08 45 woes

[Pooods]

I am new to the board but not to Powerstrokes. Our family business has owned several since 2000. Seems like Ford just keeps going down hill since the 7.3. I loved the old engine and still have one that will not be sold anytime soon. After 2 6.0's and many problems we went to a Duramax for a while. It was an 07 bought last fall that did an awesome job. But when we saw the new 08's we traded the Cheby in for a new F450 King Ranch. After all we were just waiting for Ford to get a good engine again. It didn't happen!

The first week it blew a rear grease seal and slung grease all over the driver's side of the truck and trailer we were pulling. Afraid to pull with it, I brought my Chevy truck and pulled the trailer home. The dealership had to order the seal and it took several days to get it in.

The next trip back was excessive smoking and high idle. It didn't feel to have as much hp's either. This was my first lesson on Ultra low sulfur fuel. Plus my state doesn't list cetane ratings of fuel on the pumps and the head mechanic at the dealership told me this and that I needed cetane booster with every fill up.

Then there was the trip from TN to KY where the truck didn't get 50 miles from home and shut down. It tried to run so I unhooked the trailer and tried to limp home. After 5 miles it finally almost stopped so we waited 5 hours for Ford to save us with a wrecker. They only pay $200 towards towing a trailer home which sucks. Just pulling the trailer 50 miles would have cost that. Again I pulled it back with my little Chevy. Turns out it was a bad pin connection with one injector. At least that's what they said.

Did I mention it was getting 9.5 mpg empty? The dealership keeps telling us it will improve and that people that pay that much for a truck don't worry about mpg's! At 8k miles it has improved. A whopping 10.3 last time we checked. It does have a 430 gear, but our 7.3 with the same gears gets 14.5 mpg.

It's a bad time to buy a new diesel truck IMO. The gov. is making truck builders comply to new fuel standards but aren't making fuel stations sell it! There is only 3 stations in our small city that even has ultra low sulfur fuel. Where our business is there are no stations with the fuel. I ask the stations why they don't have it and they tell me it's not in their best interest to sell it yet. Several tell me the new fuel isn't running well in the older trucks. The dealership even told me the new fuel is breaking down old motor oil. Engine oil companies are supposed to be correcting this problem.


After the 6.0's I thought Ford would have done their homework better. I don't know too many owners that are happy with the 6.4. I don't even think it's got that much pulling power. Oh yeah, what's that horrible noise under a load while pulling? It sounds like a jet is taking off under the hood! Wished it pulled as good as it sounds!

[99gt]

Sorry to hear about your problems. If anything else arises id be looking into lemon laws. I'd also call Ford Motor Co. and make a formal complaint against you dealer for making that fuel mileage comment. As for me..i just picked up my 08 450. So far so good except for the fuel mileage. Shes only getting around 9mpg . I know it's a heavy truck and all but My 04 6.0 gets double that on it's 100tune. I guess we'll see with time.

[aRibelin]

Join the '08 woes club. Mine has been in the shop for seven days total now; crank seal, DPF replacement, low power, horrible MPG's, etc.

This is more shop time than my 2000 had in the seven years I drove it.

[shameless]

Sounds like I should let my dealer keep my 08 if it ever shows up! I swore I'd never buy another Ford after my 04 F350 arrived with a factory defect in the tranny that ended up being removed and rebuilt 7 times in the first 2 years. But being shameless as I am, I went ahead and ordered the 08. Just wish they would add the flame thrower problem as an option with a button on the steering wheel for "flames on demand". I'd go up to $500 for that option.
I checked into other brands and even with the problems Ford's had and there inability to stand behind there product the way we'd like, I still think it's the best option on the market if you need truck that can handle heavy duty work.
I hope my 08 doesn't prove me wrong. And I'm hoping it'l arrive on the 15th of October as scheduled. lol

[Pooods]

Our truck seems to be bug free now! Fuel mileage is horrible but other than that the truck is great. If you can get past paying more for fuel, I say go for the truck.

[blacksnapon]

Every problem I've seen mentioned here isn't a Ford issue, its a dealer issue. Noise while pulling, and only while pulling, is usually an exhaust leak, not allowing full exhaust flow to the turbo. Fix the exhaust leak, you'll have more power as well. Fuel mileage on the 08, is a touchy issue. Believe it or not, its the drivers fault (if there is no fuel leaks). A truck with 4.10 gears will get 9 mpg loaded with 30k at 68mph. Go to 73 mph, the mileage will go to 5. This is not your 7.3. Because of the govt mandates, they are more sensitive to driver input. You can believe if you wish, or you can keep griping, Its worth a try!

[matt1030]

Im glad I didnt wait for the 08's to come out!! I haven't heard many people that are happy with them.

[owtcast]

Believe it or not, its the drivers fault (if there is no fuel leaks). A truck with 4.10 gears will get 9 mpg loaded with 30k at 68mph. Go to 73 mph, the mileage will go to 5.

I'm not buying that.

[bleedsblue]

Originally Posted by matt1030

Im glad I didnt wait for the 08's to come out!! I haven't heard many people that are happy with them.

I see that as funny because I've talked to lots of '08 owners and the only complaints are MPG and how regen hurts MPG otherwise they are very happy as am I.

The problems I've seen online since the 6.4 has come out is extremely low. If you think otherwise then you weren't around for the release of the 6.0 where there were 20 new threads a day talking about problems.

Bill

[matt1030]

Originally Posted by bleedsblue

I see that as funny because I've talked to lots of '08 owners and the only complaints are MPG and how regen hurts MPG otherwise they are very happy as am I.

The problems I've seen online since the 6.4 has come out is extremely low. If you think otherwise then you weren't around for the release of the 6.0 where there were 20 new threads a day talking about problems.

Bill

I'm just putting out what i've heard from the people i know with the truck. I had one of the 6.0 when they first came out so i'm well aware of all the problems they had. I've only driven one a couple times so don't really have an opinion on them.