6.6 duramax vs 6.0 powertroke

rhagfo wrote:

transamz9 wrote:

Jerem0621 wrote:
5.9 let my dad down and it required a tow. Hard to run the Cummins when the lift pump fails. He still has it and is well over 200k miles now.

Not throwing stones at the Cummins, just pointing out that ALL diesel options can and do have failure points.

Some Duramax trucks have head gasket and injector issues, some Rams have Lift pump issues,... Then there is the 6.0.

This is not a motor that you treat like every other motor. You need to carefully monitor engine oil and engine coolant temps, watch for tell tell signs of failure and get it repaired. Change the coolant often and keep a close eye on things. Many 6.0's live happy lives without failure.

IMHO before I bought a 6.0 diesel I would invest in a scan guage II and plug it into the truck on the test drive. Let the truck tell you the story.

The lift pump on your dads 5.9 likely failed long before the truck left him stranded. The CP will still pull the fuel to itself and not miss a beat.

He could have put a cheap low pressure fuel gauge in it and would have caught the problem and still drove it home. The 6.0, most of the time when something acts up, you better find a good place to pull over.

Between the two Dmax for sure, I changed from Ford to Ram after 45 years of Ford!! I could not bring myself to buy a 6.0.
I have had my Ram for almost four years, added a small chip and tow 11,000# 5er, turned 268,000 miles last week, still a solid truck. Bought it used from a dealer (Ram) one owner with only 234,000 miles. Truck body and interior were in showroom shape, the Cummins ran great clean and strong.

The Ford 6.0 to bullet proof, is about $5,000+, but if you chose not to to repair/replace a blown 6.0 is about $15,000, why do you think so many on this forum are dislike diesels, they likely had a bad 6.0!

Russ, there is a lot of truth to what you are saying. There are many folks out there who got burned by the 6.0 and now apply that level of caution to all diesels. The same line of thought can be applied to folks who have half ton gassers with small motors, buy a travel trailer then upgrade to a diesel.

They make similar statements about how bad all gassers are when they didn't give a HD gasser a chance. Not that's it's a bad thing.

Can you all tell me more about the fuel guage on the Cummins. How is that piece of info going to tell my dad when the lift pump is dying? I'm going to have to tell him about this.

Thanks!

Jeremiah