Truck shut off and won’t start

2454 Views 33 Replies 6 Participants Last post by Snowwhite6.4, 6 mo ago

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · 7 mo ago

Hey guys I’m new to the forum as far as posting but have been able to use the forum to find out how to fix my vehicle in the past, currently I am having zero luck trying to figure out what is going on. My truck is a. 2008 ford f350 6.4l I was on the way to work this morning everything was fine, about 10 miles from home my truck started making a light fluttering noise that sounded like plastic being blown in the wind figured no big deal I’d deal with it once I got to work shortly after that the noise got louder and I started hearing a squealing noise like either break squeal or belt squeal before having a battery light pop up on the dash and the truck shutting off, after pulling off the road I tried to start it back up and it says check charging system and cranks slow like it has dead batteries but by going off of what I have with me on the side of the road right now the batteries have good voltage i checked fuses thinking a ecm guess blew ( had this issue in the past and that was the culprit) but as far as I can tell no fuses are blown belt looks intact so could the alternator be shot causing all this to happen?

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Heavy_GD

· #2 · 7 mo ago

If the belt is intact and the truck turns over it could be the alt.

You could try charging the batteries to see if it will run off of them to get you off the road.

Hydro

· #3 · 7 mo ago

Possible that the alternator or one of the idlers has locked up -- but not broken the belt yet

Reactions: 1

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #4 · 7 mo ago

Thanks guys, im hoping it is the alt. I put a new belt on about this time last year cause the idler or tensioner pulley locked up, but the truck kept running and I was able to make it home thats why im looking at the alternator being bad finally got the truck towed home going to have my alternator load tested once I get it off to verify that’s what’s wrong

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #5 · 7 mo ago

So alternator is not the issue took it to be tested and it’s testing good, having the batteries charged and tested to see if that is the culprit

Heavy_GD

· #6 · 7 mo ago

Are all the idlers spinning?

Reactions: 2

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #7 · 7 mo ago

Checking that out here in a minute, doing research all over trying to narrow things down, my scan tool is showing no new codes, the one code I do have is for a glow plug cylinder #4 I believe it was p0674, but that’s been on few a few weeks now was going to fix it this upcoming weekend, trying to figure it out cause it’s my only vehicle to get back and forth to work right now

Heavy_GD

· #8 · 7 mo ago

if the alt isnt spinning it wont charge, combine that with the described noise, and the Alt testing good then it leads to the belt not doing its job and you were running on batteries.

You might also want to get a monitor, you may have seen the batteries draining

Reactions: 1

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #9 · 7 mo ago

Yeah I’ve been looking for the best one to get because when I bought the truck I got a old H&S mini max with it and the cable broke and I just haven’t really found one I want to replace it cause I also want a monitor that has basic tunes in it just for towing and a little bit of playin around

Checked the pulleys and they all moved, other than the crank pulley which I know the motor cranks so that wouldn’t be locked up, the ac belt/pulley I put extra tension on the belt by hand and could watch it rotate a small bit so I imagine it isn’t locked up, hoping it’s battery’s or a fuse somewhere

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #10 · 7 mo ago

well bad news guys, my truck is down, finally got it to fire up and once it started to idle I could hear metal clunking around inside safe to say the motor is shot, looks like I’ll be looking for a new motor to put in it

Reactions: 1

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #11 · 7 mo ago

Snowwhite6.4 said:
well bad news guys, my truck is down, finally got it to fire up and once it started to idle I could hear metal clunking around inside safe to say the motor is shot, looks like I’ll be looking for a new motor to put in it

so think I might be on to something with my truck, been doing research as to what may be causing the sound so I can know what to expect as far as a rebuild or a new engine and from videos I have listened to the sound is almost like bad lifters/rockers and I have noticed a popping sound from the airbox that people have said is from the lifters starting to fail, I thought the sound originated from my airbox not being put back together right when I changed the air filter last because I was able to remove the air box and reinstall it and the noise went away for the most part and the morning the truck broke down I did see the oil light come on for the first time which I didn’t think of cause I had to do a oil change this week anyway, maybe I should have changed my oil at 3,000 instead of waiting for 5,000 and maybe I could have avoided this lessons learned the hard way

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Hydro

· #12 · 7 mo ago

Intake and exhaust should have a even purring sound, with no odd thumping or sucking
Sadly a lot of production engines do not have an even sound -- the tolerances are just not held that close
(cam lobe timing, crankshaft throw tolerances, intake and exhaust port restrictions, etc.)
Some run many miles like that, and no one knows any better

A failing cam lifter can make a thumping sound or popping sound in either the intake or exhaust -- really not much you can do to head a failure off
Second guess the maintenance maybe, but could anything really have been done better? -- prolly not
Seen some really abused engines run a lot of miles with not noticeable problems

@TooManyToys has a video of lifter failure with some good discussion of failure possibilities

Reactions: 1

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #13 · 7 mo ago

thanks hydro I will have to look at some of them, I’ve had this truck for a couple years now and the most I’ve ever had to do besides routine maintenance based off what I’ve learned from this site and others, is change the thermostats a couple fuses and blower fan in the dash so I’m willing to put money into fixing it might take some time but it’s been a good truck for me plus I got it for a hell of a deal on top of that

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #14 · 7 mo ago

Ok guys so starting to find more and more things wrong with my truck as I am going over it, I have found there is a oil leak in the passenger side of the block looks like it is coming from up too around the oil fill area the whole rear passenger side of the engine is wet, seems to be a decent sized leak but can’t get the truck to run long enough to make it around to that side of the motor to see how bad it truly is and on top of that I noticed my starter is hanging on by one bolt, I was able to wiggle it around and what made me look at that was that today I attempted to start the truck and it acted like the it wasn’t getting fuel so I popped the hood and checked relays etc and that is when I seen more oil on the passenger side of the block which I followed under the truck and noticed the lower starter bolt missing, starting to feel like the truck is gonna make an idiot out of me

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Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #15 · 7 mo ago

Hey guys just wondering if anyone has anymore input as to what my issue maybe considering the oil leak I have stumbled upon, I’m assuming the banking/clanking I heard was from the starter since it only hanging on by one bolt and is actual able to be moved by hand so I’m pretty sure it’s making contact till the motor tries to fire which is causing it to kick the starter out making the clunking noise as the starter smacks back up against the mounting, but this oil leak is my new concern since I can not see where it is coming from other than being able to see oil all over the top passenger side rear of the motor down the rear passenger side of the motor thinking maybe turbos are shot and causing oil to drain down the motor, but being how this is the first major issue I have had with the truck I’m just hesitant on tearing into it without any idea what I’m looking for, especially considering that this is my first 6.4 and how pricey parts are I just want to try and figure this out before throwing money at it

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krazyk

· #16 · 7 mo ago

How many miles are on the truck/engine?

Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #17 · 7 mo ago

Has 215,438

GregWork

· #18 · 7 mo ago

Don’t try to run the engine until you figure out the issues. You’ll probably just cause more damage to it.
Take the valve covers off and check the rocker arms for failure.
If those are OK, run a bore scope down the glow plug holes and check for piston damage.
215K is a lot of miles on a 6.4L
Oil leaks are pretty common.
@Roccafellas

TD-5

· #19 · 7 mo ago

2 possibilities;
i) due to excessive crankcase pressure it has blown one of the glow plug conectors out of the valve cover
ii) the oil separator drain tube is disconnected or broken.

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Snowwhite6.4

Discussion Starter · #20 · 7 mo ago

TD-5 said:
2 possibilities;
i) due to excessive crankcase pressure it has blown one of the glow plug conectors out of the valve cover
ii) the oil separator drain tube is disconnected or broken.

Well it is coming from higher up than the glow plug connectors, looks like it’s coming from closer to the turbos on the passenger side. As far as it coming from the drain tube the leak is on the rear of the motor not the front of it. I have a couple warm days coming up this week I’m gonna pull the turbos and see what I can see from that.

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