Any opinion on the 6.7 engine?

[RVTRKN]

I just have to throw my two cents in here. I purchased my 07, 6. 7 RFE in and took delivery 7-17-07 so you can see this is one of the first. It’s a 2wd DRW Pick Up truck. I’ve never driven it as a ‘grocery getter’ and it works at least every two or three weeks. When working it operates at a 23,650 gcwr. At the time the deciding purchase factor between the 5. 9 and 6. 7 engine selection was the new auto transmission. I just had to have it! Prior to that my standard transmission Dodge’s were 5 speeds and I just hated that flat spot that was there when trying to accelerate under load from a stop on a grade. You know the place where you just can’t get it to pull to the next gear. My earlier Dodges have always had clutch and transmission issues, probably because I was operating at max gvw and gcwr’s. I’ve been a TDR member for many, many years now and have followed the development and problems reported here. I’ve followed all the advice and carefully updated the software as it was issued and low and behold I can say that the truck has never been in the shop for anything other than regular service maintenance ie oil, filter changes. Of course there is no cleaning plug in the turbo so nothing has been done or needed in that area. Perhaps it will happen eventually. I did purchase the extended warranty as that was recommended because of the new engine and transmission. Turns out I’ve never needed it! John Holmes, when he was at Carson Dodge, helped with the selection and purchase of the truck. I went against his advice and purchased the 4. 10 axle ratio and have never been sorry about that decision. With the new auto trans it is sweet. The truck is still bone stock.

So there you have it and I can’t say anything negative about MY truck. I tend to agree with Harvey. If you’re buying a truck of any kind do everything you can to assure yourself that you are purchasing a truck with a clean history. Any truck can be a problem including later models so do your homework. Ted

Ted, thats a success story I like to hear, unfortunately there is a reason the new turbo's have the cleaning ports and the older model's have the cleaning port drilled. Your story is a good reason to suspect a used 07. 5 - 08 MY. When the owner is happy with their truck, they generally keep them as in your case, but when its had constant problems its traded in or lemoned. My 07 C&C has been good to me, except for the updated ECM in 09 that has caused me issues. I'm not saying that the used trucks in question are all bad and will have problems, but it should be suspect. There are trucks on the market that have had chronic problems, but just because it was a grocery getter, doesn't erase the fact that they were lemoned. Despite what some TDR members claim, some trucks were lemoned or traded in due to chronic problems, so beware of a used 07. 5 -08 MY truck. I would make sure the truck had a good history and had documents to prove it. and would look for the updated turbo.

 

[HerbW]

Ted, thats a success story I like to hear, unfortunately there is a reason the new turbo's have the cleaning ports and the older model's have the cleaning port drilled. Your story is a good reason to suspect a used 07. 5 - 08 MY. When the owner is happy with their truck, they generally keep them as in your case, but when its had constant problems its traded in or lemoned. My 07 C&C has been good to me, except for the updated ECM in 09 that has caused me issues. I'm not saying that the used trucks in question are all bad and will have problems, but it should be suspect. There are trucks on the market that have had chronic problems, but just because it was a grocery getter, doesn't erase the fact that they were lemoned. Despite what some TDR members claim, some trucks were lemoned or traded in due to chronic problems, so beware of a used 07. 5 -08 MY truck. I would make sure the truck had a good history and had documents to prove it. and would look for the updated turbo.

Thank you all for the wealth of info on this 2007 6. 7 truck I seriously considered buying. I'm now looking at 2006 MegaCab diesel 4x4s. I see a low mileage one that has auto transmission problems for a great price. It fights to find second gear. Maybe I should start a link to get ideas on it. LOL. 2006 has newer auto transmission and much higher horses of stock stuff than my 1998.

Well I contacted the dealer because they raised the price on the truck by $2000. 00 and I wondered why a truck that they've advertised since before Thanksgiving just went up in value that much when mine and others have dropped!
He said they just replaced the seats with a $1000. 00 dollars worth of leather seat covers plus labor so it will cost more to buy now. The original cloth seats looked fine so I'll probably let them eat the darn truck and leather seats for next Thanksgiving! I relooked online at the truck and low and behold they did redo them!

The reason I stay on TDR is this wealth of into and help that's always there. If you haven't read the Dodge Diesel Buyers Guide, please do. Robert Patton did an excellent job on it. It let's us know where and when things are changed on the assembly line.

Thanks again. If I buy something, I'll post it or get more advise on it. Herb

 

[HerbW]

I'm still looking! I see a really good Certified 2009 Dodge CTD long bed 4x4 for $22,000 with just over 100k miles. Really tempting after reading all the advice so far. Seems worth a try. Can I do a DPF minor delete where it looks all there? Seems like I could put a square plate with four bolt holes between the EGR pipe and the manifold and stop the recycle. True? Thanks again! Herb

 

[Bob4x4]

Since the inception of the 6.7 I have always said do it all or leave it stock.i still see it as the only 2 viable options. If you can not do all the repair work yourself you have cut down the list of shops that will be able to diagnose or repair your ride

 

[Tuesdak]

I'm still looking! I see a really good Certified 2009 Dodge CTD long bed 4x4 for $22,000 with just over 100k miles. Really tempting after reading all the advice so far. Seems worth a try. Can I do a DPF minor delete where it looks all there? Seems like I could put a square plate with four bolt holes between the EGR pipe and the manifold and stop the recycle. True? Thanks again! Herb

Good luck finding a place selling a programmer to turn off the CEL's, limp mode, etc. the deletes will cause. The EPA has put a stop to most places that sold delete tuners. If you want a emissions deleted truck buy a pre-emmision truck. Save yourself the trouble of doing a delete because it isn't as easy as it used to be. You sure your area isn't going to implement emissions inspections? The 06 and older appear to be holding their value better than the early years of the 6.7. There is a reason for that.

Not one post covers the reduced MPG the DPF emissions cost you. Urea is just another cost and a PIA waiting for it to thaw, even with heaters, in cold weather. Pour a few gallons of diesel on the ground at each fill up. It is at least a reduction of 10% of your MPG. My experience with another brand of diesel truck towing 100% of the time anyway. I will second the fact that the DPF will plug unless you run it hard. The software changes for grocery getters burn more fuel to clean the DPF. Bottom line is the "emissions" cost you money from your bottom line and cause trouble. It is an extra part and has a specific life when everything goes well. When it doesn't you pay more to fix it.

Don't forget it was a voluntary trashing of Dodge and Cummins reputation to push 2010 emissions on their truck buyers "early" in 2007. The EPA didn't require them to go that far. Didn't learn from GM's LLY Duramax troubles and early EGR did they...

Another hidden gotcha in DPF equipped trucks: You may not be 'exempt' or able to avoid getting up to 5% Biodiesel at the pump. They don't label pumps at 5% or less in my state. Any amount of Biodiesel, an DOT/EPA approved road fuel, will wind up in your crankcase oil during post injection DPF regen. It doesn't evaporate back out like #2 diesel will. It doesn't show up as fuel in most oil analysis. It also makes the regen take longer as biodiesel is running down the cylinder instead of evaporating like #2 diesel does. Running B99 in a post injection emissions strangled engine is a good way to raise your oil level 2 quarts or more in 10K miles. Been there done that. Just like MTBE/ethanol in gasoline here comes biodiesel...

It is helpful to look at expected MPG from MPG reports of others, cost of diesel vs. gas, cost of maintenance, and your use of the truck. Maybe a gas truck would do the job for you esp since the 1/2 tons are getting 20-25 MPG now? Do you tow enough for that 6 MPG towing to offset the extra cost of going diesel? Does the extra cost of the emissions in fuel wasted, emissions delete cost, etc. justify a 6.7 truck over a 5.9 to you? So if fuel cost isn't a concern for you... then why not a gas truck?

Have you priced a converter and DPF for the truck you are looking at and made sure any warranties will cover it? Yes, very expensive to fix even with black market 'used' parts.

If you are not going to use a 6.7 hard (literally like you stole it!) it is best to get a gas truck or a pre-emission diesel. Otherwise you are running the emissions controls out of their design range.

Even run hard is no guarantee the emissions won't cause trouble. Run hard towing to delver tires and auto parts our broker had 1 Duramax DPF equipped truck always plugging the DPF while ours and others did not have issues. Many parts changed under warranty and never was fixed.

 

[Cummins12V98]

One thing I disagree with you on is mileage. My 11 HO Dually with 28K combined gets 9.5 mpg average up and down I-5. Hand calc.

 

[TulsaOkie]

The 07.5 Megacab is at 389,135....and still running great, and the 2011 is at the 140k mark. The 6.7 has been a great engine for me, both are automatics and pull a 30' trailer daily. You just can't beat'em !!!

 

[Wayne M.]

I have experience with the rear accessory drive 6.7's in street sweeper applications. It is not a kind app. In the last series of the same machine we had Mercedes engines of similar size. That did not work too well and they were problems. The cummins runs rings around it. The only real issue is the corrosion of the aluminum plate that covers the intake. I've seen them rot through.

 

[HerbW]

Wow. I don't use my truck like I stole it. Most of the time it's just me and a nice empty truck. I should stay out of used 2007.5 and newer. I don't get checked where I live in Oregon yet on license renewal as long as they are over 8400 lbs. I see some newer trucks with all the deletes done but maybe I should run from them.

Good luck finding a place selling a programmer to turn off the CEL's, limp mode, etc. the deletes will cause. The EPA has put a stop to most places that sold delete tuners. If you want a emissions deleted truck buy a pre-emmision truck. Save yourself the trouble of doing a delete because it isn't as easy as it used to be. You sure your area isn't going to implement emissions inspections? The 06 and older appear to be holding their value better than the early years of the 6.7. There is a reason for that.

Not one post covers the reduced MPG the DPF emissions cost you. Urea is just another cost and a PIA waiting for it to thaw, even with heaters, in cold weather. Pour a few gallons of diesel on the ground at each fill up. It is at least a reduction of 10% of your MPG. My experience with another brand of diesel truck towing 100% of the time anyway. I will second the fact that the DPF will plug unless you run it hard. The software changes for grocery getters burn more fuel to clean the DPF. Bottom line is the "emissions" cost you money from your bottom line and cause trouble. It is an extra part and has a specific life when everything goes well. When it doesn't you pay more to fix it.

Don't forget it was a voluntary trashing of Dodge and Cummins reputation to push 2010 emissions on their truck buyers "early" in 2007. The EPA didn't require them to go that far. Didn't learn from GM's LLY Duramax troubles and early EGR did they...

Another hidden gotcha in DPF equipped trucks: You may not be 'exempt' or able to avoid getting up to 5% Biodiesel at the pump. They don't label pumps at 5% or less in my state. Any amount of Biodiesel, an DOT/EPA approved road fuel, will wind up in your crankcase oil during post injection DPF regen. It doesn't evaporate back out like #2 diesel will. It doesn't show up as fuel in most oil analysis. It also makes the regen take longer as biodiesel is running down the cylinder instead of evaporating like #2 diesel does. Running B99 in a post injection emissions strangled engine is a good way to raise your oil level 2 quarts or more in 10K miles. Been there done that. Just like MTBE/ethanol in gasoline here comes biodiesel...

It is helpful to look at expected MPG from MPG reports of others, cost of diesel vs. gas, cost of maintenance, and your use of the truck. Maybe a gas truck would do the job for you esp since the 1/2 tons are getting 20-25 MPG now? Do you tow enough for that 6 MPG towing to offset the extra cost of going diesel? Does the extra cost of the emissions in fuel wasted, emissions delete cost, etc. justify a 6.7 truck over a 5.9 to you? So if fuel cost isn't a concern for you... then why not a gas truck?

Have you priced a converter and DPF for the truck you are looking at and made sure any warranties will cover it? Yes, very expensive to fix even with black market 'used' parts.

If you are not going to use a 6.7 hard (literally like you stole it!) it is best to get a gas truck or a pre-emission diesel. Otherwise you are running the emissions controls out of their design range.

Even run hard is no guarantee the emissions won't cause trouble. Run hard towing to delver tires and auto parts our broker had 1 Duramax DPF equipped truck always plugging the DPF while ours and others did not have issues. Many parts changed under warranty and never was fixed.

 

[RoosterXP]

Wow. I don't use my truck like I stole it. Most of the time it's just me and a nice empty truck. I should stay out of used 2007.5 and newer. I don't get checked where I live in Oregon yet on license renewal as long as they are over 8400 lbs. I see some newer trucks with all the deletes done but maybe I should run from them.

Herb, I did the deletes on my truck. When i first bought it i was going to keep it all stock, however after 10,000 miles at 15mpg average this changed my mind. I opted to do the deletes, i know i rolled the dice, however, I did a ton a research about CEL and what else could go wrong. Knock on wood i have had 2500 trouble free miles on my rig after the deletes and my mileage went up to almost 22 mpg. I dont use the 6.7 like it should be used. My truck has been a grocery getter and has quite a few "run to the store just down the road" trips on her. I knew the DPF would get filled pretty fast. I do also take it for a good empty run about once a week though. Still runs perfect.

 

[HerbW]

RoosterXP,
Thanks for your info. Were you able to make it look stock after the deletes? I am on to a good deal of a 2008 stock CTD 4x4 with 89000 miles. Looks new and is garage kept. He is a one owner with receipts for $24,000 bucks. Tempting as hell. I should go check it out on KBB to see what value they say it is. Is the newer six speed transmission any good? The main reason I look at newer trucks like a 2008 are the disk brakes, possible Jake brake with auto transmission and six speed auto transmission with tow/economy modes or something like that.
Tell me any more positives and negatives if you can. I can install anything myself and have a large shop to do it in. Thanks, Herb

Herb, I did the deletes on my truck. When i first bought it i was going to keep it all stock, however after 10,000 miles at 15mpg average this changed my mind. I opted to do the deletes, i know i rolled the dice, however, I did a ton a research about CEL and what else could go wrong. Knock on wood i have had 2500 trouble free miles on my rig after the deletes and my mileage went up to almost 22 mpg. I dont use the 6.7 like it should be used. My truck has been a grocery getter and has quite a few "run to the store just down the road" trips on her. I knew the DPF would get filled pretty fast. I do also take it for a good empty run about once a week though. Still runs perfect.

 

[RoosterXP]

Herb, yeah the truck looks stock..from the outside! Under the hood I did a full EGR/cooler delete so all that stuff is gone. I also did a Flo-Pro turbo back 4" exhaust with a Flo-Pro muffler. When you start the truck...well you know its not stock. I did all the work myself in my garage. All in all it took me about 6 hours to complete. Im not a hot-rodder but i do like to "once in a great while" mash the throttle getting on the highway. she never misses a beat.
My bone stock transmission so far has been holding up perfect. It shifts quick and is never hunting for gears while driving in town. The exhaust brake is still fully functional after all the deletes and works awesome.
24000 sounds like a nice deal.. i bought my truck with 67000, a trade of my 98.5 CTD with 240k, and $19,000 to boot. that was early last year. Id say it sounds like a deal. I would check, if you can, the front end parts. 2nd week after i had my truck i brought it in for an alignment...2 ball joints and every single tie rod later i got it back.. that was a $900.00 trip...
I had a 98.5 cummins. I really liked the truck except the brakes.. i went through 2 sets of front high end pads and my rear shoes were barely worn.. with the 08 i get 4 wheel disk, which is so much nicer.. my old truck, if it was slippery at all i would have to pop the transmission in neutral to get all 4 wheels to slow me down other wise i the back would just keep spinning and the fronts would just lock up... and i adjusted the rear brakes at least once a month.
so in a nutshell, am I happy with my 08? Yes. my wife says our 98.5 had more leg room than our 08.. but other than that, the 08 is quieter (engine) rides nicer, better brakes, better fuel mileage than my 5.9 ctd, and i like the full 4 doors compared to the 2 suicide doors on the 98.5.
Herb, i can send you some pics of anything you want, just lemme know!
happy hunting!

 

[Tuesdak]

One thing I disagree with you on is mileage. My 11 HO Dually with 28K combined gets 9.5 mpg average up and down I-5. Hand calc.

Herb, I did the deletes on my truck. When i first bought it i was going to keep it all stock, however after 10,000 miles at 15mpg average this changed my mind. I opted to do the deletes, i know i rolled the dice, however, I did a ton a research about CEL and what else could go wrong. Knock on wood i have had 2500 trouble free miles on my rig after the deletes and my mileage went up to almost 22 mpg. I dont use the 6.7 like it should be used. My truck has been a grocery getter and has quite a few "run to the store just down the road" trips on her. I knew the DPF would get filled pretty fast. I do also take it for a good empty run about once a week though. Still runs perfect.

I rest my case.

The newer automatics that came with the factory turbo brake are better able to handle engine braking. The pre-emmision auto's weren't recommended for engine brake use in stock form. Manual trans are fine for this...

 

[dfb]

Wth is at?