Question About Ford 6.0 Diesel

[Richard_999]

I just bought a 2003 ford F350 6.0 Turbo Diesel with 119,000 miles.

It is pristine, but now I read that they are absolute junk, and I am uncertain if I should keep it, and try to use it as a tow vehicle for my 34' Challenger Fifth Wheel.

I would appreciate any input from those who have owned one...

Thank...
Richard

[ksss]

Aka the breeze wrote:

ksss wrote:

Richard_999 wrote:
Someone asked , a few posts back ..
" whatever happened to the OP..?

Well .. that is ME ...and I am still here, reading every single comment and learning with each one.

It is quite hard to form a SOLID conclusion to my original question, with so much (sometimes) conflicting info ... but , so far , my conclusion seems to be that the 6.0 "CAN" be OK , but the odds are against it !

I have put mine up for sale, and expect to suffer a loss from the experience. I took it on a 250 mile trip a few days ago , one way , and will go back, in two days.

It has performed very well , so far , but it seems that using it as a tow vehicle for a 14,000 lb FW , is RISKY .. at best.

If I was driving it around town, I feel I would keep it, but that is not why I bought it.

I really do thank all of you that have put such useful info here, and I certainly feel I have received an education from it.

Thanks To All .... Richard

That is the safest decision, even if it costs you some money right now. It is better than paying to fix or bulletproof the 6.0, which is money that will never come back to you. Dump it and move on, there are plenty of much better options without near the drama that the 6.0 brings.

The evil that plagues the 6.0 is not only attributed to tuners, and not using Motorcraft oil filters, it is primarily from ****ty engineering, plain and simple. IH and Ford would not have spent as much money as they did on warranty work and lawyers if it was as simple as that. Anyone that doubts that needs to read the court documents, it is all there, and after reading it and you still defend and want to own a 6.0, you deserve what you get.

Safest decision ??? REALLY ??? There are tens of thousands 6.0's on the road with no issues... IF maintained properly AND NOT CHIPPED , they are a decent motor.. IF I were to believe everything I read here , I would give up towing and live in a plastic bubble.. Because everything will blow up...crash.. or fall apart rolling down the road... To the OP... ONLY you can figure if the truck has been maintained... do some digging.. I would do that before loosing a bundle.. Good Luck

That motor is a POS. You don't spent a Billion dollars on warranty work on a decent motor design. If you think the 6.0 issues are due to being chipped your delusional. READ THE COURT DOCUMENTS! The 6.0 horror story did not start on this forum. It started in 03 when the 6.0 was put on the road.

[Richard_999]

Well ... I solved my problem .... I sold my '03 F350 6.0 .... and bought a 1996 F350 with a 7.3 with 214,000 miles. Nice truck .. older, but that's what it took to get one with lower mileage .. and it's in very good shape.

I was ready to spend $4k on Monday to get it Bullet Proofed , but really felt uncertain that the problems would stop there.

I ended up with an $8500 savings on the deal, and I will be happy to upgrade ANY problem I may have with this one.

AGAIN ... Thank you to all who took the time to contribute to my education, and needs.... Richard

[Bedlam]

No, the Ford ratings didn't make a jump until 2005. This is when the underpinnings went through rework bumping up GCWR 23K lbs or better. It was a big reason I bought a 2005 instead of the the 2004 left overs. Here is an easier link to follow to check out tow rating of different model year Fords:

http://www.fleet.ford.com/towing-guides/

[PA12DRVR]

2004 F350 DRW with Tow Boss 16k FW rating (IIRC) 13kGVWR (IIRC) and 26k GCVWR (IIRC)

[Bedlam]

In 2005, the Ford F250 and SRW F350 with the 6.0 PSD went up to 15K lbs FW towing. The two previous years, it was closer to 13K lbs FW towing.

https://www.fleet.ford.com/TRUCKBBAS/non-html/2003/vs_pdf/camper_03abb.pdf

[PA12DRVR]

I guess I'll have one last comment....should the 6.0 be used for towing a 14,000# 5th wheel?

Well, the circa 100,000 miles that I put on two 6.0's was probably 75% towing a 16,000# 5th wheel most of that in Texas or points east, but about 20k miles out west. The only problem came when it was NOT towing (between Edisto and Charleston) when that seal blew out....on day 6'ish of a 14'ish day non-towing spell.

I think the bad 6.0's get all the press; If I was still RV'ng, I'd be happy to use a 6.0...but there's no point in driving a rig that YOU are uncomfortable with.

[dodge_guy]

A bulletproofed 6.0 can be just as good as a 7.3L! it`s been proven time and again. and when the time comes to sell it, it will sell faster and easier than a stock 6.0. I wouldn`t give up on it. bulletproof it and live on. you will enjoy it in the long run!

[Aka_the_breeze]

ksss wrote:

Richard_999 wrote:
Someone asked , a few posts back ..
" whatever happened to the OP..?

Well .. that is ME ...and I am still here, reading every single comment and learning with each one.

It is quite hard to form a SOLID conclusion to my original question, with so much (sometimes) conflicting info ... but , so far , my conclusion seems to be that the 6.0 "CAN" be OK , but the odds are against it !

I have put mine up for sale, and expect to suffer a loss from the experience. I took it on a 250 mile trip a few days ago , one way , and will go back, in two days.

It has performed very well , so far , but it seems that using it as a tow vehicle for a 14,000 lb FW , is RISKY .. at best.

If I was driving it around town, I feel I would keep it, but that is not why I bought it.

I really do thank all of you that have put such useful info here, and I certainly feel I have received an education from it.

Thanks To All .... Richard

That is the safest decision, even if it costs you some money right now. It is better than paying to fix or bulletproof the 6.0, which is money that will never come back to you. Dump it and move on, there are plenty of much better options without near the drama that the 6.0 brings.

The evil that plagues the 6.0 is not only attributed to tuners, and not using Motorcraft oil filters, it is primarily from ****ty engineering, plain and simple. IH and Ford would not have spent as much money as they did on warranty work and lawyers if it was as simple as that. Anyone that doubts that needs to read the court documents, it is all there, and after reading it and you still defend and want to own a 6.0, you deserve what you get.

Safest decision ??? REALLY ??? There are tens of thousands 6.0's on the road with no issues... IF maintained properly AND NOT CHIPPED , they are a decent motor.. IF I were to believe everything I read here , I would give up towing and live in a plastic bubble.. Because everything will blow up...crash.. or fall apart rolling down the road... To the OP... ONLY you can figure if the truck has been maintained... do some digging.. I would do that before loosing a bundle.. Good Luck

[FishOnOne]

Bedlam wrote:
Yes, he did run a tuner according to this post:

https://www.rv.net/forum/index.cfm/fuseaction/thread/tid/28067988/gotomsg/28068011.cfm#28068011

:B

[ksss]

Richard_999 wrote:
Someone asked , a few posts back ..
" whatever happened to the OP..?

Well .. that is ME ...and I am still here, reading every single comment and learning with each one.

It is quite hard to form a SOLID conclusion to my original question, with so much (sometimes) conflicting info ... but , so far , my conclusion seems to be that the 6.0 "CAN" be OK , but the odds are against it !

I have put mine up for sale, and expect to suffer a loss from the experience. I took it on a 250 mile trip a few days ago , one way , and will go back, in two days.

It has performed very well , so far , but it seems that using it as a tow vehicle for a 14,000 lb FW , is RISKY .. at best.

If I was driving it around town, I feel I would keep it, but that is not why I bought it.

I really do thank all of you that have put such useful info here, and I certainly feel I have received an education from it.

Thanks To All .... Richard

That is the safest decision, even if it costs you some money right now. It is better than paying to fix or bulletproof the 6.0, which is money that will never come back to you. Dump it and move on, there are plenty of much better options without near the drama that the 6.0 brings.

The evil that plagues the 6.0 is not only attributed to tuners, and not using Motorcraft oil filters, it is primarily from ****ty engineering, plain and simple. IH and Ford would not have spent as much money as they did on warranty work and lawyers if it was as simple as that. Anyone that doubts that needs to read the court documents, it is all there, and after reading it and you still defend and want to own a 6.0, you deserve what you get.

[hawkeye-08]

To the OP, if you like the truck, you can do some things to minimize your risk. You can keep up on the maintenance and monitor temps, which will help know when things are starting to change, or you can go all in and do all the known updates. This is not about other trucks or whether you will or won't have problems, but really boils down to how much risk you personally want to take. Don't let folks blow it out of proportion, but know that the PSD 6.0 has more than normal share of problems (which based on percentages is still not that bad)... If you travel highways and can tolerate some downtime and expense, might not bother you much.

Let me share an example that may help. Back in 1996, we bought a 1992 Suburban with 110k miles. Checked it all over and had the master cylinder replaced to fix soft brakes. We did regular maintenance on it but never needed to do anything to the engine/trans/rear end. Brakes, water pump, suspension, alternator, etc were replaced as needed, it never failed us and all maintenance was done before a break down. When it had 285k miles, our daughter needed to drive from coast to coast several times per year for several years and wanted to drive "her" suburban (she had claimed it when she started driving). I choose not to take a risk that something would need maintenance along the way and got her a pickup with only 117k miles to reduce my risk of her breaking down somewhere. It does not mean that she did not have issues, it just reduced the risk somewhat of something major going wrong.

It seems the 6.0 has some weak areas that can be addressed before failures occur but normal problems are still going to come up, just like other engines.

[Richard_999]

Someone asked , a few posts back ..
" whatever happened to the OP..?

Well .. that is ME ...and I am still here, reading every single comment and learning with each one.

It is quite hard to form a SOLID conclusion to my original question, with so much (sometimes) conflicting info ... but , so far , my conclusion seems to be that the 6.0 "CAN" be OK , but the odds are against it !

I have put mine up for sale, and expect to suffer a loss from the experience. I took it on a 250 mile trip a few days ago , one way , and will go back, in two days.

It has performed very well , so far , but it seems that using it as a tow vehicle for a 14,000 lb FW , is RISKY .. at best.

If I was driving it around town, I feel I would keep it, but that is not why I bought it.

I really do thank all of you that have put such useful info here, and I certainly feel I have received an education from it.

Thanks To All .... Richard

[W4RLR]

TriumphGuym you are right on the money. These trucks, whether they be from Ford, GM, or Ram, require maintenance that many owners do not give them. Experience has taught that no matter what the brand, there is something that needs to be improved or modified on any diesel pickup to make them more reliable. Keep up with that maintenance and make the required modifications and you'll have a truck that will last for thousands of miles. Neglect the maintenance and eventually you will have a costly repair..

[TriumphGuy]

Wow this thread has turned into some fun.

The OP is probably long gone, but I'm surprised that no one has mentioned using a Scan Gauge 2 to monitor the ECT / EOT delta. My understanding is keeping track of these two temps (Engine Coolant Temp / Engine Oil Temp) is an indicator of the EGR cooler health.

Not the only problem (head bolts are another) but there are ways to stay ahead of some issues. I would think periodic UOA (used oil analysis) could give you a picture of the head gasket health, but that's just a guess.