Ford F-450 with 6.4 diesel

[Buppies]

In December of last year service truck lost both turbos and had broken exhaust manifold bolts. Repair cost $6600. Last week motor loses number eight piston $18000 for new motor. Turbos at 101000 mi and motor at 111000 mi. As we all know out of warranty but reason for diesel is longevity right. Something smells bad here, May but more diesels in future but will be very careful. Oil and filters changed every 6500 to 7000 miles only synthetic oil used. Never had this problem before. Wonder if anyone else has had this issue before?

 

[3930dave]

I hadn't heard much about the 6.4s, other than in stock form, fuel consumption issues.

Then again, I haven't had a reason to really go research them. Also try powerstroke.org, I found that a good source when I was researching my 7.3.

6.4 Motor Problems - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

Some random thoughts....

1) Do you know for sure what motor oil was used ? As in brand label/sub-model. I'm not looking to start a oil-brand discussion, just thinking about generic off-brand/sub-standard oil being used now and then.

2) Was the fuel filter changed at factory spec intervals, if not sooner ?

3) Driver issues..... when you say "never had this problem before" - is it the same driver as on older trucks ? Thinking cool-down period on turbos after a heavy haul, etc.....

Rgds, D.

 

[aczlan]

Has it seen much idling? Did they say what caused the piston to let go?

Aaron Z

 

[3930dave]

Has it seen much idling?

Aaron Z

Good point.

Can you get Hours information out of the stock dash Buppies ? It might be useful to know how many Operating Hours that 7,000 miles translates to.

Rgds, D.

 

[dodge man]

My wild guess would be an injector went bad, over fueled and melted the piston.

Its seems like a member, can't remember his user name for sure, maybe Brain55 had a F450 and he is moving into a medium duty truck because he had a lot of problems.

 

[TheGoose]

I know of several people with 6.4's that have the same troubles and if you look around on the internet you will see that many folks are having major trouble with the 6.4's. Ford only made them for two years and it's widely considered to be a black sheep engine, even more so than the much-maligned 6.0.

Our own TBN'er Brain55 I think had similar trouble with the exhaust manifold. Lots of people claim that removing the emissions junk-ola will fix most of the engine but most people I know can't keep radiator's in them.

 

[Buppies]

The oil is Amsoil 5w40 for 2008 and newer vehicles diesel only. Cool down pounded into employees heads every day. Mechanic in Va said 8 piston is where all heat goes from emissions personally think injector went but no matter just a word to the wise and really looking to vent. The only motor we had ever lost before hand was a 3208 cat and they were known to not last. Suppose 6.4 ford international is same way

 

[Buppies]

Good point.

Can you get Hours information out of the stock dash Buppies ? It might be useful to know how many Operating Hours that 7,000 miles translates to.

Rgds, D.

Truck is at dealer in Raleigh but will call service advisor and ask if he can obtain this for me

 

[brain55]

Let me see. High pressure fuel pump at around 51,000 miles under warranty. Lost #4 piston (due to the piston oiler falling out of the block) at 91,000 miles. They started out replacing the broken rocker arms, then the broken cam, then they finally got to the real problem. Once they got it all put back together they found the turbos were bad also (I had told them so, but there wasn't much they could do to test them as bad as the engine was knocking). Also all under warranty. Almost forgot, they did the radiator then too.

Now at 146,000 miles I need turbos again, exhaust manifolds and bolts, a/c compressor, and power steering pump (because it squeals like most Fords). I don't want to put any money in this truck. I'm in the process of buying an International Durastar DT4400. Even at $100k out the door it will cost less per year and have more residual value at the end of the loan term than the F450.

But other than that, it's been a good truck. I tow 17,000 lbs near daily and put over 30,000 miles a year on it.

Brian

PS. I'm convinced that if I did choose to make these repairs the high pressure fuel pump would fail again leaving me with another repair bill.

 

[3930dave]

Truck is at dealer in Raleigh but will call service advisor and ask if he can obtain this for me

As you know, you've been using good oil, so that itself shouldn't be the issue.

I bring up Hours, because sometimes that can beat up even a really good oil. I read a Cummins report on problem issues in Europe - the shop thought they were overchanging the oil (being safe), but once they actually went through the Cummins useage flow-chart to determine OCI, they were way over on Hours.

If you can get the Hour data for that truck, it might be worth running it past the Tech guys at Amsoil.

Rgds, D.