6.O diesal Truck trade or fix

mccrawwf wrote:
Please give your thoughts, or the the best financial and safe move for the future. I have a 2005 Ford 3500HD 6.Ol Deisal truck that I pull a 34 ft. Jayco 5th. wheel. Iam aware of the problems with my truck and the more I read the sicker I get. At this point-98K miles-no problems. Based on 2 estimates Iam looking at 6K to 10K to fix the problems before they happen. What is best-trade or fix? If I trade Iam going to a Dodge Diesal. Iam 63 years old and hope to RV till around 75. My trips are limed to a couple of trips to SC a year.
Tks! Bill

1. Go to AutoZone and get a ScanGuage II.
2. Monitor the oil temperature and the coolant temperature. If they vary by more than 15 degrees once the engine is at operating temperature and at highway speed, that is your first sign of trouble.
3. If or when #2 happens, replace the oil cooler and either delete the EGR cooler if your state does not have emission inspection, or get an upgraded cooler. At that time, replace the head gaskets and the head bolts with head studs. Have the heads checked for warping.
4. Install a coolant filter. It costs about $150 and you can install it yourself, very easy process.
5. If you got a quote for $10K for the upgrades, you are being hosed. I had the shop do all the upgrades I listed above, put on a 4 inch turbo back exhaust, replaced all eight injectors (only one was faulty due to the coolant leak into the intake manifold, but I did that for peace of mind) I also added a transmission cooler and filter system. TOTAL COST was around $5500, parts and labor.

I now have a truck that I have full confidence in. It tows my fiver like it was not even there. And with the current low interest rates, I paid for the repairs by refinancing my truck, adding only another year to the note and dropping the monthly payment by $200 a month.

It's up to you. You'll get people who will tell you get rid of that truck and get (name of their favorite brand here). But once those modifications are made, WHEN you need to make them, you will have a solid truck. I've got nearly 170K on my truck now and couldn't be happier.

The key to owning a 6.0 is monitoring the delta (difference) in temperatures between oil and coolant. A large difference means a clogged EGR cooler which starves the coolant to oil based oil cooler. The EGR cooler bursts, puts coolant in the intake manifold, lifts the heads. If you aren't having those problems now, don't worry. When you see those temperatures start to markedly differ, find a good, reliable shop. DON'T take it to the dealer! (I'll bet that's where you got that $10K quote!)

Good luck to you!

.


I bet you guys loose a bunch of money at the slot machines.

~

Turtle,

BTW... I never set foot into a casino! :W

~

"I never set foot into a casino!"


Hmmmmmm ....... if you have never set foot into a casino, guess that means you didn't *lose* any money you might have turned *loose*!..:W

~

Hard to believe, you read the court documents relating to the 6.0, combined with the zero resale/trade value nationwide, which is the buying public's way of expressing its dissatisfaction with the truck, and yet people continue call foul when the 6.0 is called what it truly is; a truly ****ty engine. If you think the 6.0 has somehow gotten a bad rap, you really need to read the lawsuit.

45Ricochet wrote:
My company has had 10 PSD that all failed ( actually only 3 of 3), hows that Troy? Must be true just like your B* stories :W Like I've said many times, maybe throw in a photo some day or some kind of proof, otherwise its just a campfire story after a few Lone Star's.

And you didn't believe me when I reported ~160k miles on my 6.0 psd and you needed a picture! :W

My company has had 10 PSD that all failed ( actually only 3 of 3), hows that Troy? Must be true just like your B* stories :W Like I've said many times, maybe throw in a photo some day or some kind of proof, otherwise its just a campfire story after a few Lone Star's.

Russian Roulette...LMAO

I don't think too many people here play that one. I didn't know that owning and driving a 6.0L is akin to blowing ones brains out :)
I hope my insurance company doesn't factor that into my life insurance premiums.

The 6.0L does have a terrible (documented) reputation and that allowed me to buy mines cheaper than a gasser Ex so it that sense it worked in my favor. I don't think bulletproofing is for everyone neither is tuning, CAI and exhaust. I think the OP is making a good risk assessment in deciding whether he wants to continue further in a truck that hasn't given him any problems but may need some $$$ put into it to continue that trend or spend $$$$$$$ to buy another truck that may (or may not) be trouble free.

I haven't owned a vehicle over a few years that hasn't cost $$ to keep it in tip top shape whether it is car or truck. It is an individual choice that I don't think there is a right or wrong answer. Everything doesn't boil down to dollars otherwise we all would have the base trucks since they are the cheapest. Some are willing to pay for things that others may not.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

vacuumbed wrote:

gparrow wrote:
For what it's worth, and based on my own opinion of some comments on here thats probably not much.

I've owned many many HD diesel trucks over the years, everything from 6.9 Fords and 6.2 GM's to an 07 Cummins and that includes an 04 Ford 6.0. We still own the 04 6.0 and yes we put about $2,000 into it as a prevetative measure. In 8 years and 230,000 miles it's never left us stranded, never missed a beat, it starts better in the cold and pulls just as well as the Cummins which has quit on us twice. If you like the truck put the money into it and keep on truckin.

This is a real eye opener to those that suggest he trade for a Cummins or a Dmax. Nothing in life is guaranteed.

Here's another eye opener... My BIL had a 04 Ford 6.0 psd and ran the pizz out of that truck pulling fertilizer tanks, cattle trailers, and various farm and ranch duties and it never missed a lick. He later traded it in for a 09 Dodge 6.7 cummins and that truck spent many days in the Chrysler shop. After nine months of Chrysler jerking him around and never really fixing his truck it was sold. He purchased a 07 Dodge DRW 5.9 cummins that's been a pretty good truck to date.

Because of his performance of his 04 Power Stroke I purchased a 05 Power Stroke and drove that truck for 7 years ~170k miles with only a few minor issues.

We purchased a used RAM 5.9 cummins last year and it's been problematic to say the least that we'll need to decide before spring to invest more $$$ in it to get it where it needs to be for us to use as a work truck, or cut or losses and find another truck.

I bet you guys loose a bunch of money at the slot machines. After all, the guy that sat right aside of you won a $5,000 grand jackpot just a few minutes ago so yours is about ready to hit.

I have a 5.7 diesel. It has been less trouble than my LBZ Dmax. Going by you guys way of thinking it must be a better motor than my Dmax! :R

Stop with the BS and start going with overall statistics will ya. The 5.7 was a POS and so was the 6.0 statistically speaking. Even the company that put that POS in their trucks said in court and in their emails it was a POS. The 6.0 cost the company that put it in their trucks over a Billion dollars in warrantee work.

I hope you guys never play Russian roulette. After all, the gun with 1 bullet is just as likely as the one with 5 bullets to kill ya with your way of thinking. Right? Because they all can kill you. :S

Most 6.0's have 5 bullets in the chamber. Just because you pulled the trigger on the empty chamber doesn't make it a great engine; it makes you lucky; the same as I was lucky with my 5.7.

Turtle n Peeps wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:

vacuumbed wrote:

gparrow wrote:
For what it's worth, and based on my own opinion of some comments on here thats probably not much.

I've owned many many HD diesel trucks over the years, everything from 6.9 Fords and 6.2 GM's to an 07 Cummins and that includes an 04 Ford 6.0. We still own the 04 6.0 and yes we put about $2,000 into it as a prevetative measure. In 8 years and 230,000 miles it's never left us stranded, never missed a beat, it starts better in the cold and pulls just as well as the Cummins which has quit on us twice. If you like the truck put the money into it and keep on truckin.

This is a real eye opener to those that suggest he trade for a Cummins or a Dmax. Nothing in life is guaranteed.

Here's another eye opener... My BIL had a 04 Ford 6.0 psd and ran the pizz out of that truck pulling fertilizer tanks, cattle trailers, and various farm and ranch duties and it never missed a lick. He later traded it in for a 09 Dodge 6.7 cummins and that truck spent many days in the Chrysler shop. After nine months of Chrysler jerking him around and never really fixing his truck it was sold. He purchased a 07 Dodge DRW 5.9 cummins that's been a pretty good truck to date.

Because of his performance of his 04 Power Stroke I purchased a 05 Power Stroke and drove that truck for 7 years ~170k miles with only a few minor issues.

We purchased a used RAM 5.9 cummins last year and it's been problematic to say the least that we'll need to decide before spring to invest more $$$ in it to get it where it needs to be for us to use as a work truck, or cut or losses and find another truck.

I bet you guys loose a bunch of money at the slot machines. After all, the guy that sat right aside of you won a $5,000 grand jackpot just a few minutes ago so yours is about ready to hit.

I have a 5.7 diesel. It has been less trouble than my LBZ Dmax. Going by you guys way of thinking it must be a better motor than my Dmax! :R

Stop with the BS and start going with overall statistics will ya. The 5.7 was a POS and so was the 6.0 statistically speaking. Even the company that put that POS in their trucks said in court and in their emails it was a POS. The 6.0 cost the company that put it in their trucks over a Billion dollars in warrantee work.

I hope you guys never play Russian roulette. After all, the gun with 1 bullet is just as likely as the one with 5 bullets to kill ya with your way of thinking. Right? Because they all can kill you. :S

Most 6.0's have 5 bullets in the chamber. Just because you pulled the trigger on the empty chamber doesn't make it a great engine; it makes you lucky; the same as I was lucky with my 5.7.

Turtle,
I agree the GM 350 diesel is a bigger POS than the Duramax. I just assisted my parents to locate a good dealer tech to fix the oil leak from the front main seal of their 05 Duramax with less than 60k miles.

Their 05 Duramax never overheated while pulling their 5ver so what's the probability of that not happening? :W

BTW... I never set foot into a casino! :W

FishOnOne wrote:

vacuumbed wrote:

gparrow wrote:
For what it's worth, and based on my own opinion of some comments on here thats probably not much.

I've owned many many HD diesel trucks over the years, everything from 6.9 Fords and 6.2 GM's to an 07 Cummins and that includes an 04 Ford 6.0. We still own the 04 6.0 and yes we put about $2,000 into it as a prevetative measure. In 8 years and 230,000 miles it's never left us stranded, never missed a beat, it starts better in the cold and pulls just as well as the Cummins which has quit on us twice. If you like the truck put the money into it and keep on truckin.

This is a real eye opener to those that suggest he trade for a Cummins or a Dmax. Nothing in life is guaranteed.

Here's another eye opener... My BIL had a 04 Ford 6.0 psd and ran the pizz out of that truck pulling fertilizer tanks, cattle trailers, and various farm and ranch duties and it never missed a lick. He later traded it in for a 09 Dodge 6.7 cummins and that truck spent many days in the Chrysler shop. After nine months of Chrysler jerking him around and never really fixing his truck it was sold. He purchased a 07 Dodge DRW 5.9 cummins that's been a pretty good truck to date.

Because of his performance of his 04 Power Stroke I purchased a 05 Power Stroke and drove that truck for 7 years ~170k miles with only a few minor issues.

We purchased a used RAM 5.9 cummins last year and it's been problematic to say the least that we'll need to decide before spring to invest more $$$ in it to get it where it needs to be for us to use as a work truck, or cut or losses and find another truck.

I bet you guys loose a bunch of money at the slot machines. After all, the guy that sat right aside of you won a $5,000 grand jackpot just a few minutes ago so yours is about ready to hit.

I have a 5.7 diesel. It has been less trouble than my LBZ Dmax. Going by you guys way of thinking it must be a better motor than my Dmax! :R

Stop with the BS and start going with overall statistics will ya. The 5.7 was a POS and so was the 6.0 statistically speaking. Even the company that put that POS in their trucks said in court and in their emails it was a POS. The 6.0 cost the company that put it in their trucks over a Billion dollars in warrantee work.

I hope you guys never play Russian roulette. After all, the gun with 1 bullet is just as likely as the one with 5 bullets to kill ya with your way of thinking. Right? Because they all can kill you. :S

Most 6.0's have 5 bullets in the chamber. Just because you pulled the trigger on the empty chamber doesn't make it a great engine; it makes you lucky; the same as I was lucky with my 5.7.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

rowekmr wrote:
Its been documented (magazines and powerstroke shops) that a 6.0L with just air intake, exhaust and tune will do 400+ rwhp on a dyno. That is with stock injectors and stock trans (good to 500hp).

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Hank85713 wrote:
for all that think the 6.0 is not a good engine, in the new diesel world there is a 700hp 6.0 featured. I think it got up to 107 in the 1/4 mile. I am sure it cost some $$ to get there, but no more than a chebby or dodge.

If the OP has no problems then he needs to really check what is going on. Get a scan gauge or something to see what your engine is doing. I spent less than $4000 for the work on mine to include studs, new BP egr, New OEM oil cooler and all the latest upgrades per the TSBs. Dont know if there are good shops where he is but find or ask if willing to travel to have truck worked on for recommendations. DON'T go to the guy in Georgia that is all over you tube. Knowledgeable folks have pointed out his many errors although he does a good sales job. The guy I use is a lead tech at a local ford dealer. Guarantees his work and is very reasonable. The 6.0 is a good engine overall, but like all there have been some problems more related to dealers and lack of knowledgeable techs to work on them. Also lazy owners seem to have caused many along with the performance guys who used and abused the engine and then went for warranty! I know dealers that installed AM performance parts and when a problem arose had to remove them for warranty repair approvals by ford, particularly if a engineer was coming to check the vehicle out!

Yes if you have $60-70k for a new truck go for it, but if willing to keep your present truck get it checked out and then make a decision based on the information presented as a result. Just remember nothing is ever certain, new trucks fail just as older ones do.

The guy probably spent a fortune to get 107 mph in the quarter mile. My son used to race his 98 Cummins 4x4 regular cab. 420 rwhp on BD's dyno. He built the trans, Industrial injection dragon flow injectors, Edge drag comp box. With that combo that cost around 5K and NO engine mods and the stock turbo he hit 103 mph and 12.78 sec in the 1/4 mile at Spokane International Raceway. So yes MUCH less to power up a Cummins.

Now back to the topic at hand.

Are you saying the stock Ford trans is good to 500 RWHP? It may make the power but for how long? My son's Ram has been abused and it just keeps going at 200K. Engine has never been touched.

There's a long time member at FTE with a 06 6.0 psd that modified his engine to make 500 rwhp at less than 25k miles. He now has over 250k miles in his 06 DRW truck that he pulls horse trailers regularly between Texas and Tennessee. His transmission is stock and he's never had an issue with it the last I heard. Aside from the modifications to make 500 rwhp, he's replaced the alternator and the FICM under warranty.

The Torque Shift 5 speed tranny is one of the best HD auto transmissions put into a truck.

Cummins12V98 wrote:

rowekmr wrote:
Its been documented (magazines and powerstroke shops) that a 6.0L with just air intake, exhaust and tune will do 400+ rwhp on a dyno. That is with stock injectors and stock trans (good to 500hp).

Cummins12V98 wrote:

Hank85713 wrote:
for all that think the 6.0 is not a good engine, in the new diesel world there is a 700hp 6.0 featured. I think it got up to 107 in the 1/4 mile. I am sure it cost some $$ to get there, but no more than a chebby or dodge.

If the OP has no problems then he needs to really check what is going on. Get a scan gauge or something to see what your engine is doing. I spent less than $4000 for the work on mine to include studs, new BP egr, New OEM oil cooler and all the latest upgrades per the TSBs. Dont know if there are good shops where he is but find or ask if willing to travel to have truck worked on for recommendations. DON'T go to the guy in Georgia that is all over you tube. Knowledgeable folks have pointed out his many errors although he does a good sales job. The guy I use is a lead tech at a local ford dealer. Guarantees his work and is very reasonable. The 6.0 is a good engine overall, but like all there have been some problems more related to dealers and lack of knowledgeable techs to work on them. Also lazy owners seem to have caused many along with the performance guys who used and abused the engine and then went for warranty! I know dealers that installed AM performance parts and when a problem arose had to remove them for warranty repair approvals by ford, particularly if a engineer was coming to check the vehicle out!

Yes if you have $60-70k for a new truck go for it, but if willing to keep your present truck get it checked out and then make a decision based on the information presented as a result. Just remember nothing is ever certain, new trucks fail just as older ones do.

The guy probably spent a fortune to get 107 mph in the quarter mile. My son used to race his 98 Cummins 4x4 regular cab. 420 rwhp on BD's dyno. He built the trans, Industrial injection dragon flow injectors, Edge drag comp box. With that combo that cost around 5K and NO engine mods and the stock turbo he hit 103 mph and 12.78 sec in the 1/4 mile at Spokane International Raceway. So yes MUCH less to power up a Cummins.

Now back to the topic at hand.

Are you saying the stock Ford trans is good to 500 RWHP? It may make the power but for how long? My son's Ram has been abused and it just keeps going at 200K. Engine has never been touched.

Another thing to consider is his truck was factory rated for? and the 6.0 was rated for ?

Someone please fill in the??????