi major engine repairs (or worse), this is a relatively minor portion of the total cost.

 

If you go the take your cab off route then that would be labor costs. So what is the labor cost per hour. for a two hour job?

Not so significant.

Alot can be done with the cab on though.

 

The nice thing about these engines is that allot of the issues with the 6.0 were addressed in the design of the 6.4, so they can take allot of abuse in regards to power. Maintenance is key though on these engines if you want them to last, especially draining the water separator.

I've heard of stock trucks well into the 200K+ range as well as tuned trucks in the high mileage range. You can go with DPF OFF or ON tuning, the favored tuning allows it to breathe better and removes the emissions components but there's no guarantee that it will run longer then any other truck out there. In theory it should, but you never know.

When users have added the huge HP tuning mods, the weak link appears to be the trans rather then the engine.

 

I understand most of what it takes to work on these trucks for the most part. I used to be a tech before the 6.4L came out, more on the auto side, but as any or most techs will agree that the true diagnoses on things is "U" the op and real world trial and error. But I keep hearing these bad things like the motor just blew up and threw valve threw the head ect... I know these engines are one of the easiest to make power on and so on,but at what cost?What i wanna know is what everyones basic mpg,horsepower and what your running for adders ect. I guess its a shot i the dark, half say this the other half say that. I just dont know at this point, I like the looks and everything about the 6.4, but just need more research, and i have been,its just driving me nuts. Thanks for everyones replys and keep them coming please,anything goes.Any knowledge is good knowledge.

 

I get about 13 city and 17 hwy empty. I run the banks 6-gun on level 2 which is just over stock power.

When I tow I generally run in stock power as I tow heavy. 7-9 mpgs usually when towing my 5er.

I can get 11 or so towing flatbed stuff.

 

Mileage for city/hwy has been between 13-15mpg and hwy station to station has been in the 18-20mpg range, all handcalced. Towing is 8-10 but then I don't tow as heavy as Scott.

I too run the Six-Gun and have also been running the AutoMind (both Banks). Typically run it on the Economy tune on both. With the Six-Gun you can get about 100HP+ and the AutoMind you can get about 150HP+. The nice thing is that they are both DPF friendly and CARB approved.

 

わたしの　くるま　....Oops, using wrong language. Anyway, my truck gets around 12 city/highway, but one mans city/highway is not necessarily the same as the next. Mine is actually quite a bit of city driving with some 10-15 minute highway jaunts tossed in here and there. On the highway unloaded I can push 17 mpg if I stick to the speed limit (65) and treat the go pedal with some care getting there. This is better than I could do with my CC F250 Lariat 4x4 V10, and considering what a fat heavy weight pig my current truck is, not too bad I think.

My truck weighs in at around 9,400 lbs full of fuel and with me in it. I'm running factory sized rubber with 4.30 gears, bed cover, CAI, straight pipe exhaust, and a Spartan programmer set on the 210hp tow tune. I run this tune all the time, loaded or not. When I tow I'm pulling close to 17,000 lbs and I know conventional wisdom says don't tow heavily tuned, but my theory is don't tow heavily tuned....and driving like an idiot. I run the high tune and keep all my engine parameters such as engine temps, boost, tranny temp, etc within acceptable limits. As long as I stay within these limits I don't see what difference it makes if I'm tuned or not. I usually get between 8.5-9.5 mpg and have seen a high of 10.4 on one trip.

I bought my truck used with about 17,500 miles on it. By 21,000 it ate it's radiator, which was not unexpected based on the research I had done ahead of time. I have 36,000 on it now and no further radiator issues to date. I never had oil making issues but chose to delete/tune anyway and have no regrets. I have had no other engine issues at all, but did have the blend door issue, which again was not unexpected based on my research.

These engines are VERY easy to make power on, and from what I've read can handle quite a bit. Head gasket issues due to inadequate head bolts are not a problem. EGR/oil cooler problems are not the issue they were with the 6.0. Generally the tranny gives up the ghost on tuned 6.4s before anything else.

A Spartan tuner will add up to 350 (supposed) RWHP to a 6.4, and if you've got a stupid right foot, you CAN make bad things happen. To me that says more about a driver than the engine being flogged.


Keep in mind when reading "reports" online that very few owners will come online to sing praises of their vehicle. Good performance is expected when you buy a vehicle and generally doesn't warrant any comment when you get what you expected in the first place. On the other hand, almost everyone who has a problem is more than happy to come online and crow to the world about the "piece of crap fill-in-the-blank-engine" in whatever vehicle they just bought. Naturally this means that every engine in that category ever produced is also likely a piece of crap.

To date this is my most favorite vehicle I've ever owned, from BMWs to Broncos, and I don't regret the 6.4 one bit. It was strong enough to begin with, and tuned it's an absolute street beast.

 

LOL.....bull chit......LOL

 

Eh?..........

 

Are you cat & filter deleted ??
Stock tire size ??
Axle ratio ??

 

DPF on.

Stock 18" tire in my signature, just different shoes.

3.73 gears.

 

did you notice less frequency in your regens after the banks install? would you recommend the banks? I have just bought the 6.4 4x4 sb {just could not buy another dodge,and GM's interiors were small]from a dealer and knew what some of the issues were .warranty is good for 2 more years or another 40k so i nixed the ext warr. offer but did take the maint.plan for 1600$ .Now I want to change some stock parts for better cooling ,economy,and longevity .Will be putting a coolant pressure alarm on it this week but really would appreciate your opinion on the banks 6gun bundle you have ? live in so. cal

 

If I recall (since I have had the banks for so long) they were farther apart with the orginal flash right away. They would still last about 10 miles or so though. I think with the orginal flash they were around 200 miles and then they went to 400-500 mile range for me.

With the latest flash around 250-300 miles right now but the regens are shorter, around 6 miles.

6-gun I know is carb approved. Won't do anything for cooling.