What is the pros and cons of the 6.0 PS? I have heard of nothing but nightmares with the engine. I went to look at a 2006 with 36k miles and the truck was leaking antifreeze and pwr steering fluid. I got a REAL bad feeling about the truck and walked away. A landscaper in my area has a 2006 6.0 that has been in the shop for 2 months now. He can't wait to get the truck back so he can sell it. Should I avoid looking for another truck with the 6.0?

 

They are as bad as the owner allows them to be. Take care of it and know its characteristics and it will be a great engine for you. Abuse it and skemp on maintenance and you will be like your landscaper buddy; ready to dump it as soon as possible. It really is that simple. I love mine. 75k miles and never had an issue towing way more way than the truck should sometimes. I would buy another one.

 

Well said and I agree!

BTW - I love your "signature line" HarleyFXDL!

If you decide to buy one, we can give you some good things to do to keep it running well for quite awhile.

Also, in here is a guide for buying a used 6.0L:
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...-look-for.html

 

nothing should take 2 months to fix ..
I researched for a year before I bought my 06 6.0 with 22k .. best truck I ever owned and I am not a Blue oval fan by nature ,,
I would second guess the leaker you looked at

 

I agree, these are great trucks if taken care of, and know the maint schedule and follow it. And by the way all you hear is bad things, why? In this world thats the only time people speak up is when they have bad experiences. Being self employed myself this is one of my main concerns, happy customers tell just a few people, unhappy customers tell everyone they can

 

Beside regular maintenance and fixing known bugs.

Avoid one that has aftermarket chips (if you can tell) and things like that on it.

i.e. look for other pretty stuff that people who buy chip tuners etc. hang on, like the chrome accessories, pretty pipes, etc.

If you got one that was used as intended, and not modified, and well taken care of, it is great.

I have one that has 260,000 miles I got used at 257,000 miles.

Known bugs, throws codes left and right (which I am slowly clearing up), but basically, erase the codes and I am on my way.

I know I need a new EGR or cleaning (plus stealth delete) and a turbo cleaning.... minor issues when spring rolls around.

 

Get an oasis report at the dealer to see history. Afew injectors or turbo wouldn't concern me. If its had lots of egr valves and head gaskets, i'd look elswhere. If had three good ones. They all can't be bad. I also had the oasis reports pulled forst before I bought.
A friend of mine did not do this and he is now starting to hate it, the truck had pulled heavy loads while chipped, and with dried coolant around coolant bottle, egr unplugged and he still bought it ( i didn't get to look at it before he bought it. I would have said run away!) And now his is throwing lots of codes and he is not happy.

I think in reality there are a lot more good ones than bad ones.

 

My 03 6.0 has 186k on it and I STILL LOVE this truck! The only thing I've had to do other than routine maintenance is an alternator, and that is something that I just did today. Oh yes... I forgot, it also got a turbo and injectors at 90k, but those were under warranty. Before this truck, the only ford product I ever owned was a 69 Mustang, great car but I hated working on it. I have since also bought an F-150 for the wife and when the time comes, I will replace my truck with another Ford Deisel. I LOVE MY TRUCK!!!!

 

They are awesome trucks. You will need to delete the EGR cooler, do a CCV reroute and larger exhaust, then you should have no problems. I would look into letting FORD fix the issues then buy it, if the price is right.
Mine has all the goodies and passes emissions with flying colors.

 

You'll find a lot of 6.0 fans here. I guess I'm one too... If you can find one the 05 and newer is what you should look for. Probably better to buy from a dealer and defitely run the Oasis report. When I bought mine; the dealership ran it for me and offered it up like a selling feature. Like the guys said, you can't skimp on the maintenance. Stay away from the chipped trucks. In fact, if your thinking of a private sale, like the landscaper you mentioned. You got to ask yourself, "why is he selling the truck?" Like the guys who have the 7.3's, the guys who have a good 6.0 tend to hold onto them. Could be the truck has been abused with little or no maintenance and they just want to unload it. You should have a look at the 6.0 tech folder as well, lots of good info.

 

I have a 2005 and it is awesome! It has had some leaks which ford fixed and an alternator has gone bad. 72000 miles on her and I plan on running it for a long time! I love my 6.0. I have always had oil changes done often on mine as well. If ford says it needs it gets done! I am sure thats part of the reason why of my success. So far I havent had any troubles out of my egr or turbo but I am sure its lurking at some point. I will just pay to fix it and keep on trucking!

 

look at the number of theses trucks out on the road. They are everywere you turn. Its like the ford tarus. There were so many of them at one point it didnt matter what shop you went to there was always one in it.
They do have issues like any mechanical object. For the most part the issues with the avarge unmodified truck that is not in a fleet seem to be doing ok.

 

I have a 2005 with 97,000 miles on it. I bought the truck new and it has been great for me. I have only had it in for warranty early on, I noticed an oil leak, and it was a quick fix while I waited for some o-ring.

I do all the maintenance, when it needs to be be done, and only use Ford filters and synthetic oil. I had to clean my EGR valve once, but it never sooted up after that (I pull it every once in a while just to check). I hope to drive it for at least another 150,000 miles or more.

 

Raise a toast for the 6.0l they all aint bad. I love the current truck I have and plan to keep it for a long time. My wifes 05 excursion just had 3 injectors replaced at 70k but thats about it for all those miles.

Check the oasis before you buy, Do the maintenance and use the ford or international filters and you should be good to go for a long time.

 

First off, in order to make sure that my post has baring on this topic I'm going to open with this. I love my truck and they are by far not all bad and yes, even the OP can find one that is good.

Now onto the "fun" stuff. I've noticed a trend and it's a trend that has followed another trend that directly relates to the 6.0 and that is the trend toward "chipped(I'm including "tuned" and any other closely related terms that people in the performance hobby, field etc use)" trucks. Like anything else, you have to investigate what it is they had on it. There are bad ones to, for sure, stay away from, but not all are bad(just like the 6.0s). I think that people say all "chipped" trucks are bad and should be avoided are the same ones that say: "you "chip" your 6.0 and you'll have headbolt issues for sure"(now if people want, I can go into detail about why I have problems with this particular trend, but I will spare y'all from that unless someone asks). So, I think for people to stay away from all "chipped" trucks is a little extreme, however, there are some brands to stay away from especially where the 6.0 is concerned, but not all of them.

The 6.0 is one of the most misunderstood engines, because it required a departure from the way people thought of how to treat, use and take care of their diesels and I'm willing to bet that atleast 85%(if not more) issues could have been mitigated if owners, and techs were better educated towards these "newer" diesels in those early years of the 6.0, we would have a different story and perception of this engine. Now it had it's big design flaws too, I'm not trying to mitigate that; but it could have been better then it was, if people were just educated(and this goes with a stock truck and/or a modified 6.0 as well).