6.0 liter Ford diesels

[900kingcat162]

I know this may have been discussed before, but I thought I remember a thread on here about truck diesels, and people were saying to stay away from the 6.0 liter Fords due to them having cooling issues. Am I remembering correctly? I came across a 2004 crew cab long box for sale with 88,000 miles. just wondering if I should even consider it becuase of the 6.0 liter. does anyone have these as their vehicle? have you had any problems? what about fuel economy? I have heard people claim 20 mpg and it doesnt matter if they tow or not, others 15 mpg. I appreciate all comments. thankyou.

 

[EXCESSIVE FORCE]

Avoid like the plague....These engines are known to have head gasket issues,and replacement involves lifting the cab off the frame to remove heads to the tune of around $5000. My nephew had one blow 2 sets one under warranty and the second time it got traded......

 

[SledTL]

I know this may have been discussed before, but I thought I remember a thread on here about truck diesels, and people were saying to stay away from the 6.0 liter Fords due to them having cooling issues. Am I remembering correctly? I came across a 2004 crew cab long box for sale with 88,000 miles. just wondering if I should even consider it becuase of the 6.0 liter. does anyone have these as their vehicle? have you had any problems? what about fuel economy? I have heard people claim 20 mpg and it doesnt matter if they tow or not, others 15 mpg. I appreciate all comments. thankyou.

I know that I've seen things on my Facebook news feed from off road companies who do work on diesel trucks. Most of them are located in the desert and south so obviously not around here, but I'm pretty sure you could find others like it. They have advertised kits where the do upgrades to the oil cooler and some other stuff. And i would think that if you baby your truck just like I do then they will last. If you don't take care of it then it won't take care of you

 

[nytro_rtx]

X2 I agree, find a gd 7.3L or a newer 6.4L or 6.7L

Avoid like the plague....These engines are known to have head gasket issues,and replacement involves lifting the cab off the frame to remove heads to the tune of around $5000. My nephew had one blow 2 sets one under warranty and the second time it got traded......

 

[indy_500]

6.0s are like the Dragon 800 of Polaris. Stay away! Neighbors 6.0 has been sitting in the driveway for a year, needs a new motor. Snowblows his snow right on top of it.

 

[dekx]

I owned a 2006 6.0 liter diesel, JUNK< stay away! Truck seemed like it was in for service more than it was on the road!
Alot of class action lawsuits for these engines......

 

[lotoftoys]

6.0 Liter

They are problems but can be bullet proofed with a few changes. My son had one that he toasted and ended up putting in a cummins. He also has a 2005 dually 6.0 that runs like a raped ape. Contact him at rbesola@aol.com. Tell him the old man sent you.

 

[polaris2]

Bought my 2003 Ford 4 door short box 6.0 diesel new in 2003. Pull a 32 foot 5th wheel all the time never one problem. Great power 16 miles to the gallon pulling 20 mile to gallon when not pulling. Also starts right off in winter cold weather as low as -18 below not plugged in.

 

[slimcake]

Own one with a roll back car hauler on it for hauling/towing farm implements = gets the crap worked out of it. After oil cooler upgrade, egr delete, new injectors and new fuel pump...... It has been pretty reliable. Had a 7.3 that I personally but 250,000 miles on without a single engine problem. This must be payback..... Good thing is though you can buy them pretty cheap which means you can upgrade them for reliablity. Not that you should have to but....

 

[beebird]

95% of them are ticking time bombs. There are a few decent years where they didn't have AS many problems...2004 is one of those years. It also depends on how it was used previously. I had an 2005 that had turbo problems every 20000 miles and LOTS of warranty work done to it. I traded for a 2008 6.4 and love it. Personally, I wouldn't be to scared of a 2004 but would save a little money to do an egr delete and ARP head studs right away, before head gaskets go. Also the best I got for fuel mileage was 17 empty,(hand figured).

 

[snoeatr]

Most are junk but a few people have had good luck. A bud of mine has over $25k in repairs on a 07. Dont ask why he still has it. Has done all of the upgrades to fix issues but still blows head gaskets and turbos. I would say run

 

[joks79]

I have a 06 and have the FICM go bad under warranty. I have 116,000 miles on it and love the truck. Yes there are some known problems with them. I believe some of the problems are owner influenced. People don't understand these are not gasoline engines.

If you are looking to buy one ask for the Oasis report from a Ford dealer.

 

[jmvette427]

6.0l has some known concerns , oil cooler restricts coolant to the egr cooler , which cracks and leaks into exhaust very commonly diagnosed as headgaskets , head gasket durability is directly proportional to combustion pressure , if you power program or chip expect head gaskets to fail , only 4 bolts around cylinder, 6.4l has 5. headgaskets dont blow they leak combustion gas into coolant , the clamping force of the headbolts is not enough, so arp studs help clamp better, turbo charger vanes stick, egr valves get dirty and stick ( fuel quality issues), ficm issue is the voltage inverter failing , now available as repair kit from dorman, as a ford service manager , if i were to buy one i would egr cooler delete , arp stud kit , and programmer and she will be blowing coal ! lack of maintenance will affect durability as any vehicle, need good fuel and clean oil !

 

[heckler56]

I had one of the first 6.0's. A 2003 Excursion. It was a great truck until traded in at 86,000 miles. If it were available, my wife and I would take it back in a heartbeat. Had a 2005 F350 with a 6.0 and no issues either. It was easy to tell that by 2005 they had detuned them.

Our Excursion got 17 around town and 20-22 on the hwy. 12 towing. Compare that to my EcoBoost at 17 hwy, 12-13 around town and 9 towing! Trading it in this week!

Have your dealer run a report on the vehicle. These engines were made to work and were tuned to their max out of the factory. Everyone I have seen with problems were engines that fell into the following: at the beginning they pulled guys off the line to seat fuel injectors and that caused the original hub a bub. The other engines that had problems were ones that the owner installed tuners (again, these were built at the factory). It is not to say that some did not have problems otherwise. But, all the people I have met that kept the engine working all the time, never an issue.

Just my 2cents

 

[booondocker]

6.0l has some known concerns , oil cooler restricts coolant to the egr cooler , which cracks and leaks into exhaust very commonly diagnosed as headgaskets , head gasket durability is directly proportional to combustion pressure , if you power program or chip expect head gaskets to fail , only 4 bolts around cylinder, 6.4l has 5. headgaskets dont blow they leak combustion gas into coolant , the clamping force of the headbolts is not enough, so arp studs help clamp better, turbo charger vanes stick, egr valves get dirty and stick ( fuel quality issues), ficm issue is the voltage inverter failing , now available as repair kit from dorman, as a ford service manager , if i were to buy one i would egr cooler delete , arp stud kit , and programmer and she will be blowing coal ! lack of maintenance will affect durability as any vehicle, need good fuel and clean oil !

I was going to reply to this, but don't need to after reading that above. Here is the BIBLE on these engines from Ford. So read the above and expect issues based upon how well the motor was maintained or used.

Only thing I would add is that I am pretty sure this was the Motor that Ford did not design, as farmed out and they regretted it forever. Ford went back to building their own design motors which is why the newer motors are standing up better.

Also I have heard under good authority that you should NOT use Rotella oil in these motors because it foams and the injectors fail based upon this oil getting too much air bubbles in it.

Unless you know a good mechanic, or want to spend money modding out the engine, move on to something better....or take your chances.

 

[tyeeman]

I know a freind of a friend who has an 04. He says the MAIN problem is the head bolts. As stated previousely they stretch then you start engesting coolant or blowing exhaust into the coolant system. He had it studed and has had no problems, , even has it chipped.
So he says basically look and see if it has head bolts or studs. If it has head bolts buy it cheap enough so you have the studs installed.
And yes, to have major engine work done they remove the cab. He showed me the picture, pretty cool in a bummer sort of way.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

"you should NOT use Rotella oil in these motors because it foams and the injectors fail based upon this oil getting too much air bubbles in it."

never heard that before. why wouldnt this apply to all diesels then?

 

[jmvette427]

boondocker and highlander: its funny you guys say that about "rotella" , i didnt even get into the issues with the high pressure oil systems, 05/06 have a quick disconnect on the hipressure oil pump which oring deteriorates , causing nostart or hard start , injectors must have 500 psi for computer to fire off, but also there are 2 rail plugs that the orings deteriotates , "and the customers that i have seen with this, funny thing use rotella " hot off the press , class action lawsuit going down for owners who had injectors, oil/egr cooler problems may get some $$$ back , the 7.3, 6.0, and 6.4 are all international engines , , the 6.7 is all ford ,

 

[heckler56]

boondocker and highlander: its funny you guys say that about "rotella" , i didnt even get into the issues with the high pressure oil systems, 05/06 have a quick disconnect on the hipressure oil pump which oring deteriorates , causing nostart or hard start , injectors must have 500 psi for computer to fire off, but also there are 2 rail plugs that the orings deteriotates , "and the customers that i have seen with this, funny thing use rotella " hot off the press , class action lawsuit going down for owners who had injectors, oil/egr cooler problems may get some $$$ back , the 7.3, 6.0, and 6.4 are all international engines , , the 6.7 is all ford ,

Never a problem on 2 engines, both used Rotella. Traded in the 03 with 86,000 miles and 36,000 on the 05. I guess maybe I avoided problems using an additive.

 

[HIGHLANDER]

i was intrigued by this so i did a lil google'n...general consensus seemed it was a problem with the injectors and some other oils have more anti foaming agents in it. all oil foams, rotella wouldnt be such a hot seller if it wasnt any good.

oh, and all oil will eat through seals if never changed as it becomes too acidic