true, you do get that in any used vehicle. But the more complicated and delicate the vehicle the more problems that can occur. For instance I would feel much more confident buying a gas powered 2wd truck used than a PSD 4wd. The gas powered 2wd simply has less to brake down and less parts that could have been neglected.

So depending on what you "need," depends on how you should buy it IMO. I wouldn't want to buy that used Ferrari without knowing I had enough to fix the problems that might come with it.

 

In some cases, even a 5.4 would be up for the job as well. Not as fun, but it would work. I wish more people did what you do, that might have spared a lot of the resentment towards this engine.

That's it. Nail right on the head. Although the 6.0 can take abuse don't think that it can't. You just have to be more "sophisticated" about how you go about before you start to abuse it(ie letting the ECT and/or EOT get up to operating temp).


Absolutely true, however, I would still say that it would be the owner's fault for not thoroughly going over everything before they bought it. Find out what all it needed, gave they give it to the vehicle(or are willing to do so) etc.

It's stuff like that I think makes worse the "ill-will" that people have toward the 6.0.

Now I'm not saying that there aren't lemons. There will be and it won't matter at what price level that vehicle is at either. My dad's SL600 was a lemon after 10k on the odometer.

 

Don't say that, I'll be in the market for a used SL600 soon.

Certainly there are lemons on every manufacture. In fact if you go to a high enough price point, it is expected to need constant maintenance and parts.

 

I don't hate the 6.0 motor! I hate Navistar for not building a more reliable engine and I hate Ford for not standing up and being responsible by recalling the 6.0 motors and replacing oil/egr coolers and head bolts. I was out of warranty by 14 days and Ford told me to take a hike. I paid for $6000 grand in repairs thanks to the 6.0! I'm not bitter, can you tell?

 

I must say I figured this thread would catch on fire and burn to the ground. Carry on Gentlemen, I appreciate the good debate and concerns.

 

I agree Ford and Navistar are the problem but that said I just get goose bumps even after 62,000 miles when I start my baby up. I just love it..
Wife told me it was her or the SD..sure gonna miss her...chuckle

 

Where do I start? My '05 just got me for $942 today...second FICM in just over a year! This past May I got hit with two batteries, vacuum motor, blown head gasket, EGR cooler and oil cooler. Just slid in under the warranty deadline for the engine issues (whew!) so I went ahead and purchased the extended warranty. Truck is totally stock, driven easy and only moderate towing. I've had her two years now and it's time for her to go even though I love driving her.

 

I can answer the why dose everybody hate the 6.0 question. I was the biggest 6.0 defender on earth. I have 2003 early build (feb,2003) that I have own since 104,000 miles it now has 143,000 miles. Now just to be clear I have been very happy with it until now. At 141,000 miles it had an injector melt down and would not even start. I had the codes read and two injectors were junk and the injector control module was bad. When I took it in to get fixed I had all the injector replaced because of the labor it takes to get to the dam things. The mechanic tells me that this is common for 6.0 powerstroke I told him that I’m very precise on maintenance only use Ford filters (fuel filters twice a year. and oil and filters changed every 3,000 miles good fuel with fuel conditioner every tank). The mechanic calls me and tells me that the injectors have been worked on at least twice before. He showed me three remanufactured injectors and two that were after market injectors so this is the third time the injectors have been worked on. This is very expensive to have done three times in 143,000 miles. I can’t vowge for how it was treated before I got it but as for after that I can, and 43,000 miles is just wrong. I was told by more than him that if I get 100,000 miles out of injectors I’m doing good.

 

well it is the fuel pump and a collapsed primary fuel filter failure, note it was a "fram filter" ( my bad ) **NOTE TO ALL PSD OWNER use only motorcraft for your filters..
just what I found out the hard way $974.00 later hoping it did not do any other damage..
would like to here some comments good, bad......and the ugly... after spending well on 10K in repairs... its still a one hell of a truck and I love Ford just live and learn.

Sincerely PFC Sigurdsson

 

The post above is another data point for you (actually all of us too)!!

 

Hi all,
Most of us have taken care of our family's car/trucks since when we were first old enough to help do an oil change.
When we get a new vehicle we read the owner's manual and rely on the local dealership to help out with service, warrenty issues and performance.
Anything else that fails when your vehicle has been properly maintained and not abused should be coverd by warrenty or a recall, for example the 6.0 liter PSD STC cuppler.
When the STC cuppler failed and a $4 kit was added to the new STC fitting to keep the STC from wiggling, I didn't blame myself. The failure happened at 109000 miles. The problem was the 7 hours labor to replace $50 in parts. Ford failed to do the recall, and my guess was that it was too expensive to do the recall or that it only happened to owners who towed heavy that experienced the failure.
Yes I too am waiting for the other shoe to fall... what will fail next. I see where some forum members have done a lot to keep their outfits going and I see a lot of dollars being spent on coolant filters, oil by-pass filters, larger exhaust, guages etc. as insurance to hopefully keep the devil away from the savings accounts! The question I had is what does all that stuff cost? Or does the piece of mind of trying to head off a failure jusify the cost.
I also thought that because of the price of fuel in 2005 that getting a diesel would be a win win situation. Times change! That was my decision and I love the SD and the PSD.
Again, GREAT site with so many individuals helping out those in need.
Harold

 

I did larger exhaust and gauges, however, the larger exhaust was done due to the high performance parts that I have installed(injectors, turbo) and less to do with "keeping the devil at bay" as far as a stock truck goes.

Gauges are truly the one thing out of that list that I would actually advocate strongly not only for the 6.0, but for any worked vehicled out there, particularly as that vehicle gets some years on them(2 and over in my book).

Now depending on how you shop around for gauges, cost can be relatively cheap. Also bare in mind that gauges help you find out things that are going wrong before there is definitive outward sign of something going wrong. If you know that that fuel pump is going south, you can catch it sooner then it would when you start really starving those injectors. A save like that will pay for your gauge setup many times over depending on how you shopped around for those gauges.

Coolant filters, bypass filters, oil and fuel additives those I don't do. Nor really do I advocate them, I don't try to sway people away from them, but I don't try to draw them to those products as well. I am not saying that I think they are bad, don't get that impression, I just don't advocate them.

 

The 6.0 psd launch was a disaster and that in itself created such a bad reputation that Ford could never alienate. Add in the AM filters that caused X amount of injector failures, injectors with stiction problems, too many flash revisions to keep track of, poor head bolt design, poor oil cooler design that clogs with misc antifreeze particles and causing EGR cooler failures, EGR valves clogging, Poor quality control of the FICM, a engine design with too many gaskets that allowed too many oportunities for oil leaks, poor cable/wire routing allowing intermittent shorts, and every month in the news Ford and International were jockeying for position in court in which Ford had to buy out the contract early and now Ford is advertising their new 6.7 is designed and built in house as a result of all the sins of the past. Add all these accumalative problems/issues that were all too common and you have a recipe for a negative attitude towards the 6.0 psd.

BTW... I still like my 6.0 psd although I almost pulled the trigger on a new 6.7psd.

 

Love mine. Hate the cost of repairs, but that is what modern engines cost. We can regurgitate the common problems over and over, but that is what this site is about - problems. Every manufacturer has their own. The one thing that I do fault Ford for is the fact that to do almost anything to the engine efficiently, you have to lift the cab. That is poor design.

 

I love my truck. I baught it used. It looked to be well taken care of and was very clean. I had to do some work too it since I baught it but nothing major. I have installed gauges to monitor temps. I needed the diesel engine for pulling power and braking with my 5er. I looked at all 3 of the brands and in my opinion Ford had the better set up. My finances limited me to the 6.0 era. and I don't see this as being any worse than when I drive our semi's even with them I am watching the egt's and engine temps along with trans. and axle temps.
I would guess a lot of the problem is people have gotten spoiled with gas engines and the 7.3 diesel which had little issues due to lack of hp per cubic inches and lack of emissions. The 6.0 is kicking out a lot of torque and hp. per cubic inches. Plus it has too deal with emission standards.Consequently it must be driven like a big rig (maintance and monitor gauges, warm up and cool downs, etc, not just riden in like a grocery hauler and abused per say. Lots of people arn't use to treating their vehicles this way and it eventually bites them, plus these were the first vehicles to have to meet the epa standards and use the new then ulsd fuel. ( note here all the fuel suppliers now put in additives to save our fuel pumps and o-rings before it is delivered to the pumps).
I really think with the new emission standards now in place and the desire for more hp. by the consumers that maintance and proper driving habits will be a must from this day forward.
Will I have problems in the future with the 6.0? Possibly, but I am no more worried about driving it than I am my semi's.
This is just my own opinion and not trying to bash any brand or person.
Also I want to add that all the afore mentioned statements here are very good and informative.