# 6.4 powerstroke



## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

Has anyone heard anything about any new tuners coming out for the 6.4? I talked to my local truck shop on Thursday and they tell me to just wait. Is there something in the works? 

I'm really tired of the poor fuel mileage so much that, i'm considering selling the truck.


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## DSL_PWR (Jul 22, 2009)

You can call various shops that might still have some H&S tuners in stock. You need the race tuner. 

You will also need the DPF delete pipe. 

A quick search on the web will show you were you should be able to get what you want.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

Yeah, you can still find the H&S tuner but, they were the first to pull there stuff off the market. So, after doing some extensive research, H&S is known for doing updates about every 3 days on a 6.4. My question is, if they are not selling them anymore, how would you get updates?


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

they dont do updates every three days. go on their site and you can see the update list. a major one hasnt been done in a while. regardless they still offer updates if needed. 

as mentioned call around. shops will still the offroad tuners for sale however at a premium price. 

i got 17.3 mpgs hand calculated on the last tank with heavy city driving without running ac with my mods last tank.


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## DSL_PWR (Jul 22, 2009)

Dead Wait said:


> Yeah, you can still find the H&S tuner but, they were the first to pull there stuff off the market. So, after doing some extensive research, H&S is known for doing updates about every 3 days on a 6.4. My question is, if they are not selling them anymore, how would you get updates?


They pulled their stuff because of the EPA. They still maintain updated for all their tuners. Just have to go to their site and get what you need.

If you find an update that works and the next updates are minimal the usually there is no reason to update unless it's a critical revision.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

So Goodwood, I assume your running this setup on your truck. Tell me what all you have done.


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## BATWING (May 9, 2008)

I dont know what your after as far as mileage. The only time I might get 17.3 is when I am not towing, in the hottest tune under 2000rpm, going down hill with a tail wind. At best an avg of 15.x depending on conditions. If you after mileage get a gasser.

All the deletes, tuners etc will give you performance and give your engine longevity IMO assuming your not racing it.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

Hey batwing. My racing and hotrod days are over. I guess I should have explained alittle more in detail. I just bought this truck two months ago. It had 23,000 miles on it. One of the biggest reasons I bought it. It's 100% all stock. 2wd. Nothing fancy. I bought it so that I could pull my 35 travel trailer. 

One of the biggest mistakes I made was, I DID NOT do any research first. Totally my fault. I'm ok with that. But, when I say it gets bad fuel mileage, this is what i'm getting at. 

I went from Sugarland to Fort Worth. Exsactly 288 miles on way. The truck was on empty. I filled it up, hooked up to the 5th wheel and drove straight back to Hearn Texas. The truck was on empty with only 142 miles. I filled up in Hearn and drove on back to Sugarland. The truck was on empty. 

So, I'm guessing i've got a 22-23 gal tank. I'm not real sure but, I can find out. 

Now, if this is normal fuel mileage for a diesel, i'm done with them. I will go back to a gasses. My trailer only weighs 9300lbs. It's not a total monster. 

So, you do the math and tell me if this is good, poor, average, great, or completely **** for mileage.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

Oh, I almost forgot. I bet this truck hasn't seen 15mpg even on a long downhill run.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Dead Wait said:


> So Goodwood, I assume your running this setup on your truck. Tell me what all you have done.


sb intake
4 inch down pipe
5 inch exhaust
egr delete with elbow
hs mini max 300hd tune early shift lbf 0
3 inch cac pipe
etc...


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

My fault the last tank went 418 miles on 25.8 gallons of fuel which equals to 16.2 mpgs- heavy city driving.





The tank prior to that went 17 mpgs. Got confused.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

I'd be tickled to death to get at least 14mpg.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Do your deletes and tune your truck. Then the hard part is not standing on the go pedal all the time.  Most people will say they wished they'd done it sooner but of course you might have warranty to consider.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

My truck is way out of warranty. Also, I sent you a PM.


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## mas360 (Nov 21, 2006)

Dead Wait said:


> Oh, I almost forgot. I bet this truck hasn't seen 15mpg even on a long downhill run.


It is strange that my old 2000 F250 with 7.3 engine, no tuner, 2-wheel drive, plain Jane would get 18 mpg average on freeway and 12 mpg towing a 7,000 lbs camper.

I'd expect the newer F250 to get better fuel mileage due to smaller engine and more sophisticated computer control and transmission.


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## BATWING (May 9, 2008)

mas360 said:


> It is strange that my old 2000 F250 with 7.3 engine, no tuner, 2-wheel drive, plain Jane would get 18 mpg average on freeway and 12 mpg towing a 7,000 lbs camper.
> 
> I'd expect the newer F250 to get better fuel mileage due to smaller engine and more sophisticated computer control and transmission.


Back in 2000 there were less EPA restrictions. The DPF and DEF systems kill the new motors. There are more worried about how much black smoke goes in the air than how many gallons of fuel your burning.

Back to the OP. I would say your current MPG is about as good as it gets. Spending $2000 on deletes and performance is only going to net you a couple MPG's at best. If a gasser can haul your rig and stop it like your diesel can then that might be your best bet.


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## State_Vet (Oct 10, 2006)

i have a 2010 F250 with a 6.4 the only aftermarket thing ive put on it is 5" MBRP dual exhuast (no muffler). i get 16.5 to 17 mpg driving in the city, on the highway i can get up to 20 mpg depending on how i drive it. At 90 mph going from junction to ft stockton i averaged 15 two weeks ago. i did hit a high mpg of 99 mpg coming down a mountain in Colorado:biggrin:


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

Well, because I know very little about diesel's to begin with. Is it possible to run straight pipes with no DPF and Cat without doing all the deletes? I have considered buying another fuel tank and putting it in the back of the truck. Of course, I understand that that is just adding more weight but, at least I won't have to stop as often to fill up.


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## paragod (Aug 25, 2006)

Thats what I get out of the shop trk with 6.4 and it has a 6spd man in it hwy I can squeeze out 19-20


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## Ah Yeah (Apr 14, 2009)

To the O.P.
what ever you do, do not look on Powerstroke army, or powerstroke nation under the classifieds, then sub-forum__ aftermarket upgrades or electronics. seems people dont know about these little sites. its 2cool, but for powerstrokes.


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## DSL_PWR (Jul 22, 2009)

Dead Wait said:


> Well, because I know very little about diesel's to begin with. Is it possible to run straight pipes with no DPF and Cat without doing all the deletes? I have considered buying another fuel tank and putting it in the back of the truck. Of course, I understand that that is just adding more weight but, at least I won't have to stop as often to fill up.


No, it is not possible. You need a tuner in order to remove the DPF filter on a 6.4L diesel. If you don't tune it then the truck will throw a code and go into constant regen which is a bad thing.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Dead Wait said:


> Well, because I know very little about diesel's to begin with. Is it possible to run straight pipes with no DPF and Cat without doing all the deletes? I have considered buying another fuel tank and putting it in the back of the truck. Of course, I understand that that is just adding more weight but, at least I won't have to stop as often to fill up.


an egr delete isnt totally necessary but also helps with fuel consumption and overall health of the engine.


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## Friendswoodmatt (Feb 22, 2005)

I am not saying I have ever bought a tuner nor tuned my truck-- but I wanted to know what all the fuss was about-- so I did a little research and here is what I understand:
Starting last year into this year The EPA stepped in and began fining tuner companies last year (huge fines) and prohibiting them from selling their off road tuners anymore without significant proof you are using the truck at off road events like tractor pulls and diesel races. 
Consequently, as of around 4/2013 H&S isn't selling the DPF delete/race tuners anymore, only the street legal ones-- there are a couple of others that still sell some tuners like spartan I believe but, their tuners are not as well liked as the H&S from my research on the 6.7 not sure about the 6.4.


H&S tuners
The H&S has 2 different tuner models with the same programs -- one is the XRT Pro --it is not shift on the fly-- it has the same programs, but no little screen you plug it in, put the tune on the ecu and unplug it and put it away--then run on that tune till you do all of this over agian.
On Average, they sell for about 700 less then the mini maxx -- the mini maxx is the one you want. They both do most of the same things- -the minimaxx does some additional things like tire pressure alarm shut off and adjusts your speedo for big tires etc as well as the ability to change tunes on the fly

H&S Street Tuners
Street Tuners do not delete any of the emissions stuff off the truck-- they will change your shift points and give you additional horsepower-- engine life, oil life, and tranny life may suffer-- mileage as well-- may not-- not sure
The Thing is they have the programs to delete all of the emissions stuff in them-- but you cannot gain access to it without a special unlock code that you can only get from H&S-- there are ways around this-- like buying tunes from others- or proving your going to only use the truck off road and signing a ton of paperwork- but I have heard this is not as good or is difficult --and ends up being more expensive/ PITA.


older used tuners:
You will need to find someone with a vin unlocked RACE tuner -- and verify will work in your model of truck
If you have a failure while you are getting the older race tuner to "latch on" to your truck you are SOL because if you send an old race tuner back to H&S they will reprogram it to a street tuner and without a high sulfur code its just a street tuner. if you buy a tuner that is vin locked your sol as it wont dowload the tunes to your truck-- they were left on the previous vehicle.

New Old RACE type tuners
Some guys saw this coming and bought up a ton of tuners and are now selling new "old" tuners -- these work fine -- but plan for the most part on selling it with the truck you have or sticking with that model or equivalent model in a different truck -- cant take and marry it to a 6.4 then take it to a 6.7 from my understanding because you must unlock the 6.7 tuning and that requires $100 and a code from H&S that returns it to a street tuner. 

New Tuners with special code -- this is the BEST! 
Tough to find but it can be done and well worth the trouble -- this is the BEST!
have I said this is the best?
Some guys have street tuners with a special unlock code
A new street tuner with a high sulfur unlock code-this is the best because if you have problems H&S can still fix it send it back to you as a street tuner.
Then you simply have to put in your special code to unlock it again- viola! Race tuner again with all the deletes and massive horsepower you dreamed about-- the code is specifically matched to the serial number on the tuner-- if you find one of these get the code with the tuner-
IF you want to say, put your tuner into a 6.7 it may need to be sent back to H&S and updated, maybe not but you can be confident because you can unlock it to a race tuner and delete all your emissions **** (for offload use of course) because you have the code! This code is serial number matched to your tuner



Craigslist and the forums on the diesel boards are good places but be careful -- expect to pay from 1-2K for the tuner it must not be vin locked or it is worthless to you. This will "tune" the truck and allow you to remove the DPF and straight pipe the exhaust (another 3-500) . YMMV -- it definitely wakes the truck up for off road use.

Please be aware that while we only have a safety inspection in Texas for our Diesels, and not an exhaust/emissions inspection, the tuner is not legal for street use-- and can result in a huge fine if you get caught with it while using it one the street- I have heard the fine is as much as 35K! I don't know--
a good place to educate yourself on these tuners is in the forums like powerstroke army and diesel stop-- look at the motor you have and select the electronics/performance upgrades or tuning forum and get to reading.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

That was a helluva post there. However, I do appreciate the help. I'm alittle leary of buying used as I have been burned in the past many times. I'm all about saving a dollar but, when it comes to these kind of dollars, i'm buying new.

As for the other fella that mentioned Not looking up Powerstroke Nation or some other forum. I'm not sure if that's your sarcasm talking or if you are serious. I'm not a member of any of those forums anyway. That's why i'm here. I'm not the only guy in town with this truck and this complaint. 

So, if you were being helpful, then thank you. If not, i'm sorry you wasted your time on my thread.


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## BATWING (May 9, 2008)

Dead Wait said:


> That was a helluva post there. However, I do appreciate the help. I'm alittle leary of buying used as I have been burned in the past many times. I'm all about saving a dollar but, when it comes to these kind of dollars, i'm buying new.
> 
> As for the other fella that mentioned Not looking up Powerstroke Nation or some other forum. I'm not sure if that's your sarcasm talking or if you are serious. I'm not a member of any of those forums anyway. That's why i'm here. I'm not the only guy in town with this truck and this complaint.
> 
> So, if you were being helpful, then thank you. If not, i'm sorry you wasted your time on my thread.


Good luck on your project. Many of us are trying to make our trucks perform the best they can. That being said I dont think anyone was trying to be sarcastic. I got on a couple superduty forums researching before I did mine and there are thousands of guys asking these questions and you will find much more info on options, setups possible issues etc.

The 6.4 is a beast after the shackles have been cut.


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## Dead Wait (Mar 8, 2005)

I wasn't refferring to you Batwig. It was what Ah Yeah had post. He said not to look them up and then proceeded to tell me how to look them up. Oh well. That's not important. No need for us to get fussy. Sorry if I hurt any feelings. 

Your right, I guess we are all looking for the better way. That's why i'm here asking. But, before I bight the bullet and jump off into a $25-$3000. bill for parts, I need to see some sort of proof.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Earlier this year I got 19.6 mpg. Best the truck has done in mixed driving situations. I'll do a strictly highway trip empty sometime soon and see what I get.


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## Friendswoodmatt (Feb 22, 2005)

well if you are serious about the tuner and you are getting this kind of mileage -- I am not sure a tuner will help you. It will however make your truck much more fun to drive if you like earth shattering horsepower and great acceleration. Other than that it will make it a little noiser, a little more smoke, tow better and no def to worry about. Are these things worht an additional 2K ?


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## WCT3 (May 31, 2006)

I have an XRT Pro with the replacement exhaust pipe that I just took off of my recently traded 2010 6.4 if anyone is interested in it.


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## State_Vet (Oct 10, 2006)

I am pleased with just my aftermarket 5" dual exhaust, tried a cold air intake but it kept throwing a code.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

the old style sb intakes threw codes. the new style does not. dunno bout the afe. if i were to buy one now id buy a no limit intake for the 64. very nice piece.


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## goodwood (Mar 30, 2009)

Almost got 18 mpg at 17.9. Powerstroke diesel likes the cool dense air and not running the AC. Rush hour 5 days a week and haul 3 loads.


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