I bought a used 2008 F250 6.4L Diesel with 116,000 miles approximately 45 days ago (July 2015). In short, I am being told I need a new enhanced short block that will cost around $10,000. My story I don’t believe is unusual as I just met a guy arbitrarily this weekend who has the EXACT same truck year and model and is having an identical issue. Additionally, the thread below is an identical post. I wanted to start a new thread as this old one did not come up with a fix or any final answers.

https://www.dieselbombers.com/ford-p...-overheat.html

The Issue: After purchasing the vehicle I added a fifth wheel hitch and was on my first trip, I don’t know if the previous owner ever towed with the truck. My fifth wheel is approximately 13-14K pounds. It towed great for the first 65 miles on flat highway with speeds around 60-70MPH. At the first grade of approximately 4-5% in weather at about 102 deg the water temp dash gauge instantaneously went to full hot and simultaneously the vehicle showed on the dash display “reduced engine power”. I pulled over immediately and turned off the truck. I turned the truck back on within 1 minute and immediately the temp gauge was back to normal and the “reduced engine power” display was gone. I drove the truck through the foothills to the next town having this issue about 5-6 more times only when going up a grade at faster speeds. Every time this happened I pulled over and restarted the truck and everything immediately looked normal. This happened in both tow/haul mode and without. Oddly enough to get to my destination that day I had to go up a mountain road and towed for the last 30 miles with steep mountain grades at slow speeds 10-20MPH max in 2nd gear and this never happened. So in short this only happens when towing the fifth wheel and going up a grade at “higher” speeds. Additionally, I bought a code reader on the trip and was not able to get any codes.

When I got back home I took the truck to the Ford dealer. They said that my oil was reaching 230 deg on the highway, which they say is way too hot. They told me this was caused by a clogged oil cooler. Additionally, and the big kicker, is my #8 cylinder is operating at 10% below normal.

Their recommendation is a new enhanced short block. Which basically consists of the block plus a few other items including the oil cooler system- at least that’s the way I understand it. Total cost around $10K from two separate dealerships. They did say I could just change the oil cooler for about $3700 but my engine could go bad at any time with that cylinder issue.

It is important to know that I have only had one dealer do the full diagnostic. However, I have talked to another reputable diesel mechanic and they said if this is all happening that they too would recommend the new enhanced short block if that is happening on the #8 cylinder.

My Questions:
No one has unquestionably told me what caused the issue. The best guess I hear is the oil cooler was bad or clogged and that caused the truck to go into “reduced power mode”, which caused the water temp gauge to spike even though it was not really instantaneously overheating and the high oil temperatures caused the cylinder to go bad when I continued to drive with it or maybe it was already bad.

In other threads, I see many discussing the water temp going instantaneously to over heat and many discussions on thermostats etc. However, from my little knowledge and discussions this week I believe that spike in the gauge is just happening because I am going into reduced power mode, which is happening because the truck does realize that the oil temp is too high. Could this all be true?

Do I need another diagnostic that costs upwards of $200 or is it safe to assume that a reputable dealer can easily measure these failures with confidence (the oil temp and #8 cylinder operating with a10% loss)?

Is this common? The fact that I met a guy this weekend who just bought the exact same truck and has the same issue and the other threads I am reading tells me this might be a common problem for at least this year and engine.

Could anyone have known about this before I bought the truck? I am thinking that if the previous owner, whom I do not know because I bought at a dealer, did not ever tow he could have had high oil temps and this went unnoticed until high loads were put on the truck by me. I drove the truck almost 2k miles without the trailer this last month and had no issues.

I am afraid that there were some people at the dealership that I bought it from only a few weeks ago who told me since there is currently no check engine light or any codes that I should think about just trading in or selling the truck. Could this have happened to me? I WILL NOT look at this as an option, but certainly think this could have been the case.

Lastly, if I am getting the new short block are there any recommendations while this is being done to enhance the reliability of the truck? i.e.- better radiator etc. One guy told me, and it makes since to me, that since the truck is apart this kind of stuff can be done with minimal charge.

Thanks in advance for any info.

 

I would get another opinion, if worst comes to worst, I would rather buy an engine from a superduty that's been in an accident & the truck is consider a total loss

 

This is the first time i have heard of this with a ford but i have seen very similar problems in other manufacturers. I'm a mechanic for a john deere dealership. I have seen problems with the 5e series tractors where they will be fine being used as a loader tractor moving dirt snow ect. you know light work. but the first time they really work it say first time they put a baler or something the temp gauge takes off and overheats within 5 mins. well i have had 3 of them come in now with the same problem. after pulling the head on all three i used my bore scope and looked through coolant passages and found large clumps of sand casting material partially blocking coolant passages. these blockages cause (in this case #4 cylinder but in yours #8 the rear cylinders) to get really hot which take the temper out of the rings and possibly score the cylinder walls. our solution was to replace the motor. (in all 3 cases motors were under warranty) in your case it sounds like you have already hurt #8 cylinder. whether it was you or previous owner who knows. so by the sounds of it your opinions from dealerships sound correct. sounds like a really bad deal. hope this helps

 

It's the oil cooler....a 1800 dollar fix includes part and labor....that's what mine was doing was over heating and fixed it by changing the oil cooler.....you should delete all emissions and put a fass 150 pump on it after you fix oil cooler

 

As mentioned above, your oil cooler is most likely clogged. Unfortunately, that is just the beginning of your issues.

Sounds like the dealership ran a contribution code test and found that #8 is 10% less efficient than the rest of the cylinders. This can mean anything from lower compression to an injector not firing correctly. More than likely, #8 is damaged. In order to meet EPA regulations, Ford decided to inject diesel on the exhaust stroke on cylinders #7 and #8 during a regen cycle. This fuel would then super heat the DPF and burn off the filter and go out the tailpipe as soot. What happens is the cylinders get washed down with diesel, they are left with very little lubrication and the fuel will go into the oil pan. I've heard stories of oil levels increasing by as much as a gallon or more.

The 6.4 can be made reliable by deleting all the EPA crap. Get rid of EGR and EGR coolers, install aftermarket up pipes and exhaust manifolds. Unfortunately it may be too late for your engine. If you do go the shortblock route, I suggest calling Paul at Dynamic Diesel in Michigan.

 

Definitely delete all emissions with a programmer, SCT x4 or Livewire are great options, and very affordable for the performance boost you get. Also, i would do the deletes and SCT very soon, or get a CTS monitor to watch all the sensors in your truck, if you had the CTS while towing, you would have seen your oil and coolant temps start to go past safe limits.

The absolute !KEY! factors to keeping a 6.4 happy and healthy, are: 1. REGULAR and RELIGIOUS maintenance with Quality Fluids(Rotella T6 is what i use in my 6.4, and recommended ford trans fluid) and Filters(ALways use FORD OEM). 2. Fully delete the emmissions systems if possible, this will help your truck not use nearly as much fuel for the Regen cycle to clean the dpf, and it will allow your motor to life alot longer. A tuner or programmer will be needed for this, but you can still run the truck on stock power levels with deletes done. And finally, #3, use a quality monitoring system for your truck, this way you can keep an eye on all the fluid temps and such going on, and stop your truck when things start to go wrong, before causing damage.

 

Purchased 6.0 Powerstroke from Dynamic Diesel in Michigan. Less than a month after install, I had spend $2600.00 to repair.