You guys are forgetting the biggest advantage of the diesel...in the event of a zombie uprising that causes TEOTWAWKI diesel fuel will stay usable longer.

Watch for the warning signs!


V10 owners = food

 

I never said the latch was different. I had the choice between a 6.8 or a 6.4, and my choice was to trade higher fuel consumption, for less problems. I also know some V10's that have made it 1 million miles without taking the valve covers off. Try that even with a 7.3!

Last I heard, the 7.3, 6.0 and 6.4 are all PSD's, so this is the same topic, NOT a different topic. My first PSD, a 94.5 had quite a few problems, my second a 2000, only had CPS's go out a couple times, My 2005 6.0, had so many issues I had to go V10 if I wanted to stay in business, because all problems with the 6.4's didn't seem any better. The thought of having to pull the cab to change an injector or turbo out of warranty just didn't appeal to me. I gladly gave up the extra torque, and extra repair costs for reliability, and I'm not worried about the higher fuel costs, because they are offset by the lower maintenance, and cheaper pump price. My F550 V10 pulls fine, I've had it loaded to 29,000 total (GCW), with no problem.

 

What I meant was a different topic was my reference to what Ford should have done to fix the problem with the 6.0(this isn't a "what could Ford have done better with the 6.0" thread).

I don't like the idead of having to pull the cab either. That's why I won't own a 6.4.

You may pay less for each fill up, but if you have to fill up more often then you are still spending more money in the end.

I never said the v10 wasn't capable of towing big loads. What I said was that if I owned a v10 instead of my 7.3 I would have already spent enough in extra fuel to buy a brand new king ranch truck. In over 200k miles I have spent less than $100 fixing problems with my 7.3 and $60 of it was replacing glow plugs. That sounds pretty reliable and cheap to maintain to me.

 

"You may pay less for each fill up, but if you have to fill up more often then you are still spending more money in the end."

More for fuel yes, but still cheaper when you add in maintenance and repairs. The V10's are very cheap to maintain, and cheaper to repair when something does go wrong. My 2000 PSD was very reliable, the others were not. I wish I kept that truck, but I wanted a super cab. Sounds like you should keep yours, it's a good one. I need to buy a new truck every 4 years for tax and image purposes. If you drive an old truck here, everyone wants you to tow for half price!

 

I'm not one of those people saying the v10 sucks or it won't pull any weight, etc. I like the v10 and I said a few pages back that my only complaint with it was the mpg's. My 5.4 gets better mpg's than a v10(and has the same parts to repair) and it was just costing me too much in fuel to make it worth driving it. My 5.4 is only 3 years newer than my 7.3, but it has 180k less miles on it for a reason.

At 50k miles per year I am doing 10 oil changes per year. Each oil change in my 7.3 is $10-12 more than in my 5.4 So an extra $100-120 per year spent on oil. My fuel savings are almost $2,000 per year with the 7.3. So I still come out $1,900 ahead by using it.

If I had to choose between a v10 and a 6.4, I would take the v10 any day of the week. I would take a modifed 6.0(head studs, fixed egr, etc) over a v10, but I would take a v10 over a stock 6.0. So it's not that I'm anti v10 or anything. It's a good combination of power and durability. I just need something that has power, durability and good mpg's.

 

Head studs didn't cure my 6.0, it had the gaskets fail again, and kept overheating still. I gave up. I got tired of spending a $100 every time it went to the dealer. The 6.0 was very expensive to maintain, even just for filters. A 7.3 like you have is a lot more reasonable for air, oil, & fuel filters. My dealer told me to change the oil at 3,000 instead of the 4,000 I was changing at, and fuel filters every 5,000 miles, instead of the recommended 15K miles. He also said use their additive in the fuel every tank, and it still kept eating injectors. I had to do all that, and still couldn't keep it out of the shop. I may try a 6.7 PSD once they have been out a few years, but for now, the V10 is the only way I'll buy a new truck from Ford.

P.S, your oil change cost still doesn't add up. I pay 2.30 a quart, for the V10 (7 quarts) and 3.50 for a filter, for a total of about $22.00 with tax. A 7.3 uses 15 quarts of oil, at a cost of about $3.00 per quart, plus $10.00 for the filter. Should be about $61.00 with tax. That would be my cost here in Chicago, for $39.00 difference in just an oil change. No matter where you're from that's more that $10-12! I change mine every 4,000 miles.

 

If I had the problems you had with yours then I wouldn't want another one either. Can't say I blame you on that one.

 

Mine only holds 14 quarts(older body style) and the oil is about $2.00 per quart and my filter is $8. A motorcraft 5 quart jug runs between $10-11 here. Conventional oil for my 5.4 runs about $2.50 per quart, if I can catch it on sale, and it holds 7 quarts.

 

Just keep in mind what kind of truck I have if you are going to use my numbers. Remember, I don't have a pickup truck.

Also, I only have 3,800 miles on the truck and it weighs about 9400 lbs with me in it.

 

I was just using you as a reference because you were the most recent one I saw post a number. We had a big 460 vs v10 debate about a year or so ago and mpg's got brought up a lot. Most of the v10 guys were claiming between 9-12 mpg's. I get 15 out of my 5.4 in a regular cab xl with no upgrades and nothing in it but me. I can't see the same engine with more cylinders and more power getting the same or better mpg's, so I don't think my 12 mpg estimate is too far off.

 

you forget that lower horsepower w/6800lb weight equals lower mpg while more horsepower w/6800 lb weight gets more mpg. noticed that with my 92 mustang, it had a 4 banger that i thought was a decent mpg motor, then after it blew up i replaced it with a 5.0 got a few more mpg's out of it.

 

If my 5.4 struggled with the weight or did a lot of stop and go driving with a heavy load that would be true. I had a 6 cyl bronco that had to turn 4k rpm just to pull itself up a hill and got 13 mpg. My 5.0 bronco doesn't have to turn half those rpms and gets 15 mpg's on the same roads. That being said, my 5.4 rarely turns over 2,000 rpms when it's unloaded. It also doesn't do any city driving what so ever, so it only has to get the weight moving one time. So at no point is it ever under a strain when it is getting 15 mpg's. What I drive it for 99% of the time is 50 miles round trip, 55 mph the whole way, cruising at 2,000 rpms.

What kind of mpg's do you get out of your v10?

 

While this can be true under certain circumstances, it's far from the norm! And I can back this up!

2010 F150 specs from Fuel Economy

2WD 4.6L = 15/20
2WD 5.4L = 14/19

2010 Ranger, 5-speed manual tranny:

2.3L = 22/27
4.0L = 15/21

2010 Mustang, 5-speed manual:

4.0L = 18/26
4.6L = 16/24

All things being equal, bigger engine means less efficient. Other factors affect this, such as advanced engine technologies that increase efficiency, more modern transmissions, 2WD vs. 4WD, etc.

 

Around town and towing thats about right. I have gotten 9.85 towing at 17,000 GCW in the city at first and then in hills for the second half of the trip.

My last few tank ups have been 10-11 city with a miss from a bad COP.

Empty highway is better than that, but I vary rarely run empty on the highway at the speed limit for any amount of time.

 

My 550 weighs 13,640# with me in it. It weighs 2250 more than my old F450 with the 6.0. My 550 V10 gets 1.5 MPG less in Chicago city traffic, and about 2 MPG less on the highway. Not a huge loss, considering it weighs almost 20% more.