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I have an ‘06 F250 Lariat Crew Cab 6.0 with 126,500 miles. I’m the second owner and I bought it 6 years ago with 61,000 from a Ford dealer in Northern California while living there. During the buying process I expressed my concerns about buying a truck with the 6.0 based on the research I did. They made me a smoking’ deal on Ford’s Platinum Service Plan which covered everything that could happen to the truck and specifically, the engine.
At 64,000 miles the EGR system took a **** and it went to the dealership for repair. While apart Ford had them replace a number of items including installing a new turbocharger. The bill was $9700 (cost me $150). The truck is bone stock. No chips, no tuners, no EGR delete, no trick exhaust, etc. It runs and drives perfectly and everything works as it should.
For the next year I drove the truck to work, 85 freeway miles daily, and occasionally towed a 5800# boat. At the end of that year I moved to the New Orleans area and 3 years after that I sold the boat and bought a sports car. In the last 2 years I have put less than 8,000 miles on the truck. I have been hanging on to it as we have been considering buying a fifth wheel in about 4 years but lately a motor home sounds better so I wouldn’t need this truck. I hate that my truck sits for sometimes a week or two (covered carport) without being driven but my local dealer that does all the maintenance says to not use it as a grocery getter. I have 2 other cars for that purpose. If I have to make a longer run someplace I try to take the truck. It gets scheduled maintenance and I run Diesel Kleen through it regularly. When I do drive it I always get offers to buy it with offers typically $22-24,000. If I’m not going to tow a fifth wheel I don’t really need a 3/4 ton truck but I’ve been looking at newer ‘09-‘15 F150s in the $20-24,000 range.
Am I hurting my engine by not using the truck? Are the shorter trips better or worse? Should I sell it and go with the smaller, newer truck? Just looking for some guidance specifically on harm done in not using the truck often.
Main thing is that the turbo inner workings (ie unison ring components) can rust and cause issues with boost, and over-boost is not a good thing for these engines.
Also, rodents (especially squirrels) seem to be drawn to vehicles that aren't run much.
Any rust on it?
Paint in good shape?
4WD?
I'm interested if you get serious about selling it.
Thanks for the response. The truck is in great condition. As I said it’s a Lariat FX4 with leather, split bench in front. I’ve never had it seriously off road. No rust, no dents and shiny white paint. The bed has a Bedrug insert and a Truxedo roll-up cover. Power windows, locks, pedals, seats, seat heaters, sunroof. It’s been dealer maintained since new with oil changed regularly. My problem is I don’t want to sell it if I can’t find an F150 with less than 100,000 miles, in as good or better condition than mine for under $25,000. That said, I don’t want to kill the truck if it’s not driven enough. The only pic I have on this device is this one with the truck in the background. I’ll keep you in mind if I sell. Thanks again.
Main thing is that the turbo inner workings (ie unison ring components) can rust and cause issues with boost, and over-boost is not a good thing for these engines.
Also, rodents (especially squirrels) seem to be drawn to vehicles that aren't run much.
Any rust on it?
Paint in good shape?
4WD?
I'm interested if you get serious about selling it.
Thanks for the response. My truck is in very good shape. As I said above it’s a Lariat with the FX4 suspension. It’s never been seriously off road. No dents, no rust, no curb rash on the wheels, one small cut in the leather on the driver’s seat, the back seat is pristine, original carpet with no holes. It has power windows , seats w/heaters, pedals, locks, sunroof, etc. I’m the second owner and bought it from a Ford Dealer 6 years ago with 61,000 miles. It now has 126,000 but in the last year it was only driven about 8,000. When I bought it the dealership gave me a great deal on their Platinum Service Plan. 3,000 miles later the EGR system took a dump and it went to the dealership for repairs. While there, Ford had them replace a number of other parts including the turbocharger. It is bone stock with no tuner, chip, exhaust, deletes, etc. It runs perfect.
Thanks again for your comments. I’ll keep you in mind if I decide to sell. Sorry, I don’t have any pics on this device.
Shawn
If it's not something you need I would vote sell it. The prices are high. If fuel prices keep going up and the automakers ever get any chips to start selling again then you'd be able to potentially buy it back for significantly less money in a year or two. Also I agree about avoiding the short trips. Living in town and driving a few blocks down to the store is the worst.
I am in a similar situation, bought my 2004 new and now have 256k on it. I use it mostly for towing my travel trailer and not much of a daily driver. As several have noted, this can cause problems with the turbo which happened to me. When accelerating or going "up hill" I would get a turbo bark and loss of power, stumbling etc. Lotta research and you tube videos I figured it was vgt vanes not opening because of carbon/soot etc. I did replace my egr valve which did not correct the problem, I then ran a bottle of Archoil 6400-D (cabron/soot remover) through the fuel at prescribed quantity and drove the heck out of it for almost a tank full of fuel. It cleared my issue up and now is back to running perfectly. Directions state to use every 5000 miles so that's what I plan on doing, plus, I will take it out on the e-way now monthly and "exercise" that turbo.I love my 6.0 and hope to get another few years out of it.
Man, I have a difficult time believing an additive would still work after going through the combustion process…but it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been wrong
I can see how an additive combusted with the fuel could affect the properties of the ash produced (IIRC magnesium was a key ingredient). Making the ash more friable and less prone to sticking. I don't see it significantly cleaning up anything already made though (plus 1 on not being the 1st time I was wrong though). Been involved in Industrial additives for liquid incinerators. Some additives are amazing. That said, it wasn't cheap and who knows if the Archoil contains enough of the ingredients to really make a noticeable difference.....or if it is really needed assuming injectors weren't starting to get worn or failed in some way.
