What's this business everyone is talking about the head bolts on a diesel excursion?

I'm looking for a 2005 X with the diesel. Here's the question: do I HAVE to get the head bolts replaced?
I want the X for this: occasional hauling (NOT towing), just light stuff like Christmas tree and maybe carpets, landscaping stuff . Nothing approaching tonnage.
Perhaps as many as 6 simultaneous adult passengers, but not often.

But MORE importantly I want it for long trips. I make several trips per year from S Florida to Massachusetts and back ( take that, TSA) and inevitably haul some stuff back/forth (bicycles, technical equipment, etc ... Again, nothing super heavy).
I prefer the diesel in that scenario for the range, given its mpg. It's an attractive thought to be able to go from Fart Lauderdale to nearly DC on a single tank.

Knowing this, do I NEED the head bolts thing taken care of? What happens if I don't? No plans to mod the thing other than maybe a k&n air filter or fipk.
Thanks for any advice.

 

Welcome to the greatest community of Ex lovers anywhere!

I can tell you that if the truck you are considering has never had problems with head gaskets, there is a good chance it won't. However, if you plan on modding with any sort of chip or programing, I would highly recommend a set of headstuds. It is not-so-cheap insurance.

Please have your truck checked out thoroughly by a mechanic that know the 6.0 engine professionally. I would also ask someone to pull a history file(called an oasis report) on this forum or the 6.0 engine forum located at FTE. That will tell you if there were problems in the past.

All in all, for casual use(as you described) it is perfectly fine to go without that upgrade...be forewarned though, upgrades to a diesel are hypnotic and chaotic and psychotic(ok not really, just addictive and expensive!)

enjoy!

 

Welcome! This IS the best resource for information on Excursions.

Headstuds are required when you put alot of pressure on the heads, i.e: Towing, turning up the power with a tuner, ...... Ford used Torque to yield bolts on the heads, and when they get stressed, they stretch and you blow a head gasket. The fix for this, is to put head studs in so you can really clamp the heads down, and they are hardened and won't stretch.

But, Like P2P stated above, if you are just hauling people around, hauling gear in the back and never towing, there isn't a real need for studs. But like suggested, make sure you can get a good look over by a mechanic who know's 6.0's just to be safe.

Enjoy and don't be afraid to ask questions.

-The Great

 

no their not needed

a lot of chicken little theorists exist and they claim the 6.0 can't do anything without blowing up. There are millions of these motors tooling around with few to no problems. Leave it in stock form and take care of the maintenance side...and the motor will chug along happily for many years/miles

drop down to the 6.0 section of FTE and do some reading. there is a lot of stuff to look for when buying a 6.0. Many people hot rod diesel motors, and then bitch up a storm when stuff breaks. The 6.0 suffers from this because of poor design from Ford. In the early years Ford and IH didn't do their due diligence and the 6.0 suffered greatly because of this. All of the known faults of this motor are fairly easy to address. Even if she is suffering from HG failure, oil cooler clogging, EGR cooler failure, or oil fitting/seals failures...you can pick one up for fairly cheaply and fix cheaply.

I know I miss my 6.0 something fierce. It was a great motor with good MPG's and ungodly amount of power.

 

Sounds like you need another one.

Or a blower on that V10

Sent from my Telegraph using IB AutoGroup

 

I thought the reason the head gaskets blew was due to the EGR cooler (or one of the coolers anyway) plugging up causing an overheat condition? I've read of that failure more than enough to know that it is a major issue on a 6.0!

 

When buying a diesel Excursion, what's a good checklist of things to investigate? Be specific!
I am looking for a really good one, 2005 only, split bench rear 2nd-row seats (no captain's chairs!), low miles and willing to pay for a perfect specimen.
What's a good price for such a vehicle with ~80k or less, perhaps with a minimal trim level (not Eddie Bauer)?

 

If Master Brent agrees, Look for coolant service and proper level without signs of overflow from the coolant reservoir?

 

6.0's are constantly getting bashed. They are great motors, much more power than the 7.3 and a much Better transmission! There are lots of 6.0 trucks where I live with all over 250,000 miles and only a handful of issues. At a friends shop there is an 03 with 479,000 miles on it. All that's been done is an EGR delete and maintained on time.

The issues really only start when the coolant service falls behind or usually someone not knowing better and adding green coolant. That being said if there's green coolant in it pass on it.

 

Ah yeah, I don't tow had to replace studs, oil cooler, egr and a bunch of small stuff... To make the 6.0 all that it could be. I love this truck now, but did require attention.

 

...IMHO stay away from the KN intakes and filters (and that's coming from someone that has a KN intake with another AM filter)...unless you're planning to tune and mod it the OEM filter assembly is plenty good enough.

I didn't do anything to the head studs until I actually needed too...these are great trucks and the 6.0l is a great motor. There's no need to fear them. Give them a little TLC and you'll be good to go.

 

The 6.0 can be a good motor with a little maintenance. I am not a big fan of the torque shift trans as I have had nothing but issues with all the ones I have had but the 6.0 is a good motor if you maintain it correctly. A bit fussier than a 7.3 but thats the nature of the beast.

 

I have had two 6.0. Thats right two and I towed big with both. For instance towing 14000lbs 1000 miles with stopping only for gas. Never had major issues with anything. Its simple if you maintain it and keep it stock you will love it. My current 6.0 has over 100000 which I consider still new and it runs great with gobs of power. If you hot rod it issues will come as all cars/truck that are modded it comes with the territory. The blown head gasket thing is a mystery to me. I just don't seem to have the issues others have. I love both of my 6.0's and I ain't ashamed to admit it or even brag about it. If some engine god came down from the heavens and would replace my head bolts with studs I would turn him down. Can't fix was isn't broken. Also I have an early 2003 6.0 which according to all should have exploded big by now. Whatever I bet this engine outlast me.

I will say this I did use my ford connections to get the warranty history on the vehicle and also got a ford diesel mechanic to look at it before I purchased it. So that would be my recommendation. Get a person who only works on ford diesels to run a good once over then enjoy a awesome rig.

 

I'm a mechanic, and I just bought a 6.0 from a customer. The 6.0 is actually a decent engine if taken care of. Yes, the 4 head bolts per cylinder is a stupid design but studs and o-ring can fix that problem. Most of the 6.0 nightmares come from the early 6.0 engines. Blown egr cooler, leading to blown oil coolers and bang there the head gasket.

First thing I do when a customer brings me a 6.0 is I flush the coolant system. That takes a couple of hours and I consider it done once the water draining out of the block and radiator is clear. Then it gets the Update kit installed. New oil cooler, EGR gets deleted, STC fitting, dummy plugs and stand pipes, re-o-ring all injectors and HPO o-rings on the truck. I'll pull the cab and do headstuds if they want that done...then I'll do all the other previous mentioned work with the cab off.

Anyways, a lot of the noise comes from people who did not own a 6.0 or someone who simply doesn't know wtf they are doing when they touch one.

Buy one.

 

I agree. It's a good motor if it's maintained or upgraded. The issue with the head gaskets in my opinion are when the other issues are let go l reading to the head gasket failures. If there is a issue it needs to be addressed early.