I dont really understand why everyone that I talk to hates the 6.0L. Ive never had any problems with my truck other than the egr valve and all I did was buy $2 carb cleaner and cleaned it and now my truck is just fine.
Maybe I just got lucky with my 2004 6.0L truck? Its had pretty good and consistent maintenance since we've owned it at 14miles... its now at 64k. Have I just not hit enough miles for the normal problems to show up?
Whats the deal??

 

I think mainly people dont like them because they are hard to work on, and when something does break its usually very expensive to fix. the stretchy headstuds in these trucks though cause headgaskets to fail easier then other brands/motors and i think that is they have such a bad rep.

 

you can own a ford and deal with the powerstroke problems or own a cummins and deal with the dodge problems. At the end of the day every truck has problems, pros and cons. The people that have driven their truck with little or no problems for 100k miles are just lucky, its not because they own a 6.0 or cummins or durmax. its just because they took care of their truck and got lucky.

 

Not everyone hates the 6.0. (Not Me)
In this world and this economy we are living in, you are bound to hear bad advertisement over good from people. When people have a bad experience with any product they tell everyone!!! When they have any good, they just go on with life and do not tell as many people. Its just the way it works.

 

They really aren't all that hard to work on.

Headbolts are the issue, headstuds are what people usually put in them to "fix" the problem.

I would say it's less luck then actually have a little more knowledge about the engine specifically. This engine in particular requires a litle more attention then what most people are wanting to give rather or not the "know" it needs to be done. It's actually knowing and giving that extra attention beyond the norms of what most people were require to give the older diesels that helps them get their trucks last 100k. This engine is too "sensitive" to upkeep beyond normal upkeep for people to just be lucky.

 

I would say your correct mostly, but luck does play a pretty big role because ive seen time and time again people that have done maintenance above and beyond, and still had problem after problem. I think some trucks are just more lemons then others, some builds are better then others, I think you can take 2 identical trucks and perform exactly the same maintenance on them, tow exactly the same weight with them, use the same oil, etc etc and one truck have tons more problems then the other, its just my opinion, of course.

 

I could agree with you there if you are talking about the older vehicles. I think that's just the nature of the beast with the "evolution" of things.



No biggie.

I can agree with that. Lord knows we've seen/heard of some really good trucks and some really bad trucks. Anything that does deal with the human element has that.

However, one thing though that makes it a little harder is that with some people they are quick to judge their 6.0 being bad when sometimes if you were to look at what they had done to/with their truck, you could come up with an alternate theory as to why they had those issues. Now I'm not saying that there are just bad trucks that are truly lemons or they are lemons because the tech couldn't fix them right the first couple of times, but there are some owners that just don't know what or how to do somethings and that adds to it. Unfortunately warranty claims(which is the basis for what is used to determine the overall reliability of a vehicle) doesn't show which claims were actually legitimate and which ones weren't. If it is owner and/or tech error that caused a repeat or even a first time issue(even a major one) neither of those parties for the most part come forward on their own and say that they may or may not have had a hand in the issue.

 

Besides the headbolts, I think the biggest achilles heel for the 6.0 is its suceptibilty to problems caused by a/m filters. We will never know, in my opinion, the true damage to its reputation that these have caused due to people being cheap or uneducated on the 6.0.

 

I am not sure of exact numbers or anything but just from observation alone there is alot more Ford diesel trucks in operation compared to dodge and gm.

This alone is probally where the inflated negative press comes from, larger overall numbers also increase the numbers of inexperienced owners that may not understand diesel engines have service "requirements" not service suggestions.

A new owner that has owned gasser's forever is more likely to for-go critical service requirements of a diesel. Coolant flush, oil change at or before intervals, OEM filters, OEM oil and coolant.

General driving style would also contribute to problems, short trips to the hardware store is not putting your diesel to work and those short trips harm the engine any trip shorter than 30mins should be made in your gas vehicle whenever possible or extend your trip to ensure all fluids are at operating temp.

 

Gotta agree with ya here. I would love to see some hard sales numbers between the big three by year from about 2003 thru 2007. I seem to see a noticiably higher percentage of these years of Powerstrokes every day I am out and about. Every one I see I wonder if the guy has had the same issues discussed on this forum all the time.

 

You all bring up a very valid point!
I too would be interested in hearing about how many sales each company has had just to compare.

I just get a chuckle when people say Dodge is the best truck ever... well then why is it the cheapest?? Ive heard waayyy too many horror stories about dodges (more so than fords!) that i'd never buy one.

 

Like working on the space shuttle......

Powertrain Control/Emissions Diagnosis

For diagnosis and testing of the electronic engine
control system, refer to the

Control/Emissions Diagnosis (PC/ED) manual.

This is when they lose interest and wish they had grandma's Buick......

 

I kinda miss my '94.5 7.3PSD
I didn't have to worry about anything with that truck.
I could let the oil go, dump farm fuel in the tank,
It might have been boring compared to the 6.0 but I never did anything to it (changing gear ratios don't count), I just drove it. If it wasn't for shifting, u-turns and parking, who knows, might still be outside.

 

You also have a lot of other brand owners/bashers frequenting sites like rvnet that report anything they see with the 6.0. Then their support group gets involved and it is off to the races. There is an incredible amount of bad information and outright lies out there. The bashers like to draw the "go to powerstrokehelp.xxx for the best information" gun and we all know the real deal there.

Regards

 

I have a 04 F 350 6.0 diesel, now I prefer Ford Trucks, I always had Ford truck I have a 2001 F450 7.3 and I love That Truck. Now my newest is the 04' PSD FX4 6.0 diesel, nice truck BUT...... I only had it for two years now and she has cost me $$$$$$ in multiple repairs egr valve twice egr cooler the turbo, and the tranny $$$$$ I have A big hole in my pocket since, currently broke down in texas with my family and the high maintainance PSD at the dealer now would not start crossing my fingers for the bill? getting very gunshy with that truck.....but I am Still a FORDMAN lol.

Sincerely PFC Sigurdsson US.ARMY Hooha