Need some advice on pros and cons of the 6.4L
 

Hello. I am currently looking into a 2010 F-250 for sale privately nearby. It has 17,000 miles on it. What should I know about the 6.4's and about this model truck in general??? I currently have a 2005 Ford F-250 with the 6.0 and looking to trade up. Your help and advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thank you!

I had a 6L and loved it but the 6.4L is totally kick ass compared. It has it's minor issues but I honestly feel it is a quality engine if properly maintained and the power is just awesome. Read thru these forums and it will teach you alot about the issues but take it all with a grain of salt, people would not be on here if there were no problems.
I for one love my 6.4L

x2! :-jammin

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Off the top of my head I can think of a few things:

Pros:

Less turbo problems
Very rare for head bolt or gasket problems
Less common EGR problems
Seems to be marginally more reliable

Cons:
Very expen$ive to repair compare to a 6.4L
Has a HPFP instead of HPOP, and when it goes it's often a $10K+ repair
Is typically a cab-off affair to remove turbo, heads, or HPFP
Fuel economy is noticeably worse
Seems to tolerate water in fuel or poor lubricity far worse than a 6.0L.

I liked my 6.4L truck when I had it, but looking back on it I probably wouldn't want to own one out of warranty. It's not that it's an unreliable engine, but when things go the tend to go big, and because of the commonality of cab-off repairs many things can't be done by the home mechanic.

Biggest issues to me arise from water in fuel. to combat this as best as an owner can you need to drain the fuel/water separator monthly. Change fuel filters at 10K.

buy you fuel from well know good sources/high volume truck stops. Save reciepts during trips till you get home. Possibly you could turn in a claim if you get bad fuel.

Other issue, which actually is more of an issue is the radiator and to a certain extent the radiator hoses.

Radiator hoses only had one o-ring. They have been redesigned to include an additional o-ring to fix that leak.

Radiator itself is of a poor design and they are prone to leak at the seams. Never is an outright failure that will leave you on the side of the road but an expensive repair. It appears that even the new 6.7 uses a similar design as well and there have been a few leaks there as well.

One other item is how the truck is used. This can greatly enhance the experience or break it. IMHO this is an excellent hwy or towing motor. With this type of use it will serve you well. Has fewer issues and is more dependable. I have run mine with heavy towing coast to coast.

City driving is the killer. Stop and go traffic produces more soot and does not work so well with the emissions.

So how would you use it? That maybe the best thing to consider.

Mainly i will use it for driving empty. I would estimate around 10-15K miles a year and about 1-2K miles a year towing. BUT, when i do tow i normally am hauling 2 7500 lb tractors around on a gooseneck to tractor pulls. SO i put a pretty good sized load behind it. I am not scared to go out and do some repairs on this myself but no way i could handle larger repairs. That is mainly what i would use the truck for.

Your emtpy driving..is that long commutes? Hwy or city driving?

Bottom line is this truck needs to up to operating temps. If you are starting it and just driving a few miles without any other type of driving it will eventlually yell at you.

I have to say... I LOVE MY 6.4! I wouldn't trade it. I think many of the small issues were address by 2010. New PCM flashes, O-Rings, etc. You MUST keep any eye on a lot of systems. Check oil level regularly, coolant, water separator. Oil analysis is recommended.

Does the truck still have warranty? It was voided for mods was it?

Most of my drives are 15 miles or less and every now and then I will go 45 miles away. But i mainly use the truck on the weekends. I dont know if its under warranty yet or not i will have to check on that. Its only got 17K miles on it. So if there are any minor issues with the engine by 2010 most of the bugs were worked out your saying RM2738?

another thing to add would be that when i tow i go about 80 miles at a time then come back. So that would be the main use for the truck. Thanks!

15 miles or less...maybe a bit hard on it but with proper maintance and some WOT's you should be able to keep it running good.

You may end up taking the long way home sometimes so that i gets good and warmed up some.

ok so in general i should have way less problems with a 2010 6.4L vs a 2005 6.0L???

It appears that way to me. Ford is famous for doing that with all their diesels. Don't know much about others. I had a 1999 7.3 (First new 7.3) which had its share of issues but fixed in later YM's. The 6.0 had its issues at first but by 2007, seemed to be addressed somewhat. The first 6.4L build was a nightmare from what I've read. Ford had 3 years to make minor adjustments to the 6.4L and side by side, my buddy's 2008 engine compartment is noticeably different than mine. Little tweaks and adjustments just to the setup which tells me Ford was making an effort to make these engines more desirable.

Ok so i am looking at a 2009 F-350 would that have most of the updates that needed to be addressed when they first came out in '08?

Yes anything after Job 3 2008 model year will probably have everything.