Has the Ford 6.4 V-10 been a good reliable motor.
So far as I can tell. I own one and have had no problems with it. My mechanic has put 200K miles on two, with few reported problems.
6.8 V10 or 6.4 V8 Diesel?
The new modular Ford truck motors (5.4 and 6.8 gas) had some growing problems. Blown spark plugs and high oil consumption come to mind. I had a 5.4 V8 that had used oil. Ford considered 1qt/1000 acceptable. These issues apparently have been addressed. I believe the new plugs have more threads.
I have a 04 6.8 V10. only have 40,000 miles and its trouble free(knock on wood)
The 6.4 diesel I don’t know about, the 6.0 was a dog.
Check http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/index.php for more info
The 6.4L V8 turbo diesel is pretty powerful, but had more that’s its share of teething problems. It’s fuel economy is also poor for diesel, expect 10 MPG unloaded. The 6.8L V10 is a great engine IMO, especially the 2005-up 3 valve version. I had a V10 F-350 4x4 as my demo vehicle when I worked at a Ford dealership. With the 4.30 rear end it was astonishingly quick for a 7500 pound vehicle. Fuel mileage was not great. I got around 8 around town and about 11 on the highway. But if you’re driving a vehicle like that, you don’t care much about fuel economy. I don’t think the diesel is worth the $7000 price premium it commands. Fuel mileage is only very slightly better than the gas engine, and it’s not as reliable.