This is a great site and the amount of information and expertise is awesome. Thanks to all who have helped me and given advice in the past. My early '03 had enough issues that Ford agreed to buy it back. Hallelujiah!!

I can't bring myself to buy a Chevy or Dodge so should I chalk up my '03 to bad luck and get and '04 or will the '05's have significantly more improvements that are worth waiting for? I really haven't heard much about the differences but I figure there are many here who can provide facts. Also, is it true that there aren't as many discounts and rebates available for newer models as opposed to later models?

Thanks again.

Mike

 

No doubt I will get some arguments here...............buy it.

 

I'd personally wait until ford gets the Pilot Injection working again. Actually, I'd wait several months after that to make sure it's not causing other problems. To me, ford turning off PI is a huge indicator that they do not have this motor's problems under control. That just shouts that this motor is still in test rather than production.

 

Ditto to Jeb's comments...

 

Buy it. Here are the comments from my last Blackstone oil analysis:
STEVE: You can see your engine maturing in wear as it passes the 10,000-mile mark. The potassium
and sodium, which were factory leftovers, are washing out, just like they’re supposed to. Wear looks
good. We didn't find any fuel in this oil sample, so it looks like you've got a 6.0L engine with good
injectors! Insolubles (oil oxidation due to heat, use and blow-by) were low at 0.3%, showing good oil
filtration and complete combustion. No moisture or coolant was present in the oil. Looks like a nice
engine! No problems found.

And I have a 6.0 built on March 27, 03 and has C94 injectors. I bet there are a lot more like mine out there.

 

WAIT
To many problems with the 04 and there are many that get poor mpgs also,if you wait get 05 truck with 05 engine, good luck.

 

hehehe I would rather push my Ford than drive a Dodge.

I had the same choice you are making especially with the introduction of the King Ranch F250s this year. Should I wait? Well, patience was never one of my virtues. So I got it and would just deal with the problems if they came up. I guess it is like playing russian roulette atm with the 6.0L. You either get a good one or a crap one. So far (knock on wood) I have not had any problems and I am very satisfied with my truck.

 

Wait for what, the perfect massed produced truck? If that's the case, go buy a moped. You aren't going to buy anything that doesn't have some problem.

 

EXACTLY, by the way good report from Blackstone.

 

As I said above, wait at least for ford to get PI working again. That is a very easy thing to draw a line to and say that this motor is not right and won't be until they at least get that back on line.

No one has ever asked for perfection. The poster has already had one bad one and is wisely shy of getting bit twice.

 

No, I'm not asking for perfection, but if something's broke I think it should be fixed. It would be more reassuring to see a list of design changes for the new year since the previous 2 years were less than spectacular IMO. I saw the "spy pics" and can tell they spent little or no time redesigning the exterior or interior so I would hope that the Pilot injection issue has been addressed, the leaks are gone, the fluttering noises are gone, the dead pedal issue is gone, the poor gas mileage is solved, smoke at startup, hesitation gone etc.

Every new vehicle purchase is a somewhat of a crap shoot and I realize there are no guarantees and also realize that MANY of us have not had the above problems. I did though.

 

SBV45
So I dont get my have my opinion, I never said anything about perfect truck and neither did the person posting he asked for help and I thought that could give my 2cents worth without geting flamed, wonder how you would feel if your truck had a problem that ford was unable to resolve. and it was not a problem that would allow you to do a buyback or lemmon law. and as far as perfect trucks have had 3 perfect super duty trucks in a row not one problem not one visit to service dept. till the 6.0 guess I JUST GOT SPOILED.

 

tn mac, you are certainly welcome to express your opinion. I have had a few issues, but none that would make me walk away from one of these trucks with the 6.0. I don't think that the pilot injection is that big a deal. I had it on mine and they took it away. I think it is still quieter than the 7.3 and other brands. My neighbors have the 7.3 and others brand C. Mine is still quieter.

I am not pleased with the reduction in mileage and acceleration performance post Oct flash. Other than that, I have a darn good running truck.

Recent Blackstone report says "STEVE: You can see your engine maturing in wear as it passes the 10,000-mile mark. The potassium and sodium, which were factory leftovers, are washing out, just like they’re supposed to. Wear looks good. We didn't find any fuel in this oil sample, so it looks like you've got a 6.0L engine with good injectors! Insolubles (oil oxidation due to heat, use and blow-by) were low at 0.3%, showing good oil filtration and complete combustion. No moisture or coolant was present in the oil. Looks like a nice engine! No problems found."

And I have a March 27, 03 with C94 injectors.

Ford dealer shop foreman called me and said they have some new diagnostic test capabilities they want to run on my truck and asked me to bring it in. I will followup and get more detail and let you know how it goes.

If Ford Tech is on, do you have any idea what they are talking about?

I would still buy my truck today!

 

Yes, I'd buy another today. Why wait? My problem now is which gauges to install!!

With that said let me give you my two cents worth. This is based on me being a proud owner of a 2003 F 250 Lariat FX4 CC 6.0 built on April 12, 2003, and adopted August 18, 2003 and as of today has 14,641.3 miles. It has had a few inconveniences. Yes, I said a few inconveniences not problems. I’ve got all the available flashes. Had the PCM replaced for inability to communicate with the WDS, VGT solenoid for an intermittent surge that took 4 months to find, and yes, it had the dreaded rear main seal leak, twice. Still has a goofy intermittent idle that only happens once every xx days or so, but I’ll keep plugging and they will fix that one too. If they let me keep the VDR I'll give them enough samples. Almost forgot the O-Ring on the high pressure side of the power steering pump decided to break. Wonder if Ford built the O-Ring? And, as far as I know I’ve got the C-94 injectors that have yet leaked or produced additional oil. Oh, by the way its solid black and if you care April 12 is on a Saturday, so I guess I was destined to have an inconvenience or two!! I really didn’t know or was unaware they built engines on Saturday, but I did picked the truck out of a line up. Had my choice of one of every color. Just like puppies, I got the prettiest.

Over the limited life of the truck fuel mileage has averaged 15.81 miles per gallon. Using total miles divided by total gallons purchased. All hand calculated as the overhead is always generous. The best, September 2003 road trip. Fill up to fill up 510.7 miles, 26.83 gallons with one potty break stop, 19.03 mpg, hand calculated. Combination 4 lane, 2 lane, fast and slow, up and down hills. Overhead computer told me it was 21.1. Total trip was 2200 miles but wife made me stop more often on the rest. (Women) The worst, December 2003 pulling a 16 ft flat bed trailer with 13, 000 lbs of iron on a two lane road for 354 round trip miles (175 empty to get there, 179 loaded to get home) on two lane roads for 12.96 mpg. Curves in the road, I guess made it further on the return!!!! I too can make the truck see 21+ mpg for short periods, but the above is representative of everyday usage. Some fast, some slow, some empty and some loaded. I bought the truck to use and that’s what I do with it, it’s a truck. Now I can state here the infamous October flash did cut the over all fuel mileage. By how much I’m unable to determine due to the surge problem that was difficult to find and repair. But I can look at the first 5-6 tanks and it was 1 to 1.5 mpg more than the overall stated above.

I for one am very happy with this truck. Even with the erratic problems with the 6.0, it too is meeting my expectations. In fact if I had not had one problem I may have been disappointed. The truck did not change only the power plant. When you change to basic design from the 7.3 engine you have to expect some intermit malfunctions. It a natural progression to get to a better product. If one does not have the patients to work through this, then they should not consider a newly released product. For those of us the are willing, we will be very pleased!

 

I guess having problems and your ability to work though them depends on how you use your truck for someone who uses it as a part of there job it is important to have a truck you can count on. If you use it for pleasure it is easy to say we had a few minor problems no big deal.It comes down to each persons willingness to work through the problems but for me problems mean my time is spent at the dealership instead of in the field making money, which is why I bought new truck to begin with. longwinded way of saying for the people who use there trucks for work they have higher expectations and will not continue to buy trucks that have a lot of problems .