2004 Excursion 6.0 diesel.
Hey folks, going to look at an 04 diesel excursion tomorrow morning. From what I can tell it looks brand new all around . The engine has 180k miles from one owner. Now I've never owned a diesel v...
Forum Discussion
OP, go to youtube and look up a channel called "powerstroke help" and watch Bill's videos on the 6.0. Watch as many as you can or as many as it takes to have a general understanding of the 6.0.
This motor is not an absent minded owners motor. You need to be actively involved with this motor and intimately know how it works. And you need to closely monitor several temperatures and learn what they are telling you.
If you don't hen you will damage the motor to the tune of thousands of dollars eventually.
Here is the quick and dirty thst I can recall off the top of my head.
Gonna happens
1) injectors are going to fail...it's going to happen
2) The EGR cooler will eventually fail
3) the oil cooler will eventually fail
4) if you tune it...the headgaskets will eventually go
5) The coolant cap in the early 6.0's were known to go bad and not hold pressure. It needs replaced
Probably will happen
1) head bolts will streatch and cause a head gasket failure
2) the PCM will fail if the battery voltage gets low
3) heads may/will/already have micro cracks
4) when the headgaskets fail the heads may also have to be replaced. Per the Ford TSB for headgaskets failure the heads must be replaced. Because they are not resurfacable..some have success resurfacing the heads...some not so much.
5) this list is not exhaustive
These issues are well known and there are many options to deal with them... Or bulletproof the motor as you have heard.
The good news with the 6.0 is most of the issues happen on the top end...the 6.4 PSD...ugh...that's for a different thread.
Anyway what most do with good success is to add head studs to keep the heads clamped down to the block and prevent head gasket failure. Some go hog wild and buy customs EGR and Oil Coolers
That seriously reduce the chance for failure.
Again, go to powerstroke help on youtube and search for a particular video about testing for head gasket failure... Also you need to get some kind of OBD2 monitoring system and check the Oil temp vs Coolant temp. Once at operating temp the Oil and Coolant temp should be with 15-20 degrees. If they are not then there is an EGR or Oil cooler failure.
Also, make sure you start the diesel cold when you go to look at it. If you see white smoke on start up...walk away or offer the seller 5-7k less...take the truck to a good diesel shop and get the issues fixed.
With everything I just said, a good running 6.0 is a JOY to drive. Very powerful and responsive.
Thanks And good luck.
Jeremiah
This motor is not an absent minded owners motor. You need to be actively involved with this motor and intimately know how it works. And you need to closely monitor several temperatures and learn what they are telling you.
If you don't hen you will damage the motor to the tune of thousands of dollars eventually.
Here is the quick and dirty thst I can recall off the top of my head.
Gonna happens
1) injectors are going to fail...it's going to happen
2) The EGR cooler will eventually fail
3) the oil cooler will eventually fail
4) if you tune it...the headgaskets will eventually go
5) The coolant cap in the early 6.0's were known to go bad and not hold pressure. It needs replaced
Probably will happen
1) head bolts will streatch and cause a head gasket failure
2) the PCM will fail if the battery voltage gets low
3) heads may/will/already have micro cracks
4) when the headgaskets fail the heads may also have to be replaced. Per the Ford TSB for headgaskets failure the heads must be replaced. Because they are not resurfacable..some have success resurfacing the heads...some not so much.
5) this list is not exhaustive
These issues are well known and there are many options to deal with them... Or bulletproof the motor as you have heard.
The good news with the 6.0 is most of the issues happen on the top end...the 6.4 PSD...ugh...that's for a different thread.
Anyway what most do with good success is to add head studs to keep the heads clamped down to the block and prevent head gasket failure. Some go hog wild and buy customs EGR and Oil Coolers
That seriously reduce the chance for failure.
Again, go to powerstroke help on youtube and search for a particular video about testing for head gasket failure... Also you need to get some kind of OBD2 monitoring system and check the Oil temp vs Coolant temp. Once at operating temp the Oil and Coolant temp should be with 15-20 degrees. If they are not then there is an EGR or Oil cooler failure.
Also, make sure you start the diesel cold when you go to look at it. If you see white smoke on start up...walk away or offer the seller 5-7k less...take the truck to a good diesel shop and get the issues fixed.
With everything I just said, a good running 6.0 is a JOY to drive. Very powerful and responsive.
Thanks And good luck.
Jeremiah
