My tow pig/DD build thread. F350/Cummins 6.7/twins/6R140

[me2]

I'm still alive.

I'm still going to do the swap.

I'm absolutely sick of how my 6.4 runs. The rest of the truck is doing great. I've put about 45,000 miles on it since November 2011. I did several long road trips in storms this winter. These trucks rock in bad conditions, except, of course, that the *&%^$*$!! air cleaner plugs up with snow.

At the moment I'm swamped with renovating our house. When that is done, I'll be building a new garage on the property, so I finally have some decent space to work in. :redspotdance: It will be very nice to finally have all my tools together at one location and have enough space to park my truck inside to work on it !

When that is done, I'm going to tackle the swap with gusto.

The jury is probably still out on doing the stretch. My wife wants a minivan for driving kids around town. I can't blame her. We'll see how we make out with it before making a decision on stretching the truck.

 

[EpicCowlick]

Glad to hear you haven't given up. Looking forward to the updates.

 

[Powerstroke Cowboy]

What is the 6.4L doing to you???

 

[me2]

What is the 6.4L doing to you???

I'm doing a bunch of short trips while renovating the house and its regening twice a day or more.

And its still a fuel pig.

And lately it seems to have a lot of turbo lag and it takes at least one downshift to get any acceleration from it. Its really irritating when manoeuvring in traffic.

And the up pipes leak periodically.

I'm just tired of it.

I know, I know... I should delete it, I'll love it, yadda yadda yadda.

 

[Powerstroke Cowboy]

you could have saved money by now if you would have deleted it. not to mention it would be a lot nicer to drive. cant blame the reneging on the 6.4 engine. it the exhaust system.
If it were me i would do it then when you do the swap, you could resell it and you would have saved money. Win win all the way around. :thumbup:

 

[me2]

you could have saved money by now if you would have deleted it. not to mention it would be a lot nicer to drive. cant blame the reneging on the 6.4 engine. it the exhaust system.
If it were me i would do it then when you do the swap, you could resell it and you would have saved money. Win win all the way around. :thumbup:

Hindsight is 20/20. I never thought it would take this long to find time to do the swap. Whatever. If I had done the swap when I wanted, I'd be out the money for the delete stuff.

 

[me2]

FYI, we did the math last night and the truck has paid for itself since I bought it versus what it would have cost to fly on these trips.

Another interesting tidbit is that the 8 foot box (with the endgate down) works great for hauling 10 foot drywall sheets.

 

[me2]

My 6.4 almost stranded me.

About 200 miles from home on my last trip, the check engine light came on when the truck was idling. I checked the fluids and everything was fine, so I continued on my way, taking things easy at 60 MPH.

About 50 miles later the information display bell starts dinging and I get the "Stop Safely Soon" message. That and the truck was continually regenning and it was smoking heavily (blue and white) when it was regenning.

Of course I am in the middle of no man's land when this happens. At least it was daytime and the weather was nice and not 2AM in a storm, which it could have easily been.

I pulled over and checked the fluids, especially the coolant. All the levels were fine. I let it cool down. I started it up. The CEL was on, but the SSS message was gone. I drove the rest of the way home at 50 MPH, regenning on and off all the way.

When I got home I connected Auto Enginuity and pulled codes. P2033/ P2084. Middle EGT sensor not working correctly. I picked one up at the dealership for $70.

The problem was getting the old EGT sensor out of the PDF. It was seized in really well. I applied penetrant to it morning and night for 4 days and drove it during that time until it would come out.

Here are some hints if you ever need to remove yours.

1) Apply penetrant, liberally and often.
2) I drove my truck daily. I think the hot/cold cycling helped the penetrant do its thing.
3) Cut the sensor wire and use a good quality, tight 6 point 13mm socket instead of a flare nut wrench. BTW, its not easy to find a good quality 13mm flare nut wrench in stock !

The sensor was tight, tight, tight every time I tried to remove it until the time it came loose. Then it was like it was just installed yesterday, it came out easily. I was shocked. I guess it took that long for the penetrant to do its thing.

The truck was a total pig with the EGT sensor not working. It burnt a ton of fuel. Like twice as much as it usually did. And it was smoking really bad sometimes. People would pass me shaking their fists. We are at the end of renovating our house and I needed my truck and had no choice but to use it for hauling furniture and materials.

I'm totally pi$$ed that a single sensor can bring the entire truck to its knees. I found out that I'm lucky. When this happens to most people the PDF plugs and they continually get the "Stop Safely Soon" message, meaning they can't drive it at all.

Its just like the CPS on the 7.3s. Didn't Ford/International learn anything from that experience ?

I know, I know... I should have done a delete. I'm going to do a delete all right... the entire 6.4 engine ! LOL.

The other lesson from this experience is that Auto Enginuity probably paid for itself with this issue alone. I doubt the dealership would have got that sensor out any easier than I did and the bill would have been $$$$. With AE I know what the problem was 5 minutes after I hooked it up. I am going to keep it in the truck at all times now.

BTW, there are three identical EGT sensors on the PDF. One should probably carry a spare sensor and some penetrant and a high quality 13mm flare nut wrench and a good 13mm 6 point socket and drive setup, because if any one of those sensors fails, the truck is essentially in limp mode or worse.

 

[WILD_PHIL]

Guess I got lucky with mine when I deleted it. The sensors came right out with no issues. But I do not live in an area that snows 13 months out of the year. LOL

 

[907DAVE]

If that last sensor fails it wont let you even start the truck.

 

[300000 and counting]

opcorn:

 

[Powerstroke Cowboy]

Did you find a buyer for the 6.4 engine yet?

 

[05PSD]

My 6.4 almost stranded me.

About 200 miles from home on my last trip, the check engine light came on when the truck was idling. I checked the fluids and everything was fine, so I continued on my way, taking things easy at 60 MPH.

About 50 miles later the information display bell starts dinging and I get the "Stop Safely Soon" message. That and the truck was continually regenning and it was smoking heavily (blue and white) when it was regenning.

Of course I am in the middle of no man's land when this happens. At least it was daytime and the weather was nice and not 2AM in a storm, which it could have easily been.

I pulled over and checked the fluids, especially the coolant. All the levels were fine. I let it cool down. I started it up. The CEL was on, but the SSS message was gone. I drove the rest of the way home at 50 MPH, regenning on and off all the way.

When I got home I connected Auto Enginuity and pulled codes. P2033/ P2084. Middle EGT sensor not working correctly. I picked one up at the dealership for $70.

The problem was getting the old EGT sensor out of the PDF. It was seized in really well. I applied penetrant to it morning and night for 4 days and drove it during that time until it would come out.

Here are some hints if you ever need to remove yours.

1) Apply penetrant, liberally and often.
2) I drove my truck daily. I think the hot/cold cycling helped the penetrant do its thing.
3) Cut the sensor wire and use a good quality, tight 6 point 13mm socket instead of a flare nut wrench. BTW, its not easy to find a good quality 13mm flare nut wrench in stock !

The sensor was tight, tight, tight every time I tried to remove it until the time it came loose. Then it was like it was just installed yesterday, it came out easily. I was shocked. I guess it took that long for the penetrant to do its thing.

The truck was a total pig with the EGT sensor not working. It burnt a ton of fuel. Like twice as much as it usually did. And it was smoking really bad sometimes. People would pass me shaking their fists. We are at the end of renovating our house and I needed my truck and had no choice but to use it for hauling furniture and materials.

I'm totally pi$$ed that a single sensor can bring the entire truck to its knees. I found out that I'm lucky. When this happens to most people the PDF plugs and they continually get the "Stop Safely Soon" message, meaning they can't drive it at all.

Its just like the CPS on the 7.3s. Didn't Ford/International learn anything from that experience ?

I know, I know... I should have done a delete. I'm going to do a delete all right... the entire 6.4 engine ! LOL.

The other lesson from this experience is that Auto Enginuity probably paid for itself with this issue alone. I doubt the dealership would have got that sensor out any easier than I did and the bill would have been $$$$. With AE I know what the problem was 5 minutes after I hooked it up. I am going to keep it in the truck at all times now.

BTW, there are three identical EGT sensors on the PDF. One should probably carry a spare sensor and some penetrant and a high quality 13mm flare nut wrench and a good 13mm 6 point socket and drive setup, because if any one of those sensors fails, the truck is essentially in limp mode or worse.

Boo hoo, poor you. Be lucky you don't own a 2007.5 to 2012 Ram with all the emissions. My supervisor had his 2008 bought back by Dodge for plugged DPFs and his 2011 is doing the same thing. You act as if the 6.4 is the worst motor ever made.

Why don't you post when you have some real news like you've started the swap instead of looking like a baby? My opinion of course...

 

[Tree Trimmer]

quit being a douche, and let the guy say what he wants in his own thread.

 

[6point0damn2004]

If the truck has paid for itself, why not buy a delete pipe and a tuner and get rid of your regenning woes?! At least until you can get your swap completed. In the money you'll save in fuel and the not having to worry about it running bad you'd come out way ahead. I'm not trying to be mean or hateful, but every time I come in here its a new complaint about a stock 6.4. Like einstein said do the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity. As much as you drive it, I would think taking care of the issue would be good peace of mind. Yes, the money spent on a pipe and tuning would detract from the budget but in the end it leaves you without worry while you're completing the swap. My truck was a pig before I deleted it, was not impressed. Deleted the 6.4 is a joy to drive. Just my .02

I for one am looking forward to your swap

 

[05PSD]

........

 

[Powerstroke Cowboy]

Then when you do the swap. sell the delete pipe and tuner to me!

 

[6point0damn2004]

Then when you do the swap. sell the delete pipe and tuner to me!

See, recoop some of the funds to make it run like it should as a Ford, before ya Fumminize it!

 

[Mdub707]

If the truck has paid for itself, why not buy a delete pipe and a tuner and get rid of your regenning woes?! At least until you can get your swap completed. In the money you'll save in fuel and the not having to worry about it running bad you'd come out way ahead. I'm not trying to be mean or hateful, but every time I come in here its a new complaint about a stock 6.4. Like einstein said do the same thing over and over and expecting different results is insanity. As much as you drive it, I would think taking care of the issue would be good peace of mind. Yes, the money spent on a pipe and tuning would detract from the budget but in the end it leaves you without worry while you're completing the swap. My truck was a pig before I deleted it, was not impressed. Deleted the 6.4 is a joy to drive. Just my .02

I for one am looking forward to your swap

Very well said, and I agree on all accounts.

I don't understand why it's completely acceptable to swap an engine in that was never in there in the first place, and modify that to a great extent with all the work involved, but a simple DPF delete and tune on the 6.4, which has proven to increase all the things you're looking for (power, reliability, and mileage) is so out of the question. I'm very interested in following the build here, but I must admit, I'm scratching my head on this one.

 

[Tree Trimmer]

the way i understand it, if everything would have taken place when he had originally wanted it to happen, it would have been a waste of money, as it would not have been on there long enough to justify the money.

then came, according to his various posts and me kinda reading between the lines, some serious miles of travel time/vacation = lack of time to do said deletes, among other personal/family issues and i think there is a new baby in there somewhere as well.

now, iirc, there's a garage/shop area going up/in, which will allow for him to start his project, which stands to reason, he's back to the original reason for not putting the deletes on, which is they will not be on long enough to justify the cost.

unfortunately, in his case, its a simple matter of "life happened", but the way it sounds, is he's not far from starting this project, though, "not far" is a entirely relative term.