Hey all,

I have been looking around for a newer crew cab truck with a standard tranny. not too far from home, i found an 08 f350 with the 6.4 and 6 speed manual with 53,000 miles on it for a pretty fair price. i have owned every generation of ford diesel up to 2002, and loved every damn one of them (especially the 85 6.9 i still have) but i have heard lots of horror stories of the newer powerstrokes. i just want a good reliable truck that i dont have to dump money into all the time. Is the 6.4 a reliable truck, or not so much? any opinions good or bad are appreciated

 

I just traded in my 6.4 for a F 150 and I had zero engine problems with it for 89,000 miles, but I went thru 3 radiators in that time. If it wasn't for the radiator issues it would still be parked in my driveway.

 

I love my 09. I've got almost 80,000 miles and no issues. Knock on wood. Radiators seem to be the biggest pain on these. I got an extended warranty to cover myself. I wouldn't buy one for a daily driver but I had to have something bigger to tow with. I bought a 40 ft GN enclosed racecar trailer so it was a must have.

 

I have been a long time Powerstroke fan, have a 97 7.3 to this day! I recently purchased my 2010 F-250 6.4 Powerstroke, and love it! I know the radiators can be an issue, but there is a vendor here that sells an upgraded 1 peice alum that can correct that issue. As for cost in maintance, yeah, more then the older 7.3 and 6.0, but as for reliability, mine has over 115,000 on it, and i use it to commute 65 miles each day. I just finished hauling several loads of hay and firewood, by the tons! As long as i keep a good eye on coolant, oil and filters, i am good to go! I stayed away from the 08 models, as it was the first series out, and thats usually when manufactorers are working out the bugs! These trucks are over built, and thats what i need! Depending on how serious of a truck you need, is what would be best to keep in mind!

 

159000, no engine probs.

 

Thanks guys for the replies, i think i'm going to go buy the truck. I am still a fan of the ford diesel world, and havent sunk low enough to buy a rattle trap dodge, or an isuzu powered government owned pile...

 

113K on my job 1 '08. No out of warranty issues. A couple issues under warranty, to wit: 1 radiator, EGR valve and porous oil pump (timing cover) casting. I think you'd be very happy with any 6.4, provided it's been well cared for and you continue to do due diligence.

Ask ford for an OASIS report on the truck you're looking at.

 

What is job 1, job 2 etc that people talk about? is there any difference and how can you tell which one you have?

 

Someone posted a link in an earlier thread about the Job numbers... Essentially what I got from it was that each year this truck was produced, the manufactorer corrected some of the bugs with the new design, and added new options or changes to each following year. I think (correct me if I am wrong), Job 1 was the first year, 2008, job 2, 2009, and Job 3, 2010..

 

Job 1, 2 & 3 were all '08s with job 1 being the very earliest. Someone on here can likely provide dates, changes, etc. for each of the three. I do know that one of the changes beginning with job 2 was the deeper air dam under the front bumper. Somewhere in the mix a tire pressure monitoring system was introduced. The TPM was not available when I ordered my job 1, which by the way was actually built in mid-March of '07.

 

I guess my 08 6.4 is a Job1?
Front airdam is about 1-1/2" (deep/tall whatever??) Will the larger airdam fit? I think I want one about a foot tall/deep if it helps the mileage.
When I was doing paperwork to buy it the techs were replacing the EGR valve, 3 days later a trans solenoid went out that took 4 weeks to arrive. Grrrr.
But all under warranty, whew! Extended warranty to 99,400 miles. That's the only thing keeping me from all the fun stuff.
Now then, what about those radiators?
Thanks to all for the good info!

 

I currently have an '08 F350 with 136,000+ miles on it and so far I have had no issues. However, I had an '09 F450 that had a melt down at 62,000. Ford covered it under warranty, but we decided to trade it in on a '13 F550.

There was no warning before the meltdown. No warning lights whatsoever. It just started defueling and dropping cylinders. According to the local Ford diesel mechanic, the 6.4 is known for the injectors developing a crack which in turn shoots too much fuel into the cylinder that ends up washing past the rings and flooding the crankcase and in turn knocks out the main bearings.

At least Ford covered it!

We bought an '07 Dodge back in late '06 because we had heard a lot of bad things about the Ford 6.0, that blew the motor with just 1300 miles on the odometer. The truck was only on its 3rd tank of fuel and Dodge screamed "CONTAMINATED FUEL, WE ARE NOT GOING TO COVER IT UNDER WARRANTY". We had fuel samples pulled by the Department of Weights and Measures and it all came back clean. Our auto insurance ended up paying the bill under a Comprehensive claim (vandalism). Just shy of $23,000.

 

My '08 F250 is a Job 3 (correct me if I'm wrong) built in Jan. '08. I bought it new and I'm also on my 3rd radiator. The good part of this story is that it happened when it was 6 months old and it never made it out of the dealer parking lot. They discovered radiator #2 was leaking before I picked it up. Radiator #3 has been fine since then (knock on wood). It's been a great truck. Currently I have 63,000 miles .Only out of pocket repairs have been for climate control problem (take the dash apart for fix) , $800.00 and replace diesel fuel water separator sensor about $150.00. I've been getting 12.5 mpg pulling my open car trailer or my 21ft boat. So long as I'm not hauling or towing I'll average 14-15mpg combination highway back roads.
Based on what I've heard before reading this thread I felt like I was sitting on a ticking time bomb as far as reliability goes. Maybe not based on the above stories. I have been thinking about trading in for a '14-'15 6.7 (more power, better economy) but I need to research their reliability. Just had a friend get a $6,800 bill for new injector pump for '11 6.7 with only 69,000 miles.

 

The Ford 6.7 have their issues with radiators also, and it sounds like your friend with the $6,800 repair bill was denied warranty repair on the injector pump.

 

He was, they claimed poor quality fuel. He's a total Ford guy (2 Shelby's, Expedition, Ranchero, etc.) Now he's talking about getting a Dodge. He's really pissed.