I have been a Ford man for most of my life but right I'm having second thoughts. I am thinking of up grading from my current 1997 F250 7.3 PSD to a 2005 F350 6.0 PSD dully for the purpose of pulling a 39' 5th wheel.
I have heard many bad things about the 6.0 PSD from no power to oil leaks. Could any of you 6.0 PSD owners tell me weather this is a reliable engine or not what problems (if any) you have had and if you recommend it or not...Thanks

 

Ahh man the poop slingins gonna start again.

I will recomend this, and I am a little bias, my 6.0 hasent been problem free, but it hasnt been a failure and has never left me stranded. The thing you need to remeber is that the 6.0 IS NOT your OLD 7.3. What I mean is they need to be worked, they dont like to be idled around, and they require much more maintence.

Are there issues with the 6.0...yup, most were created by poor tuning, techs not having the knowledge to fix them right, lack of mainetnce etc. With that being said there are many of us that have reliable 6.0's with the emissions systems still intact and tuned making great power and have many miles on them.

I will give you a little of history on my 6.0, most of the issues I have had were due to me not driving my truck, and/or making short trips with it. My turbo has stuck on me 3 times now, I had the EGR/Oil Cooler repair done, and now the rear end is howling (this may have been caused by a previous dealer repair still waiting to hear), so in the 66,6xx miles the truck has on it its been to the dealer less that 5 times for warranty work and 2 times for transmission services (they need to be flushed).

There are some mods that are recomended for longevity like coolant filter, guages for monitoring engine vitals, most will recomend a good 4" exhaust as well.

I think the 05-07's have a pretty good track record, the 05's seem to be prone to the SCT fitting failing in the HPO sytem causing a no start/hard start hot. My advice would be spend some time in the 6.0 section, with an open mind, get an OAISIS report on that truck before you buy it. If it seems to be a warranty ***** walk away, buy and ESP if you can if not put some money away for repair work/upgrades.

I dont think you will be unhappy with a 6.0, the important thing is realize its not a 7.3 its a high performance diesel and needs to be treated as such. I love my 6.0 and its a pleasure to drive, especially the 05- 07's the suspension si much better, interiors are nicer, etc.

Most with the 7.3's will tell you your crazy for looking at a 6.0, but like I said I have no oil leaks and its never, ever left me or my family stranded, and it does everything I ask of it with ease. My only complaint is I wish I had a dually...but I make it one eventually.

Good Luck and Welcome to The 6.0 Learnign World,

Sarge

 

Well said - i would agree

 

Stang70 - Thanks for posting this thread! I too am looking at a 6.0L PSD.

Can the 6.0 owners on this forum offer some insight on the lifespan of this engine? How many miles have you all put on yours? Would i be able to get 300,000mi on it with just regular maintenance?

The particular truck i'm looking at is a 2007 F250 XL 6.0L PSD with a manual trans.

Did Ford iron-out all of the problems with the 6.0 by 2007?

I don't plan on running this truck hard and don't plan on adding any modds. I just want a full size truck as a commuter vehicle but still want decent mpg. That's what has drawn me to a PSD. Would the 6.0 function for this type of driving?

Thanks.

 

I would agree also my 2005 f350 only 1 turbo problem were caused by sitting to much only 50,000 miles

 

Moved to the 6.0L Powerstroke Diesel forum.

For what it's worth, my '05 6.0 was an excellent truck and I loved the 6.0. Only ever had two real problems with it. First was an FICM that went bad and was replaced under warranty. Second was an STC fitting, also replaced under warranty. The only leak it ever had was from a defective oil pan plug which I replaced.

It never lacked power and did everything I ever asked of it. It was a great truck and if I had it to do over again, I'd have still bought the truck without hesitation.

 

Powerstroke72 - How many miles did you put on your 6.0? What kind of MPG did you average? Was it un-modified?

Thanks!

 

No mods to it at all.....bone stock. I traded it with 43k on it. I averaged around 13-15 in mixed driving and the best I ever got with it was right around 20 - 21 on a long road trip. The mileage was pretty good on it actually.

 

Thanks for the input everyone. The more I read (i realize now that this topic has been discussed on just about every forum on the planet!) the more think that this isn't the engine for me.

I just can't justify spending that kind of money on a vehicle that has such obvious defects.

I would already be streched thin buying the truck, let alone having to immediately spend more money on it to make it reliable.

 

Farm, From a fairley new owner of a 6.0 I have good luck so far. I purchased a low mile 07 with 19K on the clock back in May. I just turned 31K with no issues but I am a maint freak. I believe you have to be if you expect a problem free 6.0. three oil changes and two sets of fuel filters in that time frame and I am getting ready to do the trans filter ans well as a coolant flush and adding a coolant filter.
But if you are a low maint kind of guy ( No disreespect intended ) You are correct that a 6.0 is not the truck for you.
I do know where yoou are comming from though with your 7.3 when I sold my 02 she had 145K on the clock and the only thing I ever had to do other than PM was a water pump at about 100K and CPS sensors (2).

 

You can get a good deal on a 6.0 and use that extra money to really make it reliable. However, if you are stretched thin on the purchase, it's probably not the best idea since you are in trouble should something go wrong. How about looking into a newer dually with the 7.3?

 

No offense taken. I'm like you though, I tend to maintain my vehicles religiously - I think everyone should. But that's kind of another reason why I'm shy-ing away from this engine. It would be difficult for me to stomach forking over $150 to change the oil and filters, especially when they have to be done at such short intervals.

 

Me2 - Your user picture is awesome! The truck I am looking at is a '07 4x4 XL with the X-cab and a short bed. Manual trans, 1-owner with 50,000 miles. The dealer is asking $23,000 for it which sounds like a great deal. They just lowered it from $26K because no one wants the manual trans (which i actually prefer).

It's at the very top of my price range at $23K. What caught my eye was the low miles. I was raised with the mentality that a diesel will get to 300,000mi and all it needs is oil and air. That was the reason I was ok hitting the top of my budget with this purchase (I would still get a good 250K miles out of it). But i guess that's not the case with these new diesels. Are the government restrictions killing the reliability of these motors? Or are the manufacturers just trying to get too fancy with the technology?

 

Thanks for the compliment. As to your questions, I think it's a bit of both. This motor should last a very long time, but (in my opinion) the only way to do that is by investing some money in a few upgrades. There are some that have tons of miles with no real issues, but I would be constantly worried that it would leave me on the side of the road far from home without those upgrades done.

 

Thanks for all the help guys, but i've gotta pass on this truck. (even though it is the truck of my dreams

I just can't take on another project right now (got too many as is). I need a worry free truck.

Here it is if anyone is looking for one: It seems like a great price.

Byerly Ford of Louisville, KY - New and Used Cars, Trucks & SUVs