I'd be leery of that one in Baltimore. I saw that ad and that seems a bit cheap for a 7.3 with only 66K on it. It may be legit, but I kind of doubt it. The ad is very sparse in both description and pictures.

 

Stay away from the one listed in Baltimore, It's been listed in many states simultaneously, including South Carolina.

 

 

 

100,000 miles on it and he just spent $3000 doing maintaince. but didnt clean the EGR ? RUN AWAY FAST

 

$23,500 is atleast 8K more IMHO. If I were to get a 6.0, I'd rather get a late '04 or '05 model as they would have some of the common 6.0 issues addressed already as compared to the first year 6.0.

 

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How are injectors and a turbo a red flag???

The truck is ridiculously well maintained and hasn't had any real problems aside from the injectors and turbo.

Injectors are common if the fuel pump failed. That happened to mine in 2008, the pump failed and took 4 injectors with it, the PO didnt' want to replace the other 4 that were allegedly fine, so I got to. In Matt's case, all 8 injectors sound like they were replaced. That being said, provided the fuel pump is in good shape and the blue fuel spring was installed at the time or even now, he won't have a problem with injectors especially since they're the revised version of the injectors.

Turbo- Common if the truck sits, the truck has VERY low miles which says the first owner and the previous owner didn't drive the truck much. The most recent owner, used it as a vacation vehicle, so that says that it isn't driven much hence it's "Cream Puff" condition.

EGR Valve- Maintenance item. More often than not, it may just need to be cleaned.

The PO has had to do ZERO engine repairs since then, so I imagine Matt won't have to do much aside from maintenance on this truck.

More often than not, these trucks don't need a head gasket job which often runs anywhere between $4500 and $5000. One of the main reasons you need a head gasket job is because it's tuned or the EGR cooler failed and lifted the heads. Even so, there are better built solutions for the EGR cooler so you won't have that problem again. The most anyone has to do is install a few revised parts the truck will run. On a 2003 truck: Blue fuel spring, revised feed and drain tubes for the turbo, clean a few sensors, keep up on regular maintenance and the truck will run and provide mile after mile of trouble free service.

THE MOST Matt may have to do to this truck is an oil cooler if it still has the original coolant and it wasn't properly flushed every 50K; However, given how well this truck is maintained, I doubt that is the case.

I understand your disdain for the 6.0 because it's burned a lot of people and it's got bad rap. However, I've looked through your thread history as well as your posts and you've never owned one or had much experience other than what you've read. Given the aforementioned, you don't have room to bad mouth the 6.0.

Matt, if I were you, I'd offer him $17,500 for that truck. Given that it's a rust free cream puff in a state known for rust, he may dig his heel in at either $19K or $20K, either way, the truck is worth the money.

The 2003 trucks are nothing to be afraid of. Aside from the HPOP, they didn't have HPO issues. Even so, if you had to replace the pump, Dieselsite makes a replacement that will outperform the stock pump and is guaranteed not to be DOA or have the issues the stock pump had. 2003 trucks also had a better cam that kept more air in the cylinders rather than the 2004+ cams that kept more exhaust in the cylinders. They also had a larger 59mm turbo as opposed to the 2004.5+ turbos that were as small as 56mm. It might not seem like much, but it makes a difference in airflow.

The 2003 trucks got a bad rap because they were the first. They were the victims of quality control issues and they were the victims of unstable programming. It wasn't until mid to late 2004 going into 2005 that quality control issues subsided and programming was ironed out.

Bottom line: The truck is a sound investment especially if the receipts back up the owners claims of regular maintenance.

 

 

 

They replaced a turbo that likely only needed a good cleaning of the sooted to hell vanes. You need to exercise these turbos. The injectors are way too easily killed on any diesel engine (that applies to the 7.3, 6.7, the Cummins, and GM) and all it takes is low fuel pressure (we all know about the blue spring) or contaminated fuel. The EGR is a well known problem but an easy fix. An owner of a diesel truck must ensure proper fuel filter changes if they hope to keep those injectors running.

So yes - owning a 6.0 demands diligent maintenance but I think when it comes to you yelling UNCLE on the 6.0 every time it is mentioned, well - that is how we read it. For the most part though, you do provide wonderful insights but when it comes to 6.0 discussions we know your history of experience and we respect that. Others provide more insightful information on that particular engine.

 

I’d argue buying or owning a 6.0 requires either having $5-7k sitting in a emergency repair fund if you are relying on the vehicle as a daily driver or the willingness to just walk away from it when it fails.

 

Fair enough....

There are good ones and there are bad ones, I know, I've seen them and have been able to resurrect some of them to a healthy condition. Some of them just didn't leave the factory put together well or correctly.