Thoughts..

I don't post here as often as the regulars, but some of you helped me out a lot over the last few years...THANKS...

Here is the thing....I have either bumped my head or lost my mind..something is definitely wrong. I went to a local used car dealership the other day to look at a 2001 4WD Longbed Crewbab 7.3 they had advertised, I was pretty excited at the prospect of picking up another 7.3. The listed price seemed cheap enough, so I went. Well while I was on the lot I discovered the 7.3 they had was in worse shape than expected (hence the price), it was a hodge podge of junk some clueless idiot had pretty much destroyed what could have been a nice truck. Body was crap, tons of half baked cheap aftermarket junk...even an f150 badge had been slapped on the taligate. Rust everywhere...blow by on the engine was unreal. Nothing on this truck was worth dumping the money into.

Here is where my story proves that I have lost mind...(no I didn't buy it)...I saw a 2004 F250 4x4 CrewCab Longbed Lariat 6.0 on the lot, body was gorgeous, interior mint...miles reasonable (134k)....So out of sheer curiosity I decided I would drive it, what could that hurt right? I wish I had just walked on, and never drove it. Rode great, shifted strong, sounded good, looked good, felt good.....**** I was starting to like this truck. I returned the truck to the lot, hammered the salesman on the cost of head studs, oil cooler, etc...trying to see how far I could push the price down...(WTH I found myself negotiating on a 6.0).....I got him close to what I felt a fair price for a bone stock truck should be...then I left..(I am still worried about the money that gets dumped into a 6.0)...I have since returned to the lot several times...I have drove this truck extensively for what would be considered test driving...I have hooked scan gauges, checked ECT and EOT temps, checked for codes, etc, etc...I know eventually the EGR cooler will fail, and the stock oil cooler on those trucks are ****, TTY bolts on the head are prone to failure...yet I am having an insanely hard time talking myself out of buying this truck......HELP......

Apologies for the rant...

Thoughts?

 

can't help ya with this one.
the 6.0 will run a long time if it is taken care of. the problem is many people would rather beat them to death rather than take care of them.



































and as far as loosing your mind goes, ya can't loose something you never had to start with!!

 

"and as far as loosing your mind goes, ya can't loose something you never had to start with!! "


Oh so true ..............

 

 

the biggest issue with the 6.0 is tuners and EGR coolers.
keep a close eye on the cooler, and change it if it starts to soot up. this is a sign it is leaking, and ready to fail.
the issues with tuners is the 6.0 is already tuned close to it's limit of reliability. when you add more tune to it it starts having issues.
stock is still plenty of power.

 

I have (2) 97 7.3's and love them. They are pretty easy to maintain/work on...I just love the OBS look and well, that 7.3 sound. Hard to beat a good 7.3 that hasn't been used as a work truck and beat on!! BUT, I also have a 06 F350 4x4 CCSB KR with the 6.0, bought the truck with 122k 3 years ago, completely stock and this truck is hands down the better truck to drive. The most important things about the 6.0 truck, they do require more maintenance so to speak. You definitely want to monitor things with a scan tool. A lot of guys like to put tunes in them, which creates crazy power but also, can cause some issues in a stock truck if they run them like they stole it. The 6.0 is really a great truck, the ride is much much better than the OBS. The turning ratio is much better, and just seems like a better built truck overall. Obviously since you drove the 6.0 truck, you know what I mean! AND the sound of the 6.0 is pretty cool as well, just not as loud as the 7.3...this is just my .02

FWIW--my son bought a new 06 F350 4x4 CCLB and it now has 278K miles on it, completely stock and the ONLY major component that has been replaced is the turbo...lucky, maybe but he drives it like it's still a new truck, and stays up on the routine maintenance. Our local Ford dealership is very good with diesel trucks!! I bought mine because I drove his and thought, I got to have a 6.0....read ALL the bad info and still bought it!!

Maybe go over and post the same questions in the diesel 6.0 forum, and see what responses you get!!?? Like all the FTE forums, the guys over there are great, and very knowledgeable!!

 

The 6.0 is a cool engine and their exhaust tone IMO is the best sounding exhaust when straight piped, but... The engine itself is OK, we had a couple of those in the fleet and all suffered from HPO leaks, never from head gaskets or EGR's well there was one but that was mostly because the truck was driven to soft and caked the egr with soot and cracked.
if you like the 6.0 and decide to buy it, just educate yourself and be prepare for the unavoidable.

 

What these guys said. I have done EXTENSIVE reading on the 6.0....I'd buy one no problem, especially like the unmolested one you drove. For the sake of repeating the previous posts, I don't have anything to add. Get it already...LOL!

 

Maintenance is key with them.

I cannot see how people spend $50-80k on a truck and maintain the thing like a $2500 beater. Seriously, I see aluminum body 6.7s at the quick lube joints here where they once asked me why my 300SD was noisy at idle and is something wrong with it. :facepalm: It was there for a safety inspection, I told the d-bag to not touch my vehicle and that I was leaving. Found another place that knows me well now and can tell despite my vehicle's comical exterior, it is safer than 95% cars on the road.

My neighbor just picked up a 2006 6.0. I have been giving him the full scoop on maintenance for them. Rad took a dump just recently do they had it replaced (coolant flush too... it is pink so maybe Fleetcharge or that ELC stuff?), told them to at least do a sep belt while in there. Shop also did a tensioner assembly but skiped the idler at the top. :/ EGR valve is new. Told them the batts were 750s, few days later his wife was driving and she pinged me. I got her setup at Autozone with a pair of 850s. One batt was bad, but explained you must replace both. Also said do not drive it like an old person, when hot foot to floor it at times.

Trying to get them to buy a coolant filter kit for the thing. The way I see it the crap being filtered is what plugs the oil cooler... that plugs temps rise on oil and coolant. This is what eventually ruptures the EGR coolers I figure, then you can hydrolock the cylinder or pop a gasket. I certainly have very little hands on compared to the techs on this board (a whopping two 6.0s), but that is what I see as the issue is on the trucks.

 

 

 

haters gonna hate....get the 6.0 LOL

 

Better you all than me

 

I bought one a year ago. I changed out the oil cooler to the air cooler, Deleted the EVAP i believe. replaced the HPOP as we found metal shavings in it. I put a light tune on it. Now the thing is stupid powerful. but it has cost a bunch of money. Just did half the injectors , 1500.00

 

The biggest theme I keep seeing is not to tune it. They have enough power on their own.