Ford 6.4 question?

[jfox1995]

I am looking to buy a truck for hauling sleds and was wondering what experience people have had with the Ford 6.4 diesel? I know the 6.0 Ford is one to stay away from, but haven't heard anything about these. Also how is the new 6.7 Cummins? Is it as good as the 5.9? Thanks in advance for any info.

Jim

 

[JSCC]

Mine has been a rock solid truck for 82,000 miles now. I heard they are pigs on fuel when stock do if you get one remove all the emissions crap if you want to get any mileage.
Seriously been completely impressed and happy with my truck. However it's time for another so it is going down the road.....

Good luck.

 

[jfox1995]

I have never owned a diesel truck so I have some additional questions. What is the average cost of oil changes? How often do you need to change the fuel filter? I did haul a 4 place earlier this year with my friends duramax and we averaged about 12 mpg going 70-75 down the highway. How does the Ford 6.4 compare with and without the emissions crap? Thanks again for any info.

Jim

 

[JSCC]

If you change to oil yourself it will run around 55-60 bucks. I pay around 80ish for oil changes and lubes.
Fuel filters should be changed every 15k.......according to Ford.
I have owned a Duramax, Few Cummins trucks, quite a few Powerstrokes as well as this new 6.4. With me driving they all seem to get the same mileage pulling the same loads. Within 1-2 mpg of each other.
This truck of mine gets around 9-9.5 pulling my 30' enclosed loaded at 75-80. 16ish empty.
I have been told on more than one occasion and possibly quite often that I have a heavy foot.....

 

[-lenny-]

Excellent answer.

 

[line8]

I have never owned a diesel truck so I have some additional questions. What is the average cost of oil changes? How often do you need to change the fuel filter? I did haul a 4 place earlier this year with my friends duramax and we averaged about 12 mpg going 70-75 down the highway. How does the Ford 6.4 compare with and without the emissions crap? Thanks again for any info.

Jim

Average cost of oil- at Ford $80-100/ every 5k. Ford was saying 10k but not recommended at all. It makes oil because of the regen (exhaust cleaning) and so....fuel can become dilluted.
Fuel Filters-10,000 miles,,,,,,,,,a must!
With emissions fuel- 12-13 mpg empty, less, pulling anything.
without emissions-just yanked it yesterday and it's a new truck. More power than I will ever need. I could imagine the fuel economy will increase since it takes next to no throttle to move.

 

[wyoXP]

I own a '06 with the 6.0 and do just fine. Although the 6.4 has quite a bit more power they do suck mileage as pointed out earlier in the replies. If you don't care about your warrenty then by all means get rid of the emissions stuff and straight pipe it. Then you've got yourself a righteous rig.
The 6.0's need a little massaging if you want to have a worry free tow vehicle. The money spent with upgrades to up the HP and the MPG will be well worth the $'s. Also if you can pick one up that has low miles you can save some $ on the intial investment. 8-10 mpg 6.4 or 12-14 6.0, these are stock #'s. Do the math and have fun with your new toy

 

[jfox1995]

I own a '06 with the 6.0 and do just fine. Although the 6.4 has quite a bit more power they do suck mileage as pointed out earlier in the replies. If you don't care about your warrenty then by all means get rid of the emissions stuff and straight pipe it. Then you've got yourself a righteous rig.
The 6.0's need a little massaging if you want to have a worry free tow vehicle. The money spent with upgrades to up the HP and the MPG will be well worth the $'s. Also if you can pick one up that has low miles you can save some $ on the intial investment. 8-10 mpg 6.4 or 12-14 6.0, these are stock #'s. Do the math and have fun with your new toy

What kind of money would I be looking at spending to make a 6.0 reliable? I don't know a lot about them but heard they like to blow headgaskets. I also heard the turbos go out on them. Is any of this correct or just myths? If I get one with warranty still I will keep it stock, otherwise I don't have a problem tuning it a bit to get better mileage.

 

[wyoXP]

The head gasket problems came out of the earlier 6.0's, 03-05. A bad design in the EGR cooler allowed for coolent to leak into the engine which lead to steam buildup which lead to gaskets blowing. In '06 the design was changed and alot of the problems were solved. I don't tow alot, but I do plan on replacing the EGR with one from BulletProofDiesel.com as well as the oil cooler. Those two things along with a free flowing exhaust will do WONDERS for the motor! $2200 will get you the complete kit to "Bullet Proof" your 6.0l. They also have certified shops around the country to help with the install and take car of any warrenty. If you really want to be worry free, especially if you add a chip, ARP Head Studs are a very good investment.

With the turbos, alot of the problems come from just skating around town and not working the motor. Dirty oil and carbon bulidup are a death sentence. As with alot of things, regular matinence goes a long way. When I bought my truck, my service advisor told me to be VERY PICKY about the regular service intervals.

The 6.4l was put out to fill the gap between the 6.0l and the 6.7l. Kind of a misstep if you ask me. To go with the very bad mileage, I had heard of the turbos getting so hot under the hood that the paint was blistering. For my money, I would find a low mileage 6.0l; or at least one that has been babied; and drop a little more money on the BulletProof products. That should give you a VERY good base to go with.

Also you should check out "thedieselstop.com". It's a forum for all Ford diesel's and is a great place for alot of answers. Good luck.

wyoXP

 

[TNTCOPP]

I had an '06 with the 6.0 that went 50k miles without a lick of problems, just oil and fuel filter changes. Then boom , oil pump went out, turbo replaced, 4wd issues, etc....... so I traded it on a 2010 6.4. Had it 6 months and got about 6 mpg when towing and only 9 mpg empty. All because of excessive re-gen's for the emissions bs. Strong motor but could not deal with the fuel consumption. Traded it on a 2011 6.7 and have NEVER been happier with a Ford diesel, and I've had every Powerstroke since they've come out.
The power is absolutely amazing - no tuner required. Empty I have gotten as many as 21 mpg, averaging low teens city and around 12-13 towing.

 

[Snowrat]

jfox1995,

The 6.4 is a good motor with plenty of power but less than good fuel economy. The fuel economy issues can be delt with by doing a dpf delete (programmer, exhaust and intake) and with the DPF delete the 6.4 can make incredable HP but at the cost of your factory warrenty. The biggest draw back to these trucks with the 6.4 is when you have to work on the motor they require taking the cab off to work on the motor, change injectors etc. and thats not cheap. I believe the 6.0 is the same.

The biggest complaint I had with this truck (6.4) was the poor fuel economy caused mostly by the exhaust filter and the almost constaint (every 500 miles or less) exhaust filter cleaning mode.

As far as the cummins 6.7 is concerend I just traded my 6.4 ford in for one and out of the gate I am getting 16.5 mpg where the 6.4 was getting 13.5 mpg on the same trip. I haven't yet towed with it yet, just got it last Saturday. The 6.4 got 7-9 mpg towing with a 3.55 axle ratio.

I will say that I believe the 6.4 has quicker off the line acceleration than the 6.7 cummins; twin turbo v-8 vs, single turbo i-6 but it's like comparing apples to oranges.

The new 6.7L ford diesel is supposed to be an incredible motor with great fuel economy and power. For me, I wanted to go back to what I know and have grown to love... The cummins diesel motor. Yes, the new Fords and GM's have the current edge on HP and torgue but at what point do you personally have enough. With my old 5.9 HO with 305 HP and 560 ft/lb I never found my self saying I really need another 95HP and 200 ft/lbs to make this truck truely do what I need it to do.

My experiance with cummins is the fuel economy improves over time as the engine breakes-in. When I first got my 03 5.9 cimmins HO it got 16-17 mpg but after around 50-60K miles that improved to 19-20 mpg. The highest MPG i got with the 5.9 was 23.5, empty on stock sized tires. Towing 7,000 to 10,000 lb it has averaged 12-13 mpg with 3.73 axle ratio. 03 5.9L cummins 191,000 miles and still going strong.

It is my opinion that all three light duty diesel truck mfg make very good 3/4 and 1 ton trucks all with (+/-) and to me it all boils down to personal preference. None of them are designed for short trip daily driving and that is the duty that you see people having the bulk of the mechanical issues.