hello I'm new to the site and new to diesel engines. I bought a f250sd about 6months ago it had 60000 miles when purchased. I have put about 12000 miles on this truck and have had nothing but issue's. let me start with the first problem the main computer went out the second day I got it then the coolant hoses had to be replaced due to leaking. two months later I had to replace the radiator then the fuel filters needed changing. well yesterday as I was headed to town it started shaking and smoking white smoke and would not hardly run. I made it to the ford dealership and they hooked it up and told me that I needed a new engine. I did not buy an extended warranty what can I do...

 

what's wrong with your engine? why do you need a new one?

 

Idk what's wrong its skipping and white smoke with smells like oil burning is boiling out the exhaust the dealer said it was showing something with the cylinders blown

 

Sorry about all your issues. I would really be upset with all those issues. I'd probably put a match to it and then file an insurance claim if it were mine. Hope it's not as bad as they say it is.

 

First thing is first, who did you have inspect the truck when you purchased it? I ask because ANY of these problems would have been easy to spot on an inspection.

As for what do you do now? You trade it or pony up and replace the motor. Sorry if you don't like what I am about to say but you will get over it. There would have been signs that the motor wasn't healthy... Any reputable diesel shop would have told you to run. I guarantee that the motor was abused before it came to you and that's why it was traded in. Without you knowing what is actually wrong with the motor we can't tell you anything anyway. Blowing white smoke and skipping is a sign of a lot of things... Hung injector, cracked piston, blown egr cooler, melted piston, cracked heads..........

I would have the truck towed to a reputable diesel shop and not a ford house... But either way you are in for an expensive bill and chances are an extended warranty wouldn't cover whatever is going on. The vast majority of them will cost you 2 grand and cover VERY little on a diesel platform.

 

Your right I should have done my research

 

Its a VERY hard and expensive lesson to learn on any diesel, even more so on a 6.4. I am not trying to be an a** but its painful how many times we see this. But if you are going to fix the truck have an independent shop that works on 6.4s every day do it. Ford is going to change you somewhere around 20K for a new motor and labor. Most reputable shops can keep that down to around 15-20k for a fully built motor(Studs, pistons, cam).......

AND they will teach you something about your truck. Making friends with your diesel mechanic is by far and away the best thing you can ever do with a 6.4. 90% of big repairs are cab up... Meaning it doesn't really matter what I or anyone else tells you, that mechanic is the only one who can really help you. Without a lift you aren't going to be able to do much on these trucks.

Beyond that, once you fix it (If you do)... Delete it, run a low hp tune, and monitor the truck. Even if you go back with a completely stock motor that is deleted you should easily get many trouble free miles out of it as long as you take care of it. That means oil changes every 5k, fuel filters every other oil change, drain the water every other week, drain and fill coolant every 30k miles. Diesels are a lot of work and A LOT of money to take proper care of. But if you do all of the maintenance and don't abuse the truck it won't abuse you.

 

the 6.0 and 6.4 are very problematic theres a big gap between what the OEM recomends as required maint and what folks will tell you should have and could have been done.

These trucks get thrown over the fence by previous owners who suffered 5 years of warranty mitigated pain and suffering and as soon as the warranty expires they trade it in. then folks like us stroll onto the lot and buy what we believe are acceptable vehicles.

dont let folks tell you that you should have done this and that...sellers are not going to let you do a tear down inspection before you buy the vehicle.

these engines have rocker problems, lifter problems, front water pump cover problems, emmission system componet problems, turbo problems, high pressure fuel pump problems, etc.

an engine repair will cost you 12K to 20K and not likely to be the end of the story.

dont feel bad about not buying the extended......its unlikely that it would have been honored anyway since you would have to be able to produce service records from day one of the vehicles operations not just from the time you purchased the vehicle.

 

No one said tear down inspection and please don't... Just don't...


ANY dealer will let you take the truck to have it inspected at a diesel shop with very few questions asked. Any mechanic that knows a 6.4 well can spot the vast majority of problems with these trucks. Anything from excessive ring wear, rocker arm issues, oil cooler problems, fuel system issues, etc... The $60 you spend to have a truck looked at is worth its value 200x over when looking at any diesel... Especially a 6.4 or 6.0.


Your first point is valid and exactly why you REALLY do want to have the truck looked at.


Again, its not a tear down... Its hooking an ids or AE up to the truck and looking at pids... Pulling the upper fuel filter and looking for metal, draining the water and looking for sludge... Making sure the deltas are in check... Making sure there is no oil or fuel in the coolant... Checking blow by... LISTENING TO THE SOUND OF THE MOTOR! You CAN hear rocker arm issues and lifter problems. Jumping the starter and listening for an even crank. Watching rail pressure at idle and wot to check the health of the hpfp... Ohhhhhhhhh and 4 40mph-70mph wot runs to check head gasket health. Or just plumb in a gauge. All of that is standard Diag for a 6.4 and isn't a "teardown". It takes literally 45 min to inspect a 6.4 for problems.


Yes, they do have those problems... As the op just found out.


If repaired properly and maintained yes it should be the end of the story just fine. You spend 20 grand on a motor rebuild it means you have put hd/coated pistons, cam, up pipes, etc in and the failure points are good to go... 12k means you dropped a used motor in and should probably sell the truck after the repair.


I agree with your last point here... Extended warranty companies are useless when it comes to diesels.