I purchased a 2004 F450 with about 60xxx miles on it about a week ago. I am happy with the price I paid for it. I have showed a few people my truck and have had comments like "well lets hope it doesn't have the 6.0L in it" or "I heard the 6.0L was a bad apple and had a mass recall because they all had problems, it got fixed in the 6.7L..."

Well, this set off a red flag for me. so I started reading online about this truck a little closer. So far the truck runs GREAT! The engine is clean, sounds good, smells good, and everything.


According to Wikipedia this is one of the major problems with this truck?
Cylinder heads[edit]

A major problem with the 6.0L was the torque-to-yield head bolts, which in an overboost condition would lead to a blown head gasket, and eventually a cracked cylinder head. The 7.3L and 6.7L Power Stroke engines both have 6 head bolts per cylinder (the 6.9L and 7.3L International Harvester IDI engines had 5 head bolts per cylinder). By contrast, the 6.0L only has 4 head bolts per cylinder.


Information on vehicle:
Vehicle: 2004 Ford F-450 SD
Made In: UNITED STATES
Engine: 6.0L V8 OHV 32V TURBO DIESEL
Style: CREW CAB PICKUP 4-DR
Records: Found in our database


Long story short, I own this truck and it is in great working condition. I use this truck to haul small trees *5,000 lbs or so in weight* upwards of 125 miles on the highway.

I am trying to decide if I would be better off getting out from under this truck while I am "still ahead" or keeping this truck? Or if I do end up keeping it, I should get some soft of preventative work done to it?

Any advice is appreciated!
Thanks!

 

You fear what one does not understand. Maintenance, clean oil filters and fuel determine the longevity. We have a Tech Folder listed above to help steer you along and a great bunch of guys that can answer any question you have concerning the truck no matter how redundant the question is.

Being a 450 would raise my awareness if it has the steel fuel tanks. They are lined with a protective coating that de-laminates and plugs the fuel system. The mid ship tank in the rear will retain water that leaks into the fuel through the vent tube carrying dirt with it.

Adding HP increases the cylinder pressure where the torque to yield head bolts fail, in stock form problems are minimal. We strongly recommend a device to read what the engine is doing, I use an Android app named Torque Pro, $4.99 and an OBD2 Bluetooth ELM327 that plugs into the OBD port.

 

As John has pointed out the biggest factors are knowledge, maintenance and observation, as they head off major expenses.

Being a commercial bodied vehicle you don't have to worry about it being tuned. And as John pointed out, the 450s do have the problematic steel tanks. But something learned here months ago is not all body installers installed the extended vent for that tank, which can also be a factor. You picture doesn't show it, but is that a lift bed or is the floor in the back solid? That fuel tank has cost a lot of heartache and while not a 6.0L direct problem, causes havoc when it goes bad.

The biggest factor in maintenance of the 6.0L are clean fuel, 5,000 mile oil changes, and coolant upkeep. For this vehicle I would read up and maintain coolant changes on a 50k mile/2 year intervals. Install monitoring equipment so the effectiveness of the oil to coolant heat exchanger can be monitored. Use only Motorcraft or Racor (the Ford Supplier) oil and fuel filters. Doing that and you will have a good maintenance base.

The 6.0L has a bad rap more then it should. IMO, the 6.4l is worse and early 6.7L motors have the potential for expensive hurt. Out of the three, I'd rather have the 6.0L.

 

Regular oil, oil filter, fuel filters changes are also very important.
You probably would be well served to also do a coolant flush (and re-fill with fresh Ford Gold, since it's probably still the original coolant)

Step #1, is VERIFY you have a FORD OEM Oil Filter and CAP on your 6L.
The non-OEM filters (Fram, etc.) aren't able to produce an exact filter replacement and as a result have their own filter CAP - which is generally taller.
So, if the prior owner, had one of these installed, and you buy a Ford OEM Filter you won't realize you aren't filtering your oil because the taller non-OEM CAP prevents the correct OEM Oil Filter from locking in properly.

The Ford Oil Cap is shorter, buy your filters on-line (dieselfiltersonline.com) and buy enough ($250) to get free shipping and you'll have all the filters you'll need WHEN you need them.
Step #2, get an ODBII gauge (as suggested above). I use the ScanGauge2, but if you'd rather do bluetooth with a phone/tablet with an APP that works too..

Lots and lots of idling is BAD for the 6L and most of the newer models since. Unlike the older versions where the idled 24 hours a day in the winter (ambulances, busses, fire trucks, etc.).

 

Ok,
so let me see if I got this right...
My next move should be get an oil change, change fuel filters (with OEM), and use clean fuel from now on - get on a maintenance program to upkeep the maintenance.

Does "clean fuel" mean which gas station I fill up at ? Or does it mean replacing fuel filters often?

Get my car scanned, either by a phone or app?

And check to see what fuel tank I have? I believe I only have 1 fuel tank, it does not have front + rear tank

 

Some other information.

The whole undercarriage of my truck is spray-lined with protective lining, I would imagine this is to prevent rust? Also the bed is diamondplate

 

You'll want to make sure you OIL Filter cap is ALSO OEM.
You want to get fuel at a station with a LOT of diesel traffic, so the fuel is fresh and there isn't a lot of time for moisture to accumulate in the underground tank.
(for example, the generic gas station on the corner, may get diesel delivered once a month. while the racetrack/wawa might get diesel delivered every 3 days)

The undercoating is often applied to cover UP existing rust, as is the diamond plate.
A few folks on FTE will spray their used OIL on the underside to keep rust away during the winter (the oil eventually wears away and needs to be re-applied).

 

Get rid of your EGR quickly, bulletproof the motor with ARP head studs, get a tuner or a monitor, jsut something that lets you monitor the EGTs, and the oil and coolant temps. That way you can see the catastrophic failure coming and fix it while it will only cost you $3000 instead of $6000 like mine did...] and make sure you do your regular maintenance. My dad said the same thing you did until his truck blew up. I bought one too, it blew up, and I am crazy about regular maintenance, and drive like a 90 year old. The problem with these truck is that once the EGR fails, you have seconds to shut it off or loose everything, and they all fail... Even after I bulletproofed mine, while the motor is Great!... everything else is going wrong. You will come across quite a few people that have 6.0's that have not failed, but most of them either bought their truck from someone else who has already fixed it, or they are just one of the lucky ones. The ford 6.0 is one amazing powerhouse once it has been fixed. If I could keep mine running, I'd never drive anything else. Unfortunately, the odds are simply against you with these trucks. There is a reason a 98 Dodge cummins will cost you more than a 2004-2007 6.0...

Either spend the money bulletproofing the truck [as mentioned above] or get rid of it. The 2004 especially was one of the worst years. Especially if you have the early 2004.

Glad to hear you are among the 1% ers... Keep your fingers crossed

2004.5 F250 SD XLT 4dr 6.0L
CAI, 4" Straight exhaust
EGR Delete, 6.4 Injector pump
Coolant filtration system.
New injectors all around
New ICP, New IPR, New Oil Cooler.
Recently Bulletproofed on ARP head studs, and the stock Head gasket,
New injector harness and FICM from DieselTech Ron
SCT tuner, running innovative diesel tunes. EGT Sensor
37x13.5r18 nitto trail grapplers

[Currently not running for whatever reason... ]

 

Just sale me that mess and we both be happy campers,ill take a chance on that 6.0.

 

Ditto all this.

60K on a well-maintained 6.0 is nothing. I have 280K on mine (still on original injectors, turbo and TTY bolts). You couldn't give me a 6.4.

I have found the 6.0 to be easy to take care of. If something needs attention, it's not hard to diagnose, and repairs have been easy to do in the driveway. (Although I did seek help with the A/C compressor) 5K oil changes, 15K fuel filter changes, ALWAYS Motorcraft filters, and I mash the throttle daily. Right foot flat on the floor. IMO it likes exercise.

If the EGR cooler is still there you should delete it. Otherwise, make sure the fluids and filters are correct and put that thing to work.

The 6.0 has a rep of being the worst truck of all time, etc. What I've found is a lot of the people running their mouth about it never had one. Or if they did, they didn't maintain it properly. I know the difference between unmaintained and unreliable - I've also owned an E46 BMW and a Porsche Cayenne. Both were rabidly unreliable, that couldn't be corrected at any expense. Compared to those two, the 6.0 has been an absolute dream to own.

 

Watch all the YouTube videos from good mechanics to learn good maintenance practices and how to do moderate part changing. Remember to clean the EGR valve from time to time (some say its good to clean every other oil change when you change your fuel filters). Pick your oil (I personally go for full synthetic), and CAT EC-1 rated ELC coolant is recommended by many (I fully believe this now and use Rotella ELC). Depending on your climate, choose a good fuel additive (I personally use Opti-Lube but DieselKleen is readily available everywhere and not a wallet-buster).

 

2003 F-350 6.0 crewcab longbox levelled on 35" Toyos. 437,000 kms ARP head studs done as preventative maintenance at 400,000. Sinister EGR delete, 155/30 Warren Diesel injectors, S&B cold air, SCT tuner, Suncoast stage 3 transmission w triple disc tc.

I pull a 24' stock trailer regularly n drive it like a banshee. Just watch the coolant level and do regular maintenance and they'll go forever!

 

I would definitely delete EGR Cooler if you can. And get some sort of gauges like the Scan Gauge II

 

There is always a catch 22 to learning the way thinks work

The deeper you dig the more you can find fault with

 

Lots of folks are saying you Must delete the EGR cooler -- well they all weren't the same: if yours is the round style, they are extremely reliable (it likely is), the later ones were rectangular and used a different type of heat exchanger inside (stacked plate) -- the problem with those was mostly caused if the oil cooler started to plug on its coolant side, since the two coolers run the coolant in series that would starve the EGR cooler of coolant, overheat it and lead to failure.

If you live in a State that does emissions testing on diesels, the delete isn't an option. But for you more importantly, I don't think it is a priority either.

Getting something set up so you can read all the live data running around on your truck's computer network, which is the REAL data (versus your dash gauges), plus there is a ton more we can help you with once we know what some of your readings are. Do you have a smart phone? if so which kind: Apple or Droid? Let's get this part going soon...

btw: a magnet will tell you what tank you have....