Trying to figure out what I should do.
Went to a truck accessory place that also sells delete kits. He quoted me $3200 to change air filter assembly, CAT/DPF assembly and a tuner, and labor. Seems kinda high to me, but what do I know.
I asked about EGR assembly. He told me if I were to do that, to do the head bolts also.
Can I leave air filter stuff stock or does it have to be changed? He has a "guy" that does the work. Should be a diesel qualified mechanic? Seems like a shade tree guy to me.
Any advice?

 

Just bought an '08 6.4l myself and been researching. I've found a Spartan tuner and CAT/DFP delete pipe that bolts into the OE system on the auction site for $1450 shipped (with best offer available). With the Spartan I can turn off the EGR for the time being which stops the exhaust gases from heating your coolant. You can do all the above yourself with hand tools. The Spartan tuner comes with preloaded maps and from what I've found are the gold standard next to a custom tune.

If you so decide to delete the EGR hard parts kits that look the exact same as those sold by diesel performance shops are less than $100 there. I haven't checked into cold air induction although there is an add on cold air induction scoop (for OE box) on there as well for $55.

 

I would run away fast from that guy! The 6.4 is not prone to head gasket failures like he 6.0 was so headstuds are not needed. What that has to do with the EGR I cannot figure out! I don't think the air filter assembly ( assuming he means a cold air intake ) is needed. I also agree that price seems high. Which tuner was he quoting?

 

Yeah, he was talking about the cold intake.

I was talking to my dealer about their position on working on my truck if I do the deletes. He said he would have no problem working on it afterwards, but mentioned if it will be chipped with the delete package. I assumed yes it would be.

I kinda was thinking about this but he put it in right perspective. If I do all the delete stuff and programmed it, it would mess with the Ford program stuff if I took it in and when they looked for info. He said I would have to put it back to stock programming before I took it in to them.
But if I do that and leave all the delete stuff on, won't it throw codes and possibly not run? Then after leaving the dealership, I would have to put it back to the delete tune. Seems like there could be major issues moving it back and forth?

 

Tune to OE isn't an issue other than throwing codes. When you pull in the service drive simply swap it over.

 

I just went through all those motions myself. I bought the truck from a small lot. the dpf was already out, and it had a crazy tune on it. I took it a ford dealer and they flashed the ECU back to stock. That was an ordeal, because they hook up a laptop through a device to the OBD port, and the laptop connects to ford. because it had third party software in it, the device wouldn't communicate with the truck. The guy had to fool the system by entering all of the serial numbers into the computer manually, downloading the firmware for the truck, and then doing the upgrade offline. Once that was all done, since all the sensors were still on the straight pipe, i did not get any fault codes, but 5 miles down the road I had to get off the main street and take the back roads home because it was smoking like a diesel locomotive in that one youtube video. anyways, i bought an sct x4, and then purchased custom maps from Bare Knuckles Diesel Performance. It was very reasonably priced, and I got my maps within a few hours.

After that, I removed the EGR cooler and the EGR. I bought the cheapest kit on ebay that comes with an elbow. it was 60 bucks. the fasteners are not very good, so i used the original bolts that i took out when removing all the epa stuff.

Now that I know everything that I've learned, I feel better about it, but during the initial research, I was very nervous because I had no idea what I was doing and the info just wasn't there in a complete form

 

Uhhhhhhhhhhhh...

Ok as far as deleting, you MUST tune the vehicle. If you don't the truck will eventually go into regen (the pcm commands regen at 500 miles regardless of dpf soot level) and it will eventually set a cel and cause a no crank no start (fail safe mode). You will be able to start the truck once and then when you shut down it won't let you crank it for 90 min.

As far as the egr delete and head gaskets, without going into detail a leaking egr cooler can and often does cause head gaskets to fail. That said, the egr system acts as a sort of blow off valve. You turn it off and you can risk head gaskets, you are more risking turbo seals though. But that's a topic for another day... You are still better off without the egr system.

Delete kits themselves... Spartan and H&S are my personal favorites. Spartan takes the cake because it is also one of the best monitors on the market so you kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

If you delete you will void any warranty you have through ford. In many cases AM warranties will still cover you but they are hit and miss. Most AM warranties cover very little on a diesel motor unfortunately. And... If you pull up to the service bay and they hook up an IDS and the truck shows a P1000 many times they are usually going to suspect that a tuner has been on the truck. (clearing codes can cause this as well so it isn't going to automatically cause them to void a warranty, but it will give them reason to start looking around.) So if you do put the truck back to stock make sure you run it through a regen cycle before you bring it in.

If you can turn a wrench and have a second set of hands you can pull the dpf in less than 2 hours right in your driveway. Its not a hard job just dirty. If you aren't comfortable doing it then you can expect about $2500-$3000 for a CAI, tuner (better be Spartan or H&S otherwise you are being ripped off), exhaust, and labor. Most places will do an egr delete with intake elbow for another $450-$600. The egr delete is the hardest part of the whole thing but if you do things yourself you can just leave the coolers in place and shut off the egr valve. Egr coolers on a 6.4 aren't as prone to failure as they are on the 6.0.

 

Thank you both! This is the type of info I'm looking for. I want to smarten myself up on the pros and cons of deleting and what happens to the systems when I do. I have an AM warranty until next spring, so if it goes, it goes. And I want some knowledge so I don't get taken or misled by some people out there. I'm learning, but hopefully not the hard/wrong way!
Regened again this morning and it took 30 miles for it to finish, not to mention at least 2 gallons of fuel and a cloud of blue smoke for 2 miles of it.

 

Getting rid of the regen process is the best thing you can do for this motor aside from tearing it down and putting delipped pistons and a stage 2 cam in...

 

Curious to know newb. to newb. how long did it take to delete the EGR's?

 

Took about 4 hrs all together. not very hard to do. you have to pull the driver side battery and the tray/degas bottle out. The hardest thing for me was the coolant pipe that runs behind the horizontal egr cooler. it is attached on the side of the engine near the front, and runs to the back of that cooler. it is hard to get to, and requires pulling off a rubber hose off of a metal tube. So yeah, that was a pain. Everything else was pretty easy. you will have to climb under the truck, behind the engine. I did it on the ground and there was plenty of room for me. I am 5'10 and 160, so I have an advantage there LOL

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...l#post15818903

I drained 5 gal of coolant out, and after i was done, only 3 went in. I was very worried at first, but it's been at least a month and a half now and my coolant level and circulation is in good order

 

Good info. and thanks for the link! Added to rep.

 

Thanks! if you have any questions, post up. I do all memorizing visually, so I have a very good image in my mind on this procedure. Also. If you plan on taking the lower egr cooler mounting bracket off, then you will need either 4 shorter exhaust manifold bolts, or do what I did, which is use a larger nut over the bolt as a spacer. The bracket is mounted over the manifold using the manifold bolts, so to reuse the same bolts, you will have to use something to make up for the difference in depth of the bracket that you remove... which is about 3/8"

 

This picture from the 6.4L bible will give you a pretty good idea of all the things you need to touch doing the removal:

(the dipstick was the one thing that was very much in the way, and i could not pull it out)

 

Good deal thanks. What's up with deleting the EGR's and overboost? Is OE overboost protection removed with the EGR or is there just an internal balance between EGR and positive pressure that keeps boost level in check in OE form?