Recently I've started looking for a new truck. The truck will be used to pull a large 5th wheel travel trailer. Based on the weight and recommendations from the RV forum I read I've decided on a F-350 CC DRW 4x4. After looking online I found a couple of nice 2006 models. My question is if I purchase a 2006 with a 6.0L engine, can I expect any kind of reliability for my towing needs without a lot of problems? I am a big believer in maintenance. I get my oil, filters, etc. changed on a regular basis as recommended by Ford. What it looks like is that, that is not the case with these engines. When a friend bought a diesel a few years ago he was told to stay away from the 6.0L. He wound up buying a 2002 with a 7.3L. I guess I'm used to buying a truck, maintaining it, and getting good reliability, with the obvious problem now and then. My bottom line question is, is it possible to even come close to this type of reliability with a diesel, specifically the 6.0L. Please don't get me wrong, I love Ford trucks and want to keep driving them. I'm trying to actually get answers that make me believe I will be happy with the truck. Sorry for the long question.

Thank you in advance for your help.

 

There are a ton of similar threads. Earlier on folks just thought it was a bad engine, but a lot of work has been done in the past few years to determine some root causes to some problems that can tend to be cascading (one smaller issue causes another worse one, in turn causing even worse ones).

Bottom line is if you are willing to spend some money on preventative work (not just maintenance, but replacing known-to-fail parts) and monitor the truck's vitals with fairly inexpensive gear to stay on top of things and catch them before they happen, the 6.0 can be one of the most reliable platforms around.

Generally speaking the later in the engine run you can afford to go, the more things that were caught and re-engineered, etc., but they ALL can be made to be reliable...

 

Well then I guess if I get the truck checked thoroughly before I buy it, I can do the rest.

Thank you.

 

That there can be a contentious issue for some parts.

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Since your truck is almost exactly like the one I'm looking at, can you tell me your experience?

 

I bought the 2005 F250 a year and a bit ago with 50K miles, I've put 25K miles on it and it's been completely reliable after I got the fuel pressure problem sorted out, which included replacing 10 injectors. In my opinion you have to know several things about your 6.0 all the time, and a few more things most of the time. For me and my peace of mind, I monitor fuel pressure all the time with a gauge, I monitor battery voltage with a gauge (both Autometer, in a pod above the rear view mirror). I monitor FICM voltage, oil temp and coolant temp all the time. I use the Scangauge II for those, and I monitor all sorts of things from time to time depending on my whim. If you monitor those things you will be really very far ahead of the curve in terms of keeping your 6.0 happy and reliable.

Brian

 

How many miles do you have to see before you consider it reliable?

I've been overall happy with what I've got, and I've had it over nine years now.

 

I agree -- but there's only one perfect '06 and you have it!

I selectively chose what to replace on mine, for example I think the TTY head bolts can be just fine, particularly on the later units once Navistar figured out they had calibration issues on the robots torquing the heads. As for when that might have started (the getting out of calibration), who knows?? I didn't just replace the FICM like some have said to do -- but I do watch the voltages and am comfortable that I have a properly sized alternator and good batts. That's the kind of things I'm thinking of...

If the OP does his homework and finds a good unit, I would still encourage him to do several things, and monitor a number of sensors...

 

Good question. I guess I just want to be able to enjoy the truck when I need it and not have it let me down when I've pulled my trailer 500 miles away from home. I don't have a problem with keeping an eye on things even if I have to have someone else work the problems. I'm starting to feel a little more comfortable about a purchase now thanks to some good advice. Good to know you've had good luck for 9 years. That's exactly what I'm hoping to hear.

 

It hasn't been entirely trouble-free, but the necessary fixes have been within my meager mechanical abilities. The most challenging being removal of the EGR cooler, and I did that in the driveway.

I just did the FICM repair, and aside from one fuel pump replaced while still under warranty, that's been it.

Over the years I've had it I've seen the fads of this-or-that tuner being the latest and greatest. Over time it was evident the guys with the most problems were the ones that couldn't leave well enough alone. If your overriding concern about a tune is that you could erase it so the dealer couldn't tell what you'd done when he needed to fix it, well, think about that. Now most of these have aged out of warranty so that's less of a concern, but it sure was a big deal for awhile.

As for me, I tried to be consistent with maintenance and just use stock filters. I'll turn 194K by the end of this week. My boss has about 260K on his, and AFAIK he's done nothing out of ordinary maintenance. We both tow/haul pretty regular, though me less so lately.

I put 3K miles on it in December on a trip to the Midwest, and I wouldn't hesitate heading out again tomorrow for the same. Typical? I dunno. People like my boss just drive 'em and don't post on forums. And maybe I don't have that many posts for as long as I've been registered here. Haven't needed to I guess.

 

There is one of them right there.

That is not a necessary fix. You have treated a symptom not the root cause and therefore, no fix was performed. I have known 3 people that have removed their EGR coolers and they still had oil cooler failures. Which goes part and parcel to what people have found out that a crapping out EGR is almost always brought about from a bad oil cooler.

Removing the EGR Cooler and having no problems doesn't mean that you fixed the issue, it just means that your oil cooler was already good to go.

Now, I did say "almost always brought about from a bad oil cooler". That "almost always" was to cover my ***. I have yet to personally know of one specific instance where the EGR crapped out by itself, independent of an separate "external" force such as a bad oil cooler. And this is coming from someone that pushes their truck much harder with regard to HP/TQ and tows a lot then most people on this board. Who also has supposedly one of the worst EGR cooler designs out of the 6.0 yrs. Go figure.

Oh, I'm past the 250k mark and I still have my original EGR/Oil coolers.

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You do now.

 

No, I haven't. You only mentioned you did away with the EGR Cooler. You made no mention why you did away with the EGR Cooler. You made no mention rather or not you replaced the oil cooler as well. You also made no mention as to why all this was done in the first place. This is all that you posted that is directly related to the EGR Cooler:

A lot of missing info there. None of the rest of your post mentioned anything else related to the EGR Cooler removal.



I guess I shouldn't be surprised that you would recommend something like that since you already don't mind suggesting doing something that violates federal law.

Two problems with that quote above:

1. They can tell if a programmer was on there. It takes more effort, but they can do it.

2. That is actually defrauding Ford. You tell them that there has been no modification to the vehicle (knowing full well that there has been) and they proceed with the warranty based on that info, that's actually defrauding (cost of the warranty repair is where you are getting the "money" by deception).

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I dunno Tex, I read black1's comment on the warranty completely opposite of you, as in: think about the morality of that...

Guess we'll have to see what he says...

 

Actually I think your right, now that I re-read it.


Damn, I hate it when I'm in hyper typing mode.

Sorry about that one Black1. That's my bad. I do stand by the top portion though.

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