I posted recently about my purchase of my 08 F350 6.4. Been reading a lot of 6.4 forum trying to get as many tips as possible to keep engine running correctly. I have put on roughly 1000 miles since I bought it, and have had no regen cycle unless it does it automatically. Truck has been running excellent. Tail pipes are clean as described in other posts. This is the part I'm confused about, most of the posts are saying they are having frequent regen cycles, do I have a problem since my truck seemingly has not had a regen cycle to my knowledge? I averaged 15 MPG on the higway on a trip up to North Carolina and it was hand calculated, did'nt believe dash readout. I have fueled at a Pilot truck stop, Shell and Sunoco all offer the ULSD that is being talked about in the 6.4 forum. Read one post where a person had so many problems with his 6.4, he traded it in for a gas motor. What gives are these diesels reliable or not?

 

Just drive the truck! It is doing what it is suppose to do by evidence of the clean pipes. Some people have an issue with it, most don't.

Monitor the amount and length has become a habit for some of us long time owners as a way to spot a chance or problem.

Just check your fluids weekly, follow the severe duty maint schedule and run that motor hard and work it.

I have driven mine coast to coast (N-S and E-W) more than a few times..pullin heavy as well. You will be fine.

Carry an extra set of fuel filters with you and only use the OEM type oil and fuel filters.

 

All of the new emissions controlled diesels are significantly more complex than the previous generations of diesels. They are reliable if properly maintained, but if maintenance is neglected they can go really bad really fast.

The DPF regen backstop is 667 miles, so it will regen at least that frequently whether the sensors indicate it needs it or not. If you have the new 11B23 flash, the regen message does not stay up on the display so you will most likely miss it. If you are paying attention you will notice it's in regen since it sounds a little different. If you have add on guages like a Scanguage II (recommended) you can see it by noting the high DPF temperature (~1,300 vs. ~500).

Here is the 6.4 recommended maintenance rundown:

• Oil changes at 5k miles, 5W-40 synthetic oil recommended, Motorcraft or Racor filters only. I recommend sending samples to Blackstone for analysis at each oil change, the trending information is invaluable. Buy the bulk pre-pay 6 pack test to save a few bucks.
• Fuel filter changes at 10k miles, FD4617, Motorcraft or Racor only.
• Use a quality fuel additive at every fill up such as the Ford PM22A/23A or Stanadyne. This helps with lubricity for the high pressure fuel pump and also helps increase the interval between DPF regens.
• Test the coolant nitrite level with the specified test strips at least every 20k, I recommend every 10k when doing the fuel filters since it's easy and the test strips are cheap. Add two bottles of VC-8 if needed. This helps avoid cavitation damage.
• Avoid bio-diesel and bio-diesel blends. 5% is the max for the 6.4 and even 5% has been reported to increase fuel dilution issues.

Other things to keep in mind are the 50k and 60k changes of rear diff fluid, trans fluid and transfer case fluid, and the 60k coolant flush with VC-9 and refill. Be sure to read both the owner's manual and the diesel supplement completely.

I highly recommend getting the service manual CD from HELM ($150) and studying it and the various other docs available on the forums to learn as much as you can about the truck and engine. The more you understand it, the more attuned you will be to any developing issues.

 

Do not take just one or two negative posts and think that is the norm. I can attest it is not. Use the truck! I am rest assured that there are more people without big issues than with! Just maintain the truck properly and you will have piece of mind. One thing that I have done is put a Scangauge on, about a year ago, so I can monitor things better than the idiot gauges. I now know exactly when it regens, if I miss the messge. I also can actually see water, engine oil and transmission temps in numbers and more and not just gauge positions. When it regens it will reach about 1285 degrees at the DPF and 785 EGTs. I now can also allow it cool properly if I am in regen and I am about to stop. My experience is that if it was in regen just idling does not cool it very quick at a stop. So I have learned to use the high idle mod on my upfitter switch. Kick it in which is about 1200 rpm and it will cool in about a minute properly. If you put your truck in Neutral or Park when regen has started, it will terminate the process. A lot of people said that it will stop under 30 mph, well, I have a new PCM and the latest flash and it does not on my 08. It stays n regen as long as its in a forward gear. If you do drop it out of gear during regen, it may restart the regen as soon the DPF reaches about 400 degrees on mine I have heard 600 degrees, but on my 08 the DPF does not ever reach 600 degrees in normal driving. It bearly reaches 400 degrees on a 70 degree day at 1900 rpm. I have also witnessed passive regens where the DPF will reach around 850 degrees for about 5 minutes.
Your regens will happen when it needs to happen. You are perfectly fine!

 

Most likely the truck is working very well but you are missing the CLEANING EXHAUST FILTER" message. It only stays on in the message center for a few seconds, my guess would be 5 but I've never timed it. If you watch the MPG page on the message center you can tell it's cleaning by the drop in MPGs. When you see that, or notice the change in the sound you can verify it by pushing the middle button on the message center, then the top button. It will then scan through a number of system checks and then say CLEANING EXHAUST FILTER. That message will stay on that page of the message center check list until the cleaning is complete. Or you can get a scanner. like somebody else said, don't worry about it. Also, I noticed after that 11b23 scan that on occasion my cleaning message would flash and then stay on for the duration of the clean. I never did figure out what caused it but I was suspecting it did it during very hard pulls.