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2008 - 2010 6.4 Ford Diesel?

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What say you? Run away? Any good experiences? Mileages you have achieved before retiring?
 

rrrr

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I bought a new King Ranch 4WD F-250 in 2008. Fuel mileage was 11-12 MPG. Regen mode ran all the time. It was gutless compared to the '04 6.0 diesel Ex I traded in.

Overall it was a tub of shit. I sold it 8 months after the purchase, dropped $8K on the sale and didn't care. I wanted it gone.
 

Apex svt

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Almost all the issues are related to the dpf emissions system. The regen cycle unlike a def truck loads the cyclinders with fuel to create a shit load of heat to “clean” out the exhaust. This causes massive egt’s (cracks pistons as everyone says) and washes out the cylinders putting fuel in the oil.

Most people with a 6.4 treat them like a 7.3, don’t change the oil or fuel filters for 10-15k miles and run the piss out of them. When you do this on top of fuel being in the oil, it’s a bad combo.

Buy a truck and delete the dpf. Don’t even have to remove the egr because that can be tuned to be shut off. And when it’s deleted don’t put it on the 300hp tune and drive it like it’s a sports car and cry if it does break.

This doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with the truck, just don’t be a moron. They still are the fastest tune only trucks out there.

There’s 4 around my town (80k, 100k, 130k, 185k miles) all running perfectly fine, all deleted, all maintained.

Most people, like those who have never operated a boat with armeson’s regurgitate what they read online.

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79 HUSTLER

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Run!!! Made a huge mistake getting one a few years back.
 

Brokeboatin221

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Friend of mine had an f450 with one, beautiful truck for its time. 3 motors later all stock and all he did is tow a fifthwheel 38 or 40 weekend warrior with it out to the desert. The third motor was right before 100k when his warranty was up he sold it after that. Unlike the 6.0 which I’ve owned 2 there is no bulletproof Avenue yet that never fixed my 6.0 either and 10k later in motor work it went bye bye.
 

welldigger00

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I’ve owned a dozen different fords throughout my years in business. From f one filthys, to f 750s with cats in them. A few L9000’s, even a bronco. So, I qualify to talk shit on fords, and not just what I read on the internet. Here is the thing I learned the most about fords. Loving a Ford is like loving a women that doesn’t love you back.
the best were my 550’s with stick shifts and 7.3’s. The worst were the 6.0’s, and the first gen 6.7.
 

Blackmagic94

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The only way to make a 6.4 live for a while is to have a live gauge pop aka tuner and watch the following when towing up a hill



Engine exhaust temp first, keep under 1100
Coolant temp, keep under 220
Oil temp, keep under 250


If any of those go beyond that you slow down until the temps drop even if it means going 20 mph up a grade.



I drove 174k on mine. It ran 13.1@102 mph. Hauled ass



Blew a head gasket
Leaking oem radiator
Leaking oem egr coolers

At 110k. Installed black onyx head gaskets and arp head studs


At 150k I lost the turbine actuator motor and rod and had to upgrade to a stainless steel one which required a cab lift off to get the turbo off

At 174k I lost a cylinder. Sold the truck


Run
 

monkeyswrench

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I haven't owned one, but replaced turbos in two, and a DEF pump deal in a third. DEF pump deal was freak deal, never heard about that before or since. The turbos...I'd really think those were more operator induced. Both hauled 5th wheel toyhaulers, and both owners thought they were race car drivers.
They haul ass. It just may depend on how heavy you tow and what you drive like. Replacing the turbo setup or doing head gaskets is a nightmare. The labor $ may give you a heart attack.
 

n2otoofast4u

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Find a WELL LOVED one that checks all the boxes, and mechanically checks out, buy it.

Then IMMEDIATELY delete it, and tune it, with a MILD tune. Don’t drive it like a race car, don’t try to beat your buddy to top of hill with your 40’ trailer behind it, and stay up on the maintenance.

I wouldn’t be afraid.
 

Apex svt

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I haven't owned one, but replaced turbos in two, and a DEF pump deal in a third. DEF pump deal was freak deal, never heard about that before or since. The turbos...I'd really think those were more operator induced. Both hauled 5th wheel toyhaulers, and both owners thought they were race car drivers.
They haul ass. It just may depend on how heavy you tow and what you drive like. Replacing the turbo setup or doing head gaskets is a nightmare. The labor $ may give you a heart attack.
That would be a freak deal to replace a DEF pump on a 6.4 since they don’t have a DEF system.
 

79 HUSTLER

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I haven't owned one, but replaced turbos in two, and a DEF pump deal in a third. DEF pump deal was freak deal, never heard about that before or since. The turbos...I'd really think those were more operator induced. Both hauled 5th wheel toyhaulers, and both owners thought they were race car drivers.
They haul ass. It just may depend on how heavy you tow and what you drive like. Replacing the turbo setup or doing head gaskets is a nightmare. The labor $ may give you a heart attack.
What year 6.4 had DEF to deal with a pump?
 

monkeyswrench

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That would be a freak deal to replace a DEF pump on a 6.4 since they don’t have a DEF system.
What year 6.4 had DEF to deal with a pump?
Sorry, must have been the 6.7...that one was a CF. It got tuned and deleted...only to end up also needing a charge cooler after.
Sadly, I've decided I prefer 6 leakers to work on than any of the "newer" stuff.
 

Doc

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I had a 08, deleted it within first 200 miles. Was crazy fast truck back then with a tune. I sold it with 60k on the truck and never gave me a problem. I do know know though when they do break they do it in a big way. I was on top of fluid changes and fuel filters all the time. Only two complaints on truck were the seats and door seals. Going to the river air was always leaking through the doors and my lower back would be killing me by the time I got there.
 

Flying_Lavey

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I think the general consensus is, stock they really fucking suck. If you don't mind deleting it and dealing with everything emissions wise that entails, then they are good.
 

H20 Toie

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i bought a 2008 f450 brand new
only truck i have ever had that i really didn't like
 

Cobalt232

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We had an 09 that we bought new. Totally stock. Most days it ran 2 miles to the office and back. Or to the river. Changed oil every 5k, fuel filters every 30k. Ran it 120k, then the money light came on and left my wife in limp mode in the desert. Mechanic said it probably needed a new high-pressure fuel pump at around 5k. No thanks, I always knew it was a time bomb.

The only issues we had were a bad Schrader valve in the AC and we had to redo the front end due to death wobble. It rode rough, got poor mileage, but it was a great highway truck. Our new Silverado doesn't track as well on the highway as the F-250 did. I know my wife misses it, but I didn't want to pull the trigger on a new one as we have a Bronco on the way.
 

hman442

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But a 6.4 truck... well, that depends. Do you want a truck to drive, or a truck to work on ?
 

Community

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Thanks all. Looks like it sold anyway before I could get there.....
 

wet hull

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Mine is a 09' 6.4. I have 235k miles on it and flawless. I bought is used 7 years ago.

Full EGR delete
H&S Tuner with Regen delete.
Straight piped
Registered in AZ. No smog requirement.

Runs like a absolute bat out of hell off the line. Originally had a EFI tuner with delete and it sucked compared to H&S tuner.
 

Universal Elements

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Mine is a 09' 6.4. I have 235k miles on it and flawless. I bought is used 7 years ago.

Full EGR delete
H&S Tuner with Regen delete.
Straight piped
Registered in AZ. No smog requirement.

Runs like a absolute bat out of hell off the line. Originally had a EFI tuner with delete and it sucked compared to H&S tuner.
After you did all the mods, did you see an improvement on the mpg?
 

nordictom

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not wanting to hi-jack.....so I am going to look for help in this thread.......... friend is basically going to give me a 2009 F350 lariat 4wd CC LB with a 6.4. has about 200k on the clock. it was his work truck, but is super clean. he hasn't sent me the paperwork from the Ford dealer, but he told me it "lost a cylinder". Wife is ok with me bringing it home to get it going, to use a river truck.
Questions:
who makes a tuner that can delete the regen & egr?
Machine shop (OC, IE, LA) that is proficient in machining diesel engine parts?

TIA, NT
 

wet hull

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not wanting to hi-jack.....so I am going to look for help in this thread.......... friend is basically going to give me a 2009 F350 lariat 4wd CC LB with a 6.4. has about 200k on the clock. it was his work truck, but is super clean. he hasn't sent me the paperwork from the Ford dealer, but he told me it "lost a cylinder". Wife is ok with me bringing it home to get it going, to use a river truck.
Questions:
who makes a tuner that can delete the regen & egr?
Machine shop (OC, IE, LA) that is proficient in machining diesel engine parts?

TIA, NT
You need the H&S tuner. They are not easily available. A guy in Canada rebuilds them and will mail to you.
 

TVMNick

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I have a 2010 6.4L that I bought new and deleted at 3k miles. It consistently dyno’d 580 wheel hp and ran deep 13s in the 1/4. I still have the truck today in my company fleet that my higher ups are allowed to use as needed. It has needed some normal maintenance over the years but overall been a damn good truck. Tows incredible with the factory compounds and runs cool. Currently sitting at 131k miles and will continue to see use until catastrophic failure that I don’t expect to see anytime soon.

Overall consensus is, delete with good tuning, keep fresh fluids in it and run it. Great truck and I’d buy another without hesitation.

I also own a gen 1 2011 6.7L Powerstroke with 226k on the odo as another company truck. Other than exploding the stock turbo and swapping to a fixed geometry single turbo it’s been a fantastic truck.
 

575cat

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is there a song out run run run run runaway , I have deleted many in the past but now they are all gone and I have seen one totally stock 240K plus
 

OCMerrill

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I'm just throwing this out there...supposedly CA can now check ECU's for factory programs during the smog test.

My 2004 Ram needs a smog in the next week and has a Smarty Jr tow tune in it mostly to correct the speedo. If this is the case and you run in CA I wouldn't delete anything. Just hollowing all that shit out wont fly much longer.

Were leaving the tune in there and see what happens.
 
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CHECKERED_PAST

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Great till it’s not! No matter the service records. If deleted possibly good, if not it’s a time bomb if you tow!
 

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nordictom

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I'm just throwing this out there...supposedly CA can now check ECU's for factory programs during the smog test.

My 2004 Ram needs a smog in the next week and has a Smarty Jr tow tune in it mostly to correct the speedo. If this is the case and you run in CA I wouldn't delete anything. Just hollowing all that shit out wont fly much longer.

Were leaving the tune in there and see what happens.
my experience with the CA Smog, on m 2002 F350 7.3. I use the Superchip tuner, for the tire size, & have it on economy tune. Just got it smogged in Aug. My smog Guy tells me it going to fail due to the tuner, I tell him to just run it. Guess what, it passed with no issues. Just my 2 cents.
 

Your ad here

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not wanting to hi-jack.....so I am going to look for help in this thread.......... friend is basically going to give me a 2009 F350 lariat 4wd CC LB with a 6.4. has about 200k on the clock. it was his work truck, but is super clean. he hasn't sent me the paperwork from the Ford dealer, but he told me it "lost a cylinder". Wife is ok with me bringing it home to get it going, to use a river truck.
Questions:
who makes a tuner that can delete the regen & egr?
Machine shop (OC, IE, LA) that is proficient in machining diesel engine parts?

TIA, NT
Even though it sounds like he's giving it to you for free, it will be a very expensive free.
 

CHECKERED_PAST

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Most tuners do not have the c.a.r.b. Tag to be 50 state legal, if it has the tag you’re fine, if not they don’t want to see it so pull it out before. The tune is fine in that aspect. The problem with 6.4s is you truly need to delete the emissions for it to have a chance at survival, that’s where you run into major issues. I’m in northern Utah and when I first got my 6.4 we had no diesel emissions so I took the dpf and cat out, fast forward a couple years and epa came and made it happen in my county. I would swap every year from deletion to stock emissions to comply and eventually got sick of that and just used the tuner with emissions in tack. That is what in my experience with a 6.4 was worse then stock, only time I’ve ever said that fyi! The early dpf/emissions on these are complete junk and ruins them all! When it goes into regeneration or cleaning exhaust filter mode, they flood diesel at the Down pipe after putting a false load condition on the motor to heat up the egt’s enough to ignite and burn particles out of the exhaust filter. Then you need to drive at speed 40-60 for a length of time to complete the process. With a tune it makes this happen more often. I melted #8 piston pulling a 10k load flat due to the regeneration process. The increase volume/pressure the injector produces for that process combined with normal heat while driving and towing was too much to handle over time.
My truck ran great until it didn’t one trip. I’m really happy with my 6.7 ford now lol
 

nordictom

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Most expensive word in the English dictionary.
you sound like my wife :)

Even if I get it for free, the axles are worth something to me. I have another project on the back burner, SAS on my F150.

Still looking for referrals on a machine shop....................

Thanks...........NT
 

OCMerrill

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my experience with the CA Smog, on m 2002 F350 7.3. I use the Superchip tuner, for the tire size, & have it on economy tune. Just got it smogged in Aug. My smog Guy tells me it going to fail due to the tuner, I tell him to just run it. Guess what, it passed with no issues. Just my 2 cents.

Well we took the 2004 Cummins Ram in for a smog check today and based on your comments we left it programmed.

Passed.

Saved me a couple hours putting the stock tune back in which would have erased the ABS Speed adjustment.
 
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