I have an '06 6.0 that I've driven for nearly 6 years now and it is constantly kicking my ***. I bought it with 98K miles. At about 110K I put a new oil cooler, a BPD EGR cooler, upgraded the snap to connect HPOP fitting, and a few more things ($3K). I replaced all 8 injectors and the fuel pump at about 125K miles ($3K +). Now, at 128K it started to overheat while pulling my travel trailer. It needs a new water pump at best or new head gaskets at worse. I'll find out on Monday when I take it in to the mechanic. So I have some decisions to make and frankly, I'm sick of this damn truck. I'm considering selling it after I replace the water pump (assuming that is it) and buying a 2012-2013 F-250, but I can't decide if I want to roll the dice and pay more for a diesel or pay less for a gasser.

Everyone says diesel is great for towing, but the 2004 Sierra with a gas engine towed a hell of lot better than my 6.0 ever has with a lot less stress (unfortunately the rest of the truck was a POS). I never heard the fan on my Sierra and ever since I owned my Ford it sounds like the fan is running constantly trying to cool it down.

As of now I mainly commute less than 10 miles a day and I tow an 8500 lb TT 5-10 times a year. So realistically a gasser seems more practical and honestly this damn 6.0L has just about ruined me on diesels. Is the 6.7 that much better than a 6.0 to justify buying one? What would you do? I'm not trying to start a debate or get flamed by diesel enthusiasts. I just want a little advice. I'm hoping someone can talk me into a diesel.

 

firstly,i should say,im sorry to hear about your misfortune.unfortunately your far from being alone when it comes to getting the shaft from the 6.oh no diesel engine.if there's anything that might help,is that you know that your not alone in this tragedy.there were many before you and sadly,there will be many behind you.

stand back and look objectively at the situation.what have you learned (unfortunately the hard way) about the 6.oh no? it's the worst engine to have ever been placed under the hood of an f-series pickup.

what else do you know and don't need to learn the hard way? that you don't need a diesel truck because you wont make use of it enough to justify it's extra expense and maintenance.

so if you can stand back and look at the situation objectively,you can only come to one logical and sensible conclusion and that is,get out from under that 6.oh no as quickly as you can and get yourself a gas truck and live much less stress free.

fact: living with less stress,leads to living longer.

ask yourself this question;
if you could of bought a gas truck instead of the 6.oh no,6 years ago and invested the $ you spent on repairs and thrown away into the truck, would you? if you answer "of course"........then you know what to do, so don't ask others to mislead you.

 

I would argue that the 6.4 is worse. Much more expensive to replace, a total pain to work on (6.0 ain't that bad)...

 

Thanks man. I appreciate your advice and for not being condescending. I know questions like this usually open people up to total flaming. I think I am leaning more towards the 6.2, but when I do tow it is in mountainous terrain and I don't want the truck to struggle. I hear the 6.7 is a much better, more reliable engine than the 6.0. For the money it better be. I think what it boils down to is what the mechanic tells me tomorrow. If it is simply a water pump then I'll likely use it through summer and then sell it. Where I go from here probably depends on what I get for my truck. Its had a lot of upgrades and brand new injectors so I'm hoping I can get at least $20K, but I haven't looked at the market yet.

I've heard the same thing. If I upgraded to a newer truck it would be in the 2012-2013 year range. So I'd be looking at the 6.2 or the 6.7. Thanks for the feedback.

 

Water pumps very rarely fail on these, and usually fail by leaking rather than causing an overheat. Chances are the fan clutch is bad, they do fail and then the fan doesn't pull enough air to properly cool the engine. I have also seen the plastic Y under the degas bottle fail, causing a loss of coolant, and the EGR cooler coolant hose fail.
The 6.0 is durable once the head bolts and EGR cooler are addressed, I am actually looking for an extended cab or a four door shortbed 4x4 for a family hauling rig.

 

Fan has been checked and is operating normally. Basically everything has been checked by a ford certified master mechanic, and he thinks best case is water pump. He's seen them go out since they have a plastic impeller. He can't get to the repair right now. I called another shop and he says he wants to do a chem test on the coolant to see if a head gasket is bad before he puts a BPD water pump and fan along with the aluminum radiator.

 

As a Ford dealer tech who has wrenched on his fair share of 6.0L diesels, those issues you have dealt with, are the usual 6.0L stuff that I didn't keep my 2007 long enough to have to deal with. I purchased it used in 2011 with all of 114,000 kms. (71,000 miles) on the clock. Drove it for four years and sold it back in July of 2015 with 212,000 kms. (132,000 miles) for the money I needed to get into my 2016 which I drive now. I can tell you first hand, that I see far fewer 6.7 trucks for issues compared to 6.0/6.4 trucks.

Having said that, as the owner of a 6.7 truck as well as a tech at a Ford store since 2000, you won't be disappointed with a 6.7 at all. The power is night and day better than the 6.0. I also consider DEF to be a non-issue since it is as inexpensive as having to fill up your washer fluid. A 6.2 gas truck won't disappoint either. However, if you do tow heavy optioning it with the 4.30 rear end would be a wise choice.

 

I'm gonna have to disagree regarding "water pump failure" being rare.
There is a level of insanity when owning a 6.0 that's hard to explain to
to someone that hasn't been sucked into the vortex.
I escaped in 2013 and never looked back.
Test drive a 13 6.2, which has bigger brakes and a very good tranny.
It will easily pull your TT.
The manual shifting is a great help as well.
The only real downside is extreme boredom, oil and gas.
Time to call "Letgo!"

 

Well, it is worst case scenario. He did the chem test right in front of me and it shows CO2 in the coolant so the head gaskets are gone with 128K miles.

Here are my options:

Sell it as is and take a beating. Even with all the money I've put into (~7000) it I'd be lucky to get $15K with bad head gaskets. New injectors, new fuel pump, new batteries, new air filter, blue spring mod, oil cooler with 20K on it, BPD EGR cooler, Screw to connect HPOP, new 20" wheels with Toyo tires with 4K miles on them.

Fix it and sell it (just head gaskets and ARP studs). Maybe I'd get up in the $22K range with all the upgrades.

Bullet proof it and keep it. The shop will do a full BPD upgrade, including BPD water pump, aluminum radiator, sinister coolant filter, remote oil cooler, ARP studs, new head gaskets, machine the heads, and a couple other things I can't remember right now for $5,500. If I do it, then I'd have to keep it for a long time to justify the expense, but he says its a true fix and my engine would be bullet proof. He does this to 60 trucks a year and has two in the shop with the cabs off now. He showed me his ever growing stack of blown head gaskets.

Decisions. Thanks for all the feedback BTW.

 

"The Decision" on the last segment of this article pretty much sums it up.

http://www.fleetservicenorthwest.com...LHeadstud.aspx

 

Says a company making a ton of $$$$ off these poor ba$ta$ds! No mention of your upcoming injector change? Add that to your upkeep cost my friend. Skip the rad. unless it's leaking. stock are pretty decent. Take a test drive at least..

 

Already felt that burn. Just put $3300 into brand new injectors and fuel pump in February. It seems like each $3K should be the last time I need to drop $3K into it and then something else goes South.

I can't afford a newer Diesel. I have a one loan at a time rule and I still owe on my wife's car. If I could get $20K for this truck and pay off my wife's car then I could put some cash down and afford a 2012-2014 6.2L Gasser. Besides, there is no way I'm writing a monthly check for $700-$800 for a new diesel.

 

I've got 42,000 mi on my 6.2 and I pull a 9000lb 5th without a problem.
You really need to take one out and try it.
This video has been posted before, but just in case you haven't seen it here goes....

 

Not trying to tell you what to do. At the end of the day, it's YOUR truck and YOUR money.

Just some food for thought. What is an eleven model year old vehicle with 128,000 miles worth? How many more years do you intend on keeping it? How many more model years will it be, and how many miles will be on it when you do finally unload it? $5500 is a lot of money to spend on an eleven year old vehicle but that's just me. Wrenching for dealerships for as many years as I have, I can't possibly stomach putting that much money for a repair. Of course, my situation is different from yours in that I wrench on my own stuff so I don't have the expenses in labour of having someone else do the work, so maybe it's that much harder for me to grasp. Speaking of wrenching on my own ride? It's the LAST thing I want to have to do, after doing it day in and day out for this many years, and that's the main reason I chose to buy brand new this time around, to get into my 2016.

And BTW, $20,000 is a very good down payment to get into a 6.2L that you desire. As that last video puts it, you won't be disappointed in it if you decide to pull the trigger. If only Ford would put that mill into a Mustang!!!!

 

i feel sorry that you think there is difficult decision to be made.if shown those trucks and shown those gaskets,those would be signs to me,that would make me feel sad for all those others.i sure as heck wouldn't get in line to join them.
you need to understand; you've already taken a lose.the choice now is,how much more of a lose do you want to take? there is no winning by sinking over 5k into an old truck engine.im sorry but there just isn't.

it really seems just like the compulsive gambler doesn't it? they will keep sinking in money and more money despite the cost.hoping things will finally turn around and they just empty out their life savings and then go deep into debt trying to win it all back.you want to shake them,smack them and wake them up but what can ya do? then to make matters worse you have other people who have been sucked into this mentality and in a obscure way to help them cope with what they've done,they try to tell others to follow in with their mistakes like it's perfectly acceptable to throw good money after bad.
it's so sad.
i mean hey,all is fine for those well off and or setting good in retirement and can do as they want for fun but there are good hard working families going through very great hardships due to this damn engine.ah.what can ya do.