About a year ago I finally found a really nice V-10 2005, Ex and amazingly pleased with it. The only problem is now the wife drives it 24/7... (Idaho is a great place to be outdoors!)

After looking at what it would cost to get a new PSD, I could get another Ex. At least that was my logic, off to the interwebs only to find anything with a 7.3 has either rust or beat on... or just basically toyed with to the point I would be dealing with someone else's "mods".

I can find decently cared for 6.0's at a reasonable price but still hesitate about getting a 6.0 for the long term.

If I was to consider a 6.0...I'm thinking at least 10K just to bullet proof it?

I'm after a diesel this time around because it's going to get a lift and be more for out in the woods.

 

I am in similar boat. After owning a V10 Ex and a modded 6.0L Ex I am looking for a 7.3L and they have plenty of miles on them by now or the price is WAY beyond what I want to spend. I don't drive much so am almost open to another V10 maybe this one with 4.56 and Mike's Tune with y pipe and exhaust/intake to wake it up some.

 

Any reason you wouldn't go for another 6.0?

 

One thing to consider if you are thinking about buying a 7.3, Unless you pay stupid money for an extreme low milage one, the values are going up, not down for the foreseeable future making the truck one of the cheapest to own in the long run.

 

The 7.3 is a tank for sure, but I wouldn't hesitate for a second to buy a 6.0 that's been cared for or bulletproofed already. The legend of the 6.0 is far worse than the reality. It's a beast of an engine and all it's problems are well documented so that when you have a problem, you can hop on in the internet, google your symptoms and you'll have your answer within seconds usually.

$10k for bulletproofing is absurd. Half of that is to be expected and honestly, you can get it a lot cheaper, depending on where you live. You can also piece meal it out too, you don't have to go all in on the bulletproofing at once. Start with what you need: what are the temp deltas between oil and coolant? Is it time for an oil cooler? They're $400. While you're there, get an inline coolant filter and delete the EGR (if possible where you live). You're done for under a grand and that'll get you along just fine.

Next up change out the exhaust and open her up a bit. Another $400 or so installed. Blue spring mod is something you can do yourself for under $100.

I guess my point is that there's no definitive reason to drop a ton of money just to be preventative. In MOST cases, the failures aren't catastrophic. I ran probably 10k miles on my blown head gaskets before I even really knew they were blown. By the time I got around to fixing them and adding studs, cleaning injectors and turbo, etc, I got out the door for under $3k because I'd already done a lot of the other stuff.

Good luck in your search!

 

Yep 350k miles on mine with no issues.

 

HokieHiVPI:


Well said......If I would have read your post 3 years ago when I was on the search for an Ex, I would have purchased an 05 Ex Eddie Bauer with the 6.0 and only 80K miles. It had a May 05 build date. My worries over the 6.0 talked me out of it.


My only regrets with my 7.3l is the transmission.........The fist time I towed my camper and backed it into a campsite, I had tranny fluid puking everywhere. Lesson learned and a 6.0 cooler installed.


Swmpbgy1

 

Shouldn't cost that much to bullet proof. 5-8K depending on what and who does it.

If you do get the 6.0 try and get the latest build you can. Ford/International was continually improving the motor until 2007 when it was phased out of production on the F series. I think the E series vans used it longer (not sure).

If you find a good 7.3 Ex with really high mileage you can get crate engines pretty cheap. However if you need injectors then the price goes up quite a bit.

Regarding mods for the 7.3 ... some are desirable, some required, some needed and some are for show or do nothing.


Anything with tires over 37" = probably bad
Anything over 4" lift = might be bad

 

untill you own one that is a lemon and then the reality is far worse then the legend. With the serious engineering flaw that can only be band aided "luck" is exactly what owning one comes down to.

 

Do you have the ability to shift into 2 Low by way of manual locking hubs or a switched power circuit to the vacuum switch? Using Low range for reversing will keep those front seal overheat events much less likely, especially mated with the larger 6.0 cooler. I try to always use 2 Low for backing the big TT up, I still have the stock V-10 cooler and the trailer is heavy at 11k and it's been OK so far.

 

No such thing as a "lemon." You either get one that's been taken care of and hasn't had problems or you get one that wasn't caught in time, you didn't know the story behind it and you bought one that needed a ton of work because of it.

The latter stories are out there in droves and they're true. If you don't know enough to know what you're looking for, you could easily buy a $15k truck that needs $5k+ when you drive it off the lot. That's exactly where the 6.0 gets it's bad rap, and is why I was able to negotiate my seller down dramatically to get mine. BTW, mine made it to 158k miles before I spent a dime that wasn't preventative on my own.

The design flaw you speak of was introduced late into the game by the EPA to meet their new emissions standards. Ford modified International's design and there were lawsuits and a bunch of finger pointing before it was all said and done. You get rid of that "design flaw" (EGR) and you're fine. If you're not lucky enough to live in a state where you can do that, you buy the bulletproof version and, again, you're fine.

Every engine, every transmission, every vehicle has their own bad juju. The 7.3 isn't immune to it either. They've got some serious problems with the HPOP, fuel rails, IPR, lift pumps, etc. I've got two friends that have the 7.3 and they've both spent far more on their engines than I have. That said, they each have over 250k on them.

 

You are entitled to your opinion but the egr is not the design flaw, it is just a crappy design. The design flaw of the 6.0 that can't be fixed is the number of head studs. APR bolts are simply a bandaid and not a fix.

As for "lemon" I use the industry term that is commonly referred to. ford bought my 6.0 lemon back from me after several failed attempts to fix it including APR head studs that ford paid for after the 3rd set of heads. Truck was purchased new and dealer maintained. Hard to use the "not taken care of" excuse on that one.

"Bulletproof" is lame marketing term used to sell bandaids for a failed motor design.

 

@pirate4x4_camo More than once, you have mentioned your "experience" with a 6.0 L. What modifications, tuners, etc. (if any) were performed?

 

First 6.0 Ex one blew up driving home from the dealer. Stone stock, dealer came and picked it up and gave me a different vehicle.

Second 6.0 blew up in under 4K miles, stone stock, proceeded to go through 3 sets of heads, several turbos, egrs coolers etc over then next 60k....stock motor other then the ARP studs ford paid to install in an attempt to fix it.. Zero other mods. Ford dealer serviced. Used the Lemon law and ford bought it back from me.

 

My Dad owns an 07 6.uh-oh. He had it deleted, coolant filter, etc. He did not stud it right away. He started pulling his 33' travel trailer around the south, and he promptly blew the head gasket. He is an old guy. Very tame driver. No abuse.

I won't own one. I congratulate all you guys driving them that like them. Even my brother, a master Ford diesel mechanic, won't own one again. He did, and regretted it.