I have a 2004 4x4 Excursion diesel. It has 200,000 miles on it. Seems to run perfect and still has a lot of power. Can anyone give a guesstamate on how many miles and or years you think I can expect this beast to last? I dont drive it much, cant afford to. I may do max 10,000miles a year on it.

 

That depends on far too many factors to guess. Some folks have engines last well over a half million miles, but it doesn't seem that many 6.0Ls make it that far without some form of major surgery.

It'll last as long as you keep fixing it when it breaks.

 

Maintenance is key to a 6.0, as well as, any other engine lasting a long time.

My 7.3 has 404K on it and hasn't required any major repairs because I alway kept up on maintenance and drove the **** out of it when I did drive it.

As long as you follow the proper maintenance intervals, use Motorcraft filters, and keep a fuel additive in the tank your 6.0 will live a long full life.

Buy yourself a scangauge 2 to keep and eye on things like:

-ECT and EOT delta
-FICM voltages
-Alternator output

etc....

Bottom line Maintenance, Freeway drive time, or towing is what keeps a 6.0 happy.

 

Any engine can be killed by stop/go on/off over-idling.

Since it has 200K on it I can only assume you bought it used with higher mileage. That means the truck spent a lot of time on the road on trips. I wouldn't advise using the truck for short hops/round-town driving because you'll lessen it's life if that's important to you. Use it for the long haul trips (100+ mile) trips where the engine can remain at a good operating temperature. If you do plan to do mostly short hops (40 or less miles) with it plan on changing the filter more often and monitor oil color/smell for fuel contamination.

Regular maintenance checks should keep it performing well for several more years.

 

In my research on 6.0 issues it seems to always start out with cooling issues and voltage issues.
Install a coolant filter
Monitor voltages for the ficm closely as well as the battery voltages. Replace on time.
Monitor difference between engine oil temps and coolant temps at freeway speeds to get an indication of how well the oil cooler works. A coolant filter will prevent further clogging.
Keep up the oil changes and use motorcraft filters.
As long as the engine runs and starts smoothly it will be good. Don't neglect warning signs like hard start or running rough.
Should last a long time then unless it's been abused before.

 

2 words. Fuel Pressure


Be sure to at least, install the blue spring (upgraded FP spring).
It's also a good idea to add a fuel pressure gauge..
It really helps identify if/when you improperly install the fuel filter cap(s).
Low FP can kill your injectors.

 

I got 240K on mines so you got at least 40K you can look forward to. lol
When I had to heads off the mechanic said the cylinder cross hatch looked good for the miles (230K) at the time. I was told barring component failure I might see elevated oil consumption as it wears out but so far no problems.

 

Cylinder walls aren't what will kill your engine though. I've never heard of a 6.0 that wore out the cylinders.

A failed valve lifter may kill yours. Perhaps brought on by failed rocker arms. Or your EGR cooler may kill it when it hydrolocks your engine. Head gaskets may fail causing a bad overheat. Your oil cooler may plug causing high oil temps to melt the oil filter stand pipe. An injector tip or glow plug may break off mangling the cylinder.

One of these or something else may catch up with your engine and kill it, and that will happen LONG before you wear out the cylinders. Those last a long time, but the rest of the engine may not.

 

Not the cylinder walls I was referring to but the piston rings which can wear out and cause excessive blow by which many people look for on high mileage engines esp diesels.
Those components you mentioned can all be addressed with removal and inspection. In my case I had an engine out disassembled and inspection. I had updated oil cooler and EGR delete. I don't know much about failed rocker arms though so don't know the signs of impeding failure but my heads were inspected and sent out to machine shop.
Those failed lifters are a little mysterious but they can wipe out whole engine and I haven't found a consensus on the forums on the causes but my shop believes it is excessive idle without high idle. He says the oil pressure isn't adequate at the low idle for prolonged periods and that causes failure. I got the updated pushrods (shorter) that relieves some pressure on them for my peace of mind but I keep my AAA paid up!
I had my inj and GP checked and replaced with all new. Leaky/bad inj can burn a hole in piston and 4 of mines were bad.
Anything built by man can and will fail but with inspection and preventative maintenance we can mititgate the risk.