Ford 6.4L Diesel - RV-Dreams Community Forum

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Ford 6.4L Diesel

DeeJee · RV-Dreams Family Member

John has found an '08 for $27K w/143K mi to match our new CC. He's wondering if anyone has this engine to tow and if you recommend it.

TheHarveys · RV-Dreams Family Member

I also have a 2008 F-450 with the 6.4 ltr. diesel that I have owned for almost a year. I looked for one for several months and when I found this one, it only had a little over 19,000 miles on it. I tow an 18,000lb Carriage Carri-Lite with it and it tows our trailer very well. Once we get on the freeway, I just set the cruise control at 65 and away we go. I am extremely happy with the truck.
It did ride like a big truck, but we have installed the Auto-Flex air ride rear suspension and that made a huge difference in the ride of the truck. I also installed a 67 gallon Titan replacement fuel tank. It actually mounts in the same location as the stock tank. Like El Rojo, we also only get about 7 MPG when towing the trailer at 65. However, with 67 gallons of diesel onboard, I can drive pretty much all day without having to worry about fuel.
We now have about 31,000 miles on the truck and no problems yet.

-- Edited by TheHarveys on Friday 18th of October 2013 06:57:26 AM

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

It doesn't seem to matter what manufacturer or engine one gets, there will always be someone that wants to trash-talk the engine. However, we also have a Ford F450 with the 6.4 and I've been pretty pleased with it, especially since out trailer's GVWR is 18,500 lbs. The only thing on my part is that we haven't towed ours much as we are still working full time, at least until possibly July. I have heard of a number of folks with the 6.4 say that they are not having problems with theirs. What you might also do is look to see if you purchase an extended warranty on the truck. The one thing about diesels is that they are more expensive to work on than gas engines are.

Good luck.

Terry

sdman · RV-Dreams Family Member

We too have an 08 F-450 with the 6.4 engine. We bought it used last year with 37k miles on it and now have 62k. We have pulled our Prime Time Sanibel (16k lbs) over 10k miles and driven the truck 25k miles now. We also bought an extended warranty through Wholesale Warranties and used it to have an AC condenser replaced. That's the only issue we have had with the truck. We love the truck!

Mark

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

One more thing. We found that driving in the tow/haul mode when towing got the same mileage as when it was not engaged, but it shifted less and ran cooler.

Jsova · RV-Dreams Community Member

I have a 08 F450 6.4 Diesel.

I have talked to a few boys and they told me in there business they got one and used the tow haul mode a lot (specifically got the 450 to haul heavy loads to help out there 350's) and she developed problems for em. Don't know if was the driver or not but there F350's didn't ever have the tranny problems the 450 did. I don't use the tow/haul now and have not really noticed any difference/ negatives for doing that. Milage seemed to improve getting 8+mpg and better with the wind. I'm Pulling 18000 toyhauler.

My biggest complaint if I am to have one, is the nuseance thing with the temperature console control, not coming on, and then have to mess with the fuse box to pull a fuse or whatever it is, to get it to come back on. I wish there was a true cure, as it seems to be a chronic condition and no one thing is the right magic fix yet.

Other then the above, a beautiful running and pulling truck.

I do have a step on the passenger door side-- handicap step ??? It doesn't work. Anybody know anything about these things? Won't mind getting it to work since I have it. Is there a switch somewhere for it.. trouble shoot papers somewhere?

I think its needed now after blowing my air horn and making the misses faint... :)

Bill and Linda · RV-Dreams Family Member

el Rojo wrote:
One more thing. We found that driving in the tow/haul mode when towing got the same mileage as when it was not engaged, but it shifted less and ran cooler.

Yep. It runs cooler because it locks up the torque converter sooner in Tow Haul and it’s in the proper gear thus putting less stress on the clutch plate, etc. – less heat The reason for the same MPG: with a high gear rear end ratio it comes down to how much horsepower is required to hold speed against weight and wind resistance. Torque gets you moving, but horsepower is what keeps you at speed and that is based on a direct energy use when at speed. I.e. how much diesel is required to produce that horsepower without waste.

Just commenting

el Rojo and Pam · RV-Dreams Family Member

Bill and Linda wrote:
el Rojo wrote:
One more thing. We found that driving in the tow/haul mode when towing got the same mileage as when it was not engaged, but it shifted less and ran cooler.
Yep. It runs cooler because it locks up the torque converter sooner in Tow Haul and it’s in the proper gear thus putting less stress on the clutch plate, etc. – less heat The reason for the same MPG: with a high gear rear end ratio it comes down to how much horsepower is required to hold speed against weight and wind resistance. Torque gets you moving, but horsepower is what keeps you at speed and that is based on a direct energy use when at speed. I.e. how much diesel is required to produce that horsepower without waste.
Just commenting

Never heard it put that way. That's a easy way to look at it. Thanks for the comment.

Red

rclvnv · RV-Dreams Family Member

We too have a 2010 with the 6.4. We tow a 5th wheel that weighs about 13K, fully loaded. We bought it new, and now have 54K miles on it, more than 2/3 of those towing. We have towed cross-country & back four times, now. Mileage in tow/haul has been best @ 11.3,and as low as 9. We never exceed 65 mph. Around town, out of tow haul it gets 12.5. Highway trip not towing, @70-75 mph was best @ 19.8 (Las Vegas to Hurricane, UT). We have had no mechanical problems whatever. When towing the 5200 mile cycle, we change the oil before and at the end of that cycle . During stationary/local driving only periods, we change it every 10K, along with the fuel filters . If you don't already know it, the 10K service will cost you some money!. We replaced the tires at 40K, but that was by choice, not necessity, as we were doing a lot of high heat towing. We added Timbrens on the rear. As I say, we've had no issues. In the middle of our cross country trips, we have an "honest" Ford dealer (small town-family owned),we found go over the truck. This time they recommended flushing the cooling system, and changing the rear differential fluid & the air filter. We did those things. It is interesting to note that brakes and shocks we still fine, @53K. I couldn't be happier with it.

My son-in-law has the exact same truck, but it is a 2011 6.7.He has had (to date) multiple attempts by several Ford dealers to fix the fact that the overheat light comes on and the truck shuts down. Supposedly Ford engineers have been involved in the attempt to fix it. No dice! As I write this the truck has been at the dealer for three weeks. They first said the problem was in the instrument cluster. They replaced the instrument cluster. Not the fix. Still working on it. I'll keep my 6.4.

Richard

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

Well I know it's a bit late to post on this thread but I recently purchased an 08, 6.4l F-250 LB supercab with $109k miles for $11,900. I paid $1,000 more for a 24k mile, 24 month warranty for piece of mind. Sure it's a base XT model (though it has the integrated brake controller, tow/haul mode, 12,500lb hitch, etc.) with a few minor dings and dents, but it was a leased vehicle so I'm confident PM was done per Ford's maintenance schedule. I changed my oil and drained the fuel as soon as I got it. Any other immediate maintenance needs might need attention? I plan on towing an 11k lb (GVW) travel trailer with it FT in a few years. I heard these models get poor fuel mileage but mine has been getting low-mid twenties (I got a high of 27mpg, pure highway at 60 mph once) unfettered for mostly highway use. Around town I'm sure the MPG will suck, but this is not what I bought it for. I've got 2 small motorbikes I intend to throw in the bed and use for around town use when we start full-timing. Now I have a couple economy cars for work related/commuting use.

I hope your 350 dually is working out well for you. Any unexpected "adventures" or regrets? What have you been getting for MPG both towing and not? Finally, have you done the DPF and/or EGR delete and tune yet? Are you planning to?

Thanks,

Chip

TheHarveys · RV-Dreams Family Member

IN MY OPINION...I would be careful of the DPF and/or EGR delete kits...You will notice that they all have a disclaimer saying that they are for off-road/racing use only. The reason they have that disclaimer is because, strictly speaking, they are illegal for highway use. Here in Texas, where they do an emissions check every year, they can fine you for having the delete kit and make you install the original parts.
That being said, there are plenty of folks who have installed those kits...they just pull them out and install the original parts every year when they go get their inspection done and after the inspection, put the delete kits back in.
I have chosen just to leave mine stock. I do not want the hassle of having to change out the parts every year for the inspection. I did not buy the truck expecting to get economy car mileage. I bought it to pull an 18 to 20,000 lb. fifth wheel, which it does very well.

Sushidog · RV-Dreams Family Member

Thanks for the advice. The inspection is one of the reasons I'm considering SD for my domicile over TX. I understand that now only the big cities do the emissions inspections as part of the safety check in Texas, and that some counties, such as Livingston, don't check your emission equipment. But who knows what's in the future?

I'm mainly concerned about reliability. I heard that an EGR failure can cause catastrophic engine damage. Also, the regen cycle contaminates the oil with diesel fuel forcing 5k mile oil changes rather than the recommended 10k mile oil change interval. I really don't like the idea of diesel fuel thinning my oil, reducing it's lubricative abilities and shortening my engine life (doubling my oil change costs too.) This is the last truck I plan on buying, so I'll need to keep it for over 500,000 miles. Economy to me means more than MPG, as I can control my fuel expenses by just not driving as much. Economy is less maintenance and repair costs too as well as peace of mind that a small hole in the EGR assy won't cost me a $10k engine repair. Plus I hear the exhaust gas temps drop 50-100 degrees after you do a EGR delete, a real boon towing up long grades in the summer.

I really like my truck, and it gives better fuel mileage than I expected, hearing the horror stories of single digit MPG. I'm just afraid of an emission system failure destroying my engine. Economy is important to me as I will be fulltiming on social security retirement (and my DW's tiny pension.) I have little savings, as I lost a lot in 2 market crashes and the rest had to go for hospital bills (for my first DW). So if something breaks unexpectedly, I'll be stuck till I can save enough money to get it repaired, which at the price of diesel repairs (and the size of my social security check) could be a very long time.

Chip