looking at a 09 superduty 6.4L powerstroke

[Duffster]

I'd bet 100 million of the US population lives where it never or maybe only once in 100 years goes to zero. Heck I live near Philadelphia which is pretty far north and it only goes below 0* a few times per decade.

So that would leave roughly 200 million that see below 0 regularly. Not counting CA and other countries.

What differerence does all this make?

Difference is trucks need to be built for the wide array of condition they are used in.

I don't live that far north and it was below zero 10 days in December.

It was only 2* this morning I wonder if this torqshift feature would have kicked in this morning or would have it need to get 2 degrees colder?:confused2:

Oops edit that it did get to 0 this morning.

 

[Diamondpilot]

6 here in Indiana this morning. Got some snow on the way also so better keep that GM Urea warm.:laughing::laughing::laughing:

Chris

 

[timswi]

The GM 700-R4 Transmission was in a good many GM trucks,that transmission was about one of the worst transmissions that I have seen.I removed and rebuilt a good number of them in the 90's during my time as a Chevrolet tech.

There were problems with the early 80's version of the 700-R4 when it first came out..That's for sure. Once the bugs were worked out we used it as a racing tranny..Have had them in numerous trucks out of the 80's and 90's. The only one that gave me any static was the on in my '83 Blazer. The racing tranny guy found the flaw before GM did and I never had a problem with it again. He rebuilt it at around 120K..Ran it though college to around 230k and sold it. Extra clutches , bigger stall and a B&M steet and strip transpak..It would chirp a posi second with a 2.8 V6 and foot wide tires.

 

[westcliffe01]

Gentlemen, it seems that the number of on topic posts in this thread is rather low. Anyone interested in purchasing this vehicle does not need a p1ssing match about rear axles or transmissions or need to know what your flat bed truck had installed 16 years ago.

I will admit that finding reliable info on fuel consumption for even the F250 (which is at the very bottom of what would be considered for commercial use) has been a chore. It appears that despite the horror stories, the fuel consumption can be held above 15mpg without a load, even in a commuting situation. Given that the curb weight is double that of my little 3.7V6 ram 1500 and it averages the same in commuting, that is no mean feat.

I have a little mystery for any of you who may own one of these vehicles. On the left side of the steering column is a small button with a green status LED. Does anyone know what it is for ? The button has text that says PIAA ???

 

[dstig1]

Westcliffe - that's not stock. Since PIAA makes a lot of aftermarket/off-road lights, I would guess the PO put in aftermarket foglights or something similar, and this is the switch for it. If it doesn't do anything, then perhaps the PO removed the lights prior to sale.

 

[westcliffe01]

There is evidence of there having been a pair of lights mounted on the left and right hand side of the rear receiver. Each side has a bracket about 1/8" thick with a single hole about 3/8" in diameter. The truck has a goosneck hitch in the bed, and it was definitely a farm truck, so perhaps those lights were needed when hitching things up in the field. I have not yet tracked down any wiring yet, so I still have some figuring out to do...

Does anyone know if the dome light in the cab has a single light for the cab in addition to the 2 reading lights (I have an supercab) ? Right now only the reading lights work, so I think possibly the light for the cab is blown ?

I also imagine that the drive selector switch is supposed to be backlit ? Everything is lit but that 1 switch. If the OE's used LEDS they would last forever, incandescents are just plain dumb (but cheap).

Since I didn't mention it before, this is a 2008 truck with 58.5k miles looked after, interior is perfect, always used in southern texas. I paid just less than $26k for it, in addition about $500 for 2 one way tickets to Houston for me and the wife, about $70 for car hire to drive out to Brenham, TX (about midway between Houston and Austin) and then about $300 for fuel on the 1300 mile drive back home. We stayed 3 nights in hotels at between $89-99 per night and visited Graceland in Memphis on the way back. The weather in Texas was not great, but it was shirt sleeve temperature (65F). Weather on the return trip was not great either and we only hit snow between Indy and Ft Wayne for the first time.

I was surprised at how wooded eastern texas was and passed Davy Crockett National park/forest before crossing over into Arkansas. In this case it was a welcome break and not so much a chore to do the trip, since the wife and I have not had any vacation since May 2010 (only a week that time). It is really too far to be driving there and back under time pressure, but one way was fine.

 

[Builder]

Gentlemen, it seems that the number of on topic posts in this thread is rather low. Anyone interested in purchasing this vehicle does not need a p1ssing match about rear axles or transmissions or need to know what your flat bed truck had installed 16 years ago.

I agree.

I will admit that finding reliable info on fuel consumption for even the F250 (which is at the very bottom of what would be considered for commercial use) has been a chore. It appears that despite the horror stories, the fuel consumption can be held above 15mpg without a load, even in a commuting situation. Given that the curb weight is double that of my little 3.7V6 ram 1500 and it averages the same in commuting, that is no mean feat.

That's because you'll either get strong opinions negative & positive. Realistically, I think 15MPG unloaded while commuting is the best you will get if you mean stop/go or hilly driving type of commuting. If it's just a flat cruise commute, you may do a hair better. To do it consistently, you'll have to use a light foot and avoid idling.

 

[dstig1]

Does anyone know if the dome light in the cab has a single light for the cab in addition to the 2 reading lights (I have an supercab) ? Right now only the reading lights work, so I think possibly the light for the cab is blown ?

I also imagine that the drive selector switch is supposed to be backlit ? Everything is lit but that 1 switch. If the OE's used LEDS they would last forever, incandescents are just plain dumb (but cheap).

Pop the cover off the interior dome light and see if there is another bulb. It is pretty common for automakers to re-use the map lights as the dome light, double duty.

The dash bulbs rarley burn out, even incandescents. Usually takes a loooong time for them to go, unless defective and then they go real early. Wife's '99 Exploder with 181k miles just had the first one go out this past summer. My little '98 Civic has one out now too. They will eventually go to LEDs I'm sure. But carmakers stick with a design once they have it going well, for a long time.

 

[Diamondpilot]

That switch is 100% aftermarket. I am wondering now if the relay blocking your access to the fuse box was not related to this light kit? If not it was really stupid of Ford to make it so you need to use tools to access the fuses.

Chris

 

[westcliffe01]

Chris, its not a relay that is in the way, it is definitely a Ford component. I took a picture tonight, but now have to recharge the camera battery before I can download the pics....