We all know it's about PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE on the 6.0, but in addition to that what about the Bullet Proof Mod upgrades. I see people, shops, mechanics recommeding the Bullet Proof Diesel mods for the 6.0 and are saying that these mods are worth every penny if you want your 6.0 to last a long time (well past the rated 250,000 miles). So my question comes down to, if your having injectors replaced for example, should you spend the money on these so called bullet proof mods, which include, ARP head studs, EGR delete kit with up pipe, tuner, cold air intake and turbo back exhaust. I seen owners praise these mods and especially the people selling and installing them, but as a mechanic would you spend the money on these things or would you consider any or all these mods a waste.

 

Wouldn't waste my money (not necessary)

 

I'm not a ford mechanic, but I have been a mechanic most of my life (growing up in my grandpaws shop he owned), and I do work on these trucks on the side with ambitions of opening my own shop this year sometime. I always have 3-4 6.0's sitting at my shop at all times. So I will give my opinion.

With the MODS you listed ARP head studs are a great investment, EGR delete is a waist of money IMHO, what I recomend here is stick with the OEM cooler and if, yes IF not when, the factory one fails replace it with a bullet proof diesel egr cooler. They have a great rep with very few to no failures. As for a tuner, I love the SCT with custom tunes, but I wouldn't call it a bullet proofing mod. If your going to tune stay away from all the off the self "canned tunners", and only use the SCT with custom tunes. Cold air intake......ABSOLUTLY stay far far away form them. The factory air intake will flow as much or more air than anything on the market, and filter way more dirt while doing it. The AM filters are known to cause problems so as dusting the turbo. There is no benifits from them other than the "bling" factor. I like 4" turbo back exhaust as well, but just like the tuner, I wouldn't call it a bullet proof mod. It's a performance mod. I love the sounds of a 6.0 with 4" turbo back, plus there is a slight decrease in EGT's with it.

So to sum it up

1. ARP yes good mod
2. EGR delete NO
3. Tunner good mod, but not really a bullet proofing mod
4. CAI complete waist of money, and the oposit affect of bullet proofing
5. 4" turbo back exhaust good mod, but same as tunner, not really a bullet proofing mod

Also, None of the above is really a "while your changing injectors (2-3 hrs book time)" type MOD. There is way way more involved to do things like ARP's (20+ hrs book time). Really the only thing, in the way of bullet proofing, I would say is a do while your changing injectors is update the standpipe and dummy plugs if you don't have the 03 or early 04 motor.

 

The oil cooler is worth every penny of cost. The 6.0 stock oil cooler is a very poor design IMHO. I would do it again in a heartbeat if I had a stocker going north of 30 degree deltas, like I had


Oh not a mechanic BTW. But I did stay at a holiday inn express last night!

 

Vloney, thanks for the input. Just want to ask you why you don't feel like deleting the EGR would not help with the soot in the intake, and cotributions the EGR cooler seems to have with coolant issues, oil cooler issues as well as head gasket issues. I've noticed the thinking on this seems to be divided and I'm trying to understand why.

 

when you have a failure, ask yourself what is the root cause, not the symptom of the failure. Egr cooler failure, why? Oil cooler failure, why? Head gasket failure, why? Do not accept "its a bad design". If so, why aren't all of them doing it? How about "Head bolt stretching caused it"? WHY DID THE BOLTS STRETCH? Soot in the intake? WHY? Fix what caused the failure, NOT THE SYMPTOM OF IT! CCV delete.....Excessive blowby. Fix the cause of the blowby! Look at the people that have deleted things or added "improvements". How many now have different issues or havent fixed their problem even after all of their "improvements". Look at how things work, then ask why aren't they working as designed. Too many people have the solution of "DELETE, DELETE, DELETE!". But the root cause is still there.

 

egr cooler can't fail if it ain't there. That's the whole idea of "bullet proof".

 

But it IS illegal to do it! Not saying it may never be discovered, but it's on the same vein as running a red light. If you get through, OK ---- BUT, if you meet someone riding his GREEN!!! It's your call. Kill me now or kill me later!

 

Yes but, as Vloney pointed out. The only thing your doing by deleting it is fixing the sympton, Not the problem. EGR cooler failing is a sympton of another problem, not the cause. IE... cause and effect. EGR cooler is the effect of other problems.

Also, like mentioned It's illeagle to do. And again to quoat vloney, if it's just a bad design from the get go than why don't they all fail? Lots of guys have never had a failure. Niether of my 2 have ever had an EGR failure. Really, if we had statics of how many of these trucks are on the road, and how many have had a failed cooler VS not having a failed cooler, I would bet you the number of failed coolers is relativly small when talking about the millions of these motors sold.

 

Nuff said!

 

The oil cooler does not fail, it accumulates craps then it plugs, then the EGR kicks in, it does not receive enough cooling, and it fail.
Now what causes the crap? Poor gold coolant? I wonder what would have happened if the engine started it's life with red ELC Cat coolant.

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-proofing.html

 

Lets talk about some other issues that plague the 6.0L (hope it does not come across as arguing!!!) ............

Ford has had issues with quality control (both parts and labor). That is one of the main answers to why don't all of them have problems. There are reliability mods you can do to improve your chances at avoiding some common issues. It is true that you may not ever have the issues in the first place, but the real answer is that the mod probably improved your chances at reliability.

Examples -

FICM's fail at a HIGH rate. Most times it is poor voltage, etc, but sometimes it isn't and sometimes the owner just can't pull over and plop in new batteries at the drop of a hat. The repairs done by FICMrepair.com are upgrades for reliability - period. The FICM tuning to get rid of the "FICM killer strategy" is also a reliability upgrade.

Low fuel pressure - Ford installed weak regulator springs - period. Maybe not all of them are, but many are. The Blue spring is a FORD mod, and well worth it for many / most.

STC fittings ............ It is a VERY poor design. Some fail, and some don't. Why wait to see if you are one of the unlucky ones? The reliability upgrade is an INTERNATIONAL design - and highly recommended if you need to avoid unplanned downtime for whatever reason. High failure rates caused them to finally go to better design from International.

Dummy plugs and standpipes .............. They are prone to leaking - period. The upgraded parts are a Ford design - and a recommended reliability upgrade. High failure rates caused them to develop better parts.

CAC boots ............ The original ones deteriorated with oil exposure. Not really from engines with excessive blowby, but NORMAL engines. It happened often enough that Ford came out with upgraded boots - a recommended reliability upgrade.

EGR cooler hose - another component prone to failure. So much so that Ford came out with an upgraded part - highly recommended (probably most have been changed by now).

ICP sensors (early model years) - Another high failure rate that caused Ford to issue an updated part(s).

Many people have found casting sand in their coolant system - from the factory. Because of this, I believe that coolant filters are important to have. Clearly some people haven't had issues, but many have. It s $150 well spent IMO.

There are some more examples (Ford upgraded EGR valves, HPOP's, fuel filters, etc) , but the point has been made I believe.

Now for the other presumed reliability upgrades / mods:

Too many people have the original EGR systems (including the OEM coolers), oil coolers, Gold coolant, etc to say that this system is unreliable. That being said, you do need more maintenance to keep it reliable. You can not let you coolant system go without proper attention. You need to avoid excessive idling, run good fuel, and keep your FICM in good condition to avoid sooting up the EGR system, turbo, etc. It can easily be done, but it will probably be easier if you deleted the EGR system. As for me personally, I am quite happy with the EGR system - even running tunes. I will say that when Ford changed the EGR cooler design they had a HIGHER number of failures because the new design was weaker - period. Could it work - YES. However, you have a more reilable component w/ the BPD EGR cooler - it mimicks the early Ford design (documented fewer failures with it). As far as the BPD oil cooler goes - it may not be necessary, but it guarantees that you will not have a coolant issue plug it up and cause problems. How necessary it is depends on how much reliability you think you need and how much it is worth to you.

As always - JMHO .....................

 

I'm always glad to see you put your two cents in Mark. Theirs not many people on this site that know more about the 6.0 than you do.

 

Good post Mark, a lot of those "smaller" issues don't get the attention that head gaskets and EGR usually do.