Ford 6.0 Diesel question

[Richard_999]

I recently purchased a 2003 FORD F350 Diesel with a 6.0 , thinking it to be a 7.3

It has 119,000 miles on it ... is in pristine condition, inside & out , but I am scared of it , due to it's reputation. HERE IS MY QUESTION ...

I am told that BULLET PROOFING it , with new EGR assembly , head bolts and other upgrades will LIKELY stop it from being my personal disaster ..... I would like to hear from anyone who ACTUALLY HAS owned one, and especially from those who HAVE paid the $4000 for the BULLET PROOFING process... and if it was really what it claims to be.


Thank You .... Richard

[blt2ski]

Closing, same basic question asked 3 times over the last 3 weeks, also currently one of them in the 5w area.

Marty
TV Moderator

[Hank85713]

Richard_999 , you need to educate yourself and not think all who go to the diesel sites are redneck tabaccy chewin idiots. You will find just as many here with useless info as you will on any specific brand site. You owe all a big apology for your self righteous bias.

The 6.0 is a good engine as long as you know what it requires and it is not some idiot who knows nothing cannot read the label on the engine covers and then tries to justify his own ignorance by claiming others are more so.

There was one guy who gave you some info, just dont follow all of it. Part of the problem was the use of the ford coolant. Just stick to the motorcraft filters, and use a good synthetic oil (rotella T6) and maybe some recommended additives and it should be fine. There are a lot of 6.0's out there towing and working everyday. some are abused some are treated with kid gloves, so you cannot tell what will happen. YES I have one and it is a good truck. I did spend the $4K for upgrades, but I also went with a ford tech who knows this truck and was highly recommended. I have the upgraded EGR cooler the new oil cooler, and he upgraded the truck to the latest specs. I also have coolant and oil by pass filters installed and have not found the 'sand' supposedly that is a cause. I did have the snot from the ford coolant thus I use catapiller ELC coolant. Add a scan gauge and some other gauges to monitor the engine and know what to look for. You will need to go the the ford diesel sites to 'educate' yourself as many here do not pass on the info related to these issues. So just because you are towing does not mean you do not tow. There are more towing than TT's, 5wheel. Farmers use trailers, and others use trailers, just not house trailers and they need to know what is appropriate and you are not really going to find the info here although some are knowledgeable.

Enjoy the truck or sell and get a chebby or a cummins and then you will still need to go to specific sites to get answers to which ever you have.

[shadows4]

If it ain't broke, just drive it!!! There were good ones and bad ones. While I don't own one I would not be afraid to buy one. You have spent your money, now educate yourself and be prepared.

I bought an 03' with a 7.3. It has left me stranded twice. Paid for a repair that didn't fix the problem. Went on down the road and had to pay again for the truck to be fixed right. Turned out to be what I told the original mechanic what I thought was wrong with it. This is my first diesel and I had to educate myself. And that information did not come from and RV web site.

My point is, educate yourself about the 6.0 so you will have an idea what it wrong, if something happens. They all have their little quirks.
Good luck, John

[W4RLR]

Add a coolant filter and transmission filter from DieselSite, get a ScanGauge to monitor the difference between your oil and water temperature (no more than 15 degrees) and change the oil and fuel filters with OEM religiously. The only reason I don't have my 6.0 anymore is because it was sideswiped and totaled. Had the EGR cooler replaced when it went bad, had the mechanic put ARP head studs in it while he was doing the work. That truck did well until the day it was totaled. Went out and bought a new to me 2008 F-250 with a 6.4 Powerstroke. Bone stock, but I will add the DieselSite filters by spring just for sake of general principles.

[Admin]

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[Fast_Mopar]

I have heard different stories about Ford diesels, so I don't think it is fair to make blanket statements on them. One coworker bought one of the first 6.0 diesels (2003 F250 4X4) and he drove it 120,000 miles with no troubles at all, then it got stolen. Another coworker bought a 2010 F250 4X4 6.4 diesel (3rd year of the 6.4, should have been a good one) and it was a disaster, traded off after one very frustrating year. They seem to be a mixed bag, just like nearly everything else.

[Richard_999]

I wish to thank all those who have taken the time to help me understand this engine so much better. I made a mistake buying it, without good knowledge , and I regret that, but I must chase after my bad decision with BETTER ones, and I am getting those tips here !

Thank You

[Richard_999]

majorgator ...

I am ( somewhat ) sorry that my question seems to offend you this much .
I did , in fact, search for BULLET PROOFING RESULTS before posting the question, and found ZERO comments where the person commenting actually ever had THEIRS done.

THAT .... is why I asked.
Do YOU actually have some useful info on this VERY SPECIFIC question ?

You told me, earlier, to go somewhere else for the answers I seek, but I choose NOT to ! I do not want the ramblings of the 'dirty baseball cap & chew-backy crowd' ... I want the experiences of RV owners who have put this truck / engine to the same type of test that I plan to.

I invite any USEFUL info you may have ... ON SUBJECT ... otherwise ... BYE BYE !

[Bird_Freak]

Mine runs great! If your scared of yours get rid of it.

[majorgator]

ford truck guy wrote:
Now we have thread police?? :R:R

Thread police...??? Nah, just someone who realizes that the forum in general is probably a better place to learn and gain information when the same questions aren't asked time and time and time again...with the same responses from the same people. But it appears that this thread is well on its way to pulverizing that same 'ole dead horse...so beat on.

Furthermore, if 8 pages of the back and forth nonsense (as I alluded to in my first post) did not answer the OP's original inquiry, then I doubt this thread will provide any further assistance.

[Richard_999]

Jerom0621 ... Your question is valid.
I have never owned a pickup before, and my research was done on Craigslist.
I found that the 7.3 engines included the term TURBO DIESEL and the 6.0 engines ( typically )just said " 6.0 diesel ". It was my assumption that ONLY 7.3 were TD's.

When I saw TD on the side of the truck ... and had been advised by a friend ( rather Ill-Advised ) that 2003 was the last year of the 7.3 ... I looked no deeper.

This is a mistake that I will regret for a long time ... I suspect .
I still see no BIG 6.0 plate ... I discovered it by virtue of the owners manual that said it.

Richard

[rwjejits]

OP - see my sig...

[FishOnOne]

Cummins12V98 wrote:

FishOnOne wrote:
Richard,
That truck has made it 119k miles without any problems so why would you want to tamper with it. If it was my truck, I would leave it as is and stick with only Motorcraft fuel and oil filters "only" and enjoy years of service. In addition to "only" use Motorcraft Gold coolant every 50k miles.

Onto the bullet proof topic there is no such thing as "bullet proof"! Use after market fuel filters that allow water to get to the injectors and see how long they last or use after market oil filters that falls apart in the filter canister and clogs the high pressure oil lines or to a lesser degree allow oil to bypass the filter and not filter the oil.

Since you've posted twice about the concern of your recently purchased truck, I would simply sell it and move on. It's not worth worrying about it. :W

All good advice from a die hard BlueOval guy!

Not necessarily a die hard anything... But my last 3 personal trucks have been Fords and they were really good to me. :B

[jerem0621]

Id add some auxiliary filtration and roll with it. Monitor your delta temps and fix the issues when they come up. 6.0's are on the road every single day.

Just curious....

How did you miss the giant 6.0 POWERSTROKE under the hood?

thanks!

Jeremiah