rlchv70

The factory turbos were Garretts as well. The biggest issues with 6.0s were head gaskets and injectors.


Not sure where you are getting your info. Very few instances of "fire-breathing" were reported and was fixed quickly with a software change recall. 6.4L turbo does not have a wastegate. Things other than the engine were changed that affect fuel mileage. The 08 Superdutys are a brick aerodynamically compared to the older trucks. Ford put a bigger air dam on job 2 trucks and picked up 1 MPG.

People forget about issues with the 7.3L. It had its fair share of warranty problems. The 6.4L has actually been doing pretty well. I believe that the warranty numbers are on par with the 7.3L. The biggest issue is with failed radiators, which is a Ford part. The failed radiator can lead to other failures on the engine.

ProudPony

You are totally correct - I agree 100%. I see big tandem dumps, over-the-road tractors, and heavy equipment with I-6's all the time - it's almost all there is. All my farm equipment has inline diesels from 3-cyl to 6 cyl configs. The loader I just bought Saturday has an Isuzu 4JB1 inline 4 diesel with 57hp. Our New Holland has the Perkins 36hp inline diesel. Convention says inline diesels are the way to go and even inline gas burners seem more torquey than V-shaped blocks of equal displacement and induction.

When it comes to huge diesels like ship engines and such, the complexity of machining and the spatial restrictions (packaging the engine into the hold) become driving causes for inline cylinders as opposed to V-blocks, but that is on a totally different magnitude of scale. For cars, trucks, and industrial equipment, it seems that inlines dominate... except for these few truck engines. BUT...

Pulling a 4-horse trailer with tack and sleeper across 2 continental divides in a convoy of 8 trucks - some Chevy, some Dodge, and some Ford... The same trucks kept creeping farther and farther away as we went up the long grades. My buddy's 1999 Dodge will leave me in the dust drag-racing from 0-60 when we are both empty, and we are essentially equal with equal loads on flat lands, but when we are dragging horses up the Blue Ridge Mountains on I-40 near Asheville, I will slowly walk away from him every time - even with my 3.55 gears. Just telling what I've lived and done.

You would think that 520tq is 520tq no matter how it gets to the shaft, but I swear the V8 shines just a little brighter on the relentless drags. I'm a double-degreed mechanical engineer and studied automotive powerplants under Dr. Jerry Hill - former employee and project leader on the Pratt-Whitney engines that powered the F-14 Strike Eagle - yet I can not explain or have not heard anyone else explain why 2 Powerstrokes pulled the Blue Ridge and Rocky Mountain grades better than any of the 3 Dodges in our group. Repeatedly. No matter how you started at the bottom, it was the Fords, then Chevys, then Dodges when we crossed the top. Didn't matter how much gas, water, horses, etc. they just ended up that way after miles of hard, continuous pulling. Maybe the Cummins are not putting down the advertised TQ, or maybe the Powerstrokes are putting out more than advertised... I dunno.

How many V6 and V8 diesels are actually mass-produced for commercial and consumer markets anyway? Maybe the Scorpion and Duramax are the trendsetters. All I know is, it's been d@mn-tough and works like a rented mule.

PS - I just found out that Ford apparently has the proprietary rights to the term "Power Stroke", so the new engine will carry on that name and label. That may help a bit with reputation and credibility. Just puts more pressure on the engine to be as good or better than the 7.3 or predecessors.

And thanks for the compliment... I try to keep my truck in good shape. It's bone stock - no mods at all. Captains chairs and every option you could get on the truck - power seats, CD, everything. Michelins. Just wish sometimes it had power extedable side mirrors like the newer trucks.

ProudPony

Knew about the injectors and gaskets too, but the big hitter from people I know with them was the turbo problem. As far as Garrett supplying them, all I can tell you is that the 3 Ford dealers in my area were being supplied directly from Garrett - not ordered through Ford or Navistar. I do know there was a huge backlog of orders and Garrett was running bananas to try to fill them all. I have a good a friend in Lexington, NC that had (still has) a 2005 Excursion that sat at the dealer for a week waiting for the replacement unit to arrive. Since his service, not a minutes trouble with the engine and about 95,000 miles or so now. When his turbo locked-up, it was like the engine lost 75% of it's power - I know because I was in it when we were going to Zaxby's for lunch. We ate lunch, went back to the plant, and he drove it to the dealership that afternoon all with a seized turbo.

I just drove another 6.0 Excursion from Lexington, NC to New Orleans, LA for a fishing trip 3 weeks ago. 828 miles driveway to driveway and it ran perfectly. 17 mpg and change pulling a 21' bay boat. BUT - Jerry just had $4200 in repairs done on it before the trip... turbo, injectors and glow plugs with a regular service. 120k miles. He loves it and plans to keep it indefinitely because it is perfect for what he does with it. There were 3 of us on the trip... we left at 7pm here, and were fishing in Delacroix at 8am the next morning. One driving, one shotgunner to keep the driver awake, and 1 in the back seat under a blanket with a pillow. 2 hour shifts. Drive all night, fish all day.

I can't claim to be any kind of expert on the 6.4... don't own or drive one. Just been in the circles at car shows, boat ramps, and horse shows. I know it's fuel efficiency is it's big achile's heel right now. Blame it on the truck, areo, or whatever, but going down in fuel economy is NOT the thing to do these days - especially when a truck 13-years older is working the same job for less money and doing it just as well.

As for the 7.3 - I agree they had some growing pains - especially early in the program, but those engines are legendary today, and that is a hard thing to do with the truck crowd. They kill glow plugs between 100-130k, they kill injectors about 130-150k, they are expensive to maintain - 14 quarts and a huge expensive filter every 3500 miles is tough sometimes. The injectors hydraulic and use crankcase oil to actuate, so when the oil is dirty or starts to break down the engine loses power and efficiency - you can feel it in the seat - so you don't cheat or scrimp on oil or change intervals much. They breathe hard and are sensitive to water in the fuel. But then again I like my beer at 37* and prefer tall skinny brunettes... so I guess we all have our issues. Bottom line is there are oodles of them out here with 500k miles or more on them still working hard. 250k on a Powerstroke is now commonplace. That's friggin' tough.

I'll take the 7.3 over any of the others up to now, and I'll wait to see how the new 6.7 does before I change my stance.

Here's an old article to jog the memory of those happy 6.0 owners...
http://www.autoweek.com/article/20051216/FREE/51216021

"Ford has declined to estimate the cost of fixing those defective Power Stroke engines. But Ford has acknowledged that its warranty costs ballooned by $500 million through the first nine months of 2005, compared with the same period a year earlier."

"Most automakers use only electronic controls to operate the fuel injectors in a common-rail system. But the Power Stroke's fuel injectors are operated by a high-pressure oil pump as well as electronics.
According to several of the 150-plus complaints posted on the Web site of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, some trucks never even made it home from the dealership before the fuel injectors or turbocharger failed.
The engine also has been plagued with leaky fuel injectors, oil leaks, broken turbochargers, wiring harness troubles, faulty sensors, defective exhaust gas recirculation valves and bad computers.
Since the engine debuted three years ago, Ford has issued at least 77 technical service bulletins. That is far above average, even for a new engine. These bulletins tell mechanics how to diagnose and fix various problems."

This really was a dark cloud over Ford, and was the beginning of the end for their relationship with Navistar. Think about it... $500-million in warranty work in 9 months?!?!

SSCamaro99_3

Thanks. I have been lightly shopping for a truck if one comes my way at a good price. Seems like for longevity and capability thhis class of trucks are the way to go.