F450 woes

[lhansman]

I just received my Dec. issue of Diesel Power magazine and they have an article in their on the 15 most common problems with the 6.4 litre engine and one of them is rocker arm failure.

As a a 30 year GMC truck guy who has suffered financially from the service costs of a 2004 6.0 litre I can tell you that Ford was very good during the warranty period but after that all those expensive bills are yours. I went through 3 EGR cooler failures (two under warranty), head gasket failure approximately 2,000 km before the warranty expired and then a couple of HPOP related failures. In the last six months I had the cooling fan have to be replaced, the oil cooler failed, the HPOP lost its pressure relief plug and had to be replaced and then the front engine cover corroded and had to be replaced for a total of $7,000 in repairs. Four days later I was driving along and a vibration started and long story short the head gasket on cylinder #3 is leaking. I have had enough and decided to replace the truck as it has 370,000 km on it at this point and my wallet can't take any more for a truck this old.

The problem I have is that despite all of these problems the Super Duty is still to my mind the most comfortable of the big three trucks out there so after a week of shoping and looking at GM, Dodge and Ford my Ford dealer gave me a **** of a deal on a 2012 F250 with the 6.7 litre Power Stroke and so I am driving another Ford. I love the new truck and am really impressed with its power and quietness and hope that the 6.7 litre does not give me near the number of problems the 6.0 did.

Good luck with getting your 6.4 back on the road.

Regards,

Lauren

 

[Soundguy]

I'm fairly comfortable that they will, my only apprehension is from stories I have read on the internet. The service writer without prompting essentially told me not to worry that it would be covered under the warranty while handing me a PO to get a rental car at their expense, not Ford's.

that sound slike it is headed in the correct direction!

 

[94BULLITT]

Good luck it, at least your dealer is confident the will fix it under warranty.

 

[Hay Dude]

That's what I'm hoping too. I was figuring on trading it in early next year when the warranty was up, but if they replace the motor I will probably hang on to it for another year.

If you do, extend the warranty.
I will probably have to part with $3,000 or more to extend the warranty on mine. My 6.4L is totally unreliable and I wouldn't drive it much past a few hours from my shop. Mine pours thick gray smoke out the exhaust at random intervals.
I wouldn't recommend a 6L or 6.4L Ford diesel to anyone. They have cost me thousands in repairs, left me stranded and continue to leave me with a nervous feeling I never had with other diesels I owned.
Unfortunately for me, Ford has me over a barrel. GM is out of medium duty trucks, leaving only Chrysler for an alternative.
Might take a look at the new 6.7L F-550, but I really hate rewarding Ford with any more of my hard earned money.

 

[groundcover]

Hay Dude, that thick gray smoke must be the regen cycle. How that can be better for the environment than my clean burning '94 7.3 IDI or my '99 5.9 plum evades me. The more I see of the new trucks the better I like my old ones ! Just did a EGR delete on the '03 6.0 , that and a tow tune and she is a whole new beast. Word is you don't want to own a 6.4 out of warranty !

 

[Rustyiron]

Hay Dude, that thick gray smoke must be the regen cycle. How that can be better for the environment than my clean burning '94 7.3 IDI or my '99 5.9 plum evades me. The more I see of the new trucks the better I like my old ones ! Just did a EGR delete on the '03 6.0 , that and a tow tune and she is a whole new beast. Word is you don't want to own a 6.4 out of warranty !

Changed my oil in my 01 7.3 today. I install hour meters in my trucks when new, and that was 6609 engine hours ago on this truck! I had a 88 with over 8500hrs when I surrendered to the rust. This is with only oil changes (3000mi) with some minor fuel sys. work. Nothing but OC in the 01 with 6600+ hrs.
Now trannys........... that's another (bad) story. It seems that they have fixed those issues. Have they?

 

[Hay Dude]

Hay Dude, that thick gray smoke must be the regen cycle. How that can be better for the environment than my clean burning '94 7.3 IDI or my '99 5.9 plum evades me. The more I see of the new trucks the better I like my old ones ! Just did a EGR delete on the '03 6.0 , that and a tow tune and she is a whole new beast. Word is you don't want to own a 6.4 out of warranty !

It isn't better for the enviroment! You are right-I bet your old trucks do burn cleaner! Can't do EGR delete cause it's illegal and my truck must be inspected!
No way is it the regen cycle. The regen light is never on when it happens.
Here's what I think it is:
Ford built a design flaw into these trucks. They did not design these trucks for "short hauls". The 6.4L accumulates excess fuel and when it gets hot, it causes smoke to pour out the exhaust.
Talked to one other guy in the Ford service department who was very knowledgeable and tech trained on the 6L and 6.4L and he said the 6.4L is a bad diesel for short/heavy hauls.
I noticed one morning I drove it to the farm to start hauling hay. I loaded (16) 1,000lb bales on the trailer and right after I pulled out, it poured crazy thick gray smoke out the dual pipes.
It was embarrassing and harmful to the enviroment. I can't help but think how much vehicle reliability/time/cost was spent making this thing burn clean only to have this happen.
BTW: No codes are thrown when it happens.

 

[Bird]

Since one of my brothers has been pulling his fifth-wheel with a 2008 F550, and I knew he'd had it in the shop a lot for emission control problems, I sent him an e-mail that he might want to see this thread. He said it was the first he'd heard of this kind of problems, but that he didn't have to worry about it anymore; said he sold that "hangar queen" to a Ford dealer friday.:laughing:

 

[Hay Dude]

Since one of my brothers has been pulling his fifth-wheel with a 2008 F550, and I knew he'd had it in the shop a lot for emission control problems, I sent him an e-mail that he might want to see this thread. He said it was the first he'd heard of this kind of problems, but that he didn't have to worry about it anymore; said he sold that "hangar queen" to a Ford dealer friday.:laughing:

Smart man. Problem is, Ford is on to this and they won't give us much for trade in on 6L and 6.4L trucks.
The right thing to do would be to give us some kind of compensatory reward for having to put up with the problems or voluntarily recall all of them for repair.

 

[brain55]

So they ordered my new short block today. Apparently the piston oiler for #4 piston failed, not sure if it plugged up or broke, but I guess the skirt was pretty mangled. No surprise that that was the same cylinder as the cam lobe failure.