6.4L Codes, running poorly.

[Wingate]

As much as I hate to get involved with it, one of my nephews bought himself an 08 King Ranch with the 6. 4L in it. Its got 120K, so no warranty, and now its acting a fool.

He limped it to my house and was asking me what was wrong with it, the thing rolls various colors of smoke if you try to drive it down the highway, CEL is on, no power. . etc... I told him to take it to Autozone and get them to check codes. Its got a code for EGR valve failure, and some code for engine misfire.



I am under the impression that he got some bad fuel, we changed the fuel filters and I poured some extremely concentrated fuel conditioner directly into the filter, then more into the tank. As we were letting the truck idle we noticed the sound/attitude of the engine change... . (and you could smell the fuel conditioner being burnt... this stuff is extremely concentrated and has a very strong odor!)

Took it for another spin and its back to normal?????!!!

MY question is, is it fixed??.

The EGR code and misfire don't really sound like something that a filter and conditioner could fix...

Did the EGR stick and because the engine started stumbling, the ECM decided it was misfiring ???

 

[HBarlow]

You may be correct in your concerns about the EGR. I wonder if the Furd owner's manual service schedule calls for an EGR cleaning?

Our ISB6. 7 engines require a periodic EGR cleaning. I posted several months ago about having two former Dodge dealer mechanics out to service my Dodge C&C. One of the guys had just resigned from the dealership to work for a heavy equipment rental and service company but had been working on ISB6. 7 Rams since they were introduced.

He removed my EGR and found it extremely clean at ~70k miles but did the formal Dodge cleaning procedure anyway and changed the crankcase breather filter which is under the valve cover which was clean also. My Ram is a C&C with different power programming level and lighter emissions equipment burden than the pickup versions. The mechanic said he has seen ISB6. 7s with the EGR completely blocked with carbon.

 

[Wingate]

Heard this evening that the truck is still running fine. He ran all of that fuel out of it, refilled it and added more of the same fuel conditioner..... I cautioned him against using that fuel conditioner. on a regular basis... . not sure what it might do to the emissions control hardware.

 

[Wingate]

Well, here we are 2 weeks later and its acting completely stupid. . Same symptoms as before and now to the point that it won't go down the road. I talked him into taking it to the local Ford house... . maybe they will talk him into trading it in while he's there. I realize he's gonna get hosed on the deal, but I suspect he already was on this truck so atleast he can buy something that will make it to town and back home... !!!. .

 

[FDavid]

I honestly feel bad for your nephew. Their is nothing worse than putting down your hard earned dollars and getting a vehicle thats unreliable. With all the horror stories of these new trucks it has honestly gotten to the point where I would seriously consider a gasser in a new rig. If they try to screw him too much on a trade it be cheaper for him to drop a Cummins in it.

 

[HBarlow]

Poor guy. He probably currently owes thousands more than the Furd 6. 4 is actually worth and now he's going to hear some very painful news when he tries to trade it for a $50k new one.

The salesman and sales manager may play with numbers and sell him the new one at full retail in order to trade him out of the current pos he is having towed but if he doesn't have great income and credit he may be stuck. I've read from many sources
that the easy credit days of a couple years ago are gone.

Furd owners are usually slow learners.

 

[Wingate]

Yeah... . Its an ugly situation... he's so far upside down on this truck and its only gonna get worse with the next one. The really sad part is that I recently learned that when he bought the truck, it already had 90K+ on it... . Of course, the salesman saw a young guy with a good job/credit and took advantage of him!. Not sure what the stealership is/has done with it yet. I know he's not driving it... . I'm really trying to stay out of it... . I DON'T want to get roped into working on it...

 

[HBarlow]

Its sad and amazing what some folks will sign their name to sometimes when they want a new toy.

That truck was probably a truck with a less than sterling history when it was traded and without knowing any numbers I'd guess it had an ACV (actual cash value) of half what your nephew paid for it plus he was probably already upside down on his trade.

This story is very unlikely to have a happy ending.

 

[Wingate]

No Doubt... . With the new 2011 out, the 2010 and older models arent worth much more than scrap weight value... ... I talked to him again today, he's trying to get the selling dealership to help get him out of this mess... . can only guess where thats headed. My only advice to him was to buy something less expensive with extremely low miles or buy new, because hes going to have it for a WHILE!.

Saddest part is, he never NEEDED a diesel. He bought it to impress his friends. The most its ever hauled is an ATV.

I agree Harvey... there is no telling what the repair history of that truck was. Whoever owned it knew to unload it before 100K...