Ford 6.0 diesel; the good, the bad, the ugly?

[timswi]

A good friend has a 3500 DRW 6.0 Ford that he "bullet proofed" at around 35k when he bought it..Has over 100K and 10 years now, no problems at all. Think he put around $3500 in it at the time. Not a Ford guy here, but it's a good truck in my opinion--I'd buy it.

 

[spitter]

geoduck both transmissions have had complete rebuilds at around 250.000 miles billet torque converter, hd input shaft, high flow pump ,shift kit way to much to list. 7.3 has been worked to- 400- 450 hp. fun to drive but it's a expensive toy . v 10 basically stock 400,000 miles and it still purrs like a kitten. Smooth as silk compared to the 7.3. v10 gets about 11 mpg and 7.3 gets 14. Both trucks have been worked hard in const. business. :drink:

 

[groundcover]

I think the best answer to the 6.4 is to yank it and drop in a Cummins!

 

[Paystar]

Well my 2 cents is the 6.0 is not very reliable from the factory but everything I have read says it can be made reliable if you willing to put at least $5k into it to bulletproof it. Of course you may be violating the new federal clean air act laws depending on how far you take the bullet proofing....and is putting $5K in that old of a truck fiscally wise? guess that depends on initial purchase price.

As for the 6.4 Ford diesel no amount of money can supposedly fix its issues so I would not even consider one of those. The 5.4 gasser from Ford sucks too. For the use you are talking about I think a Ford V10 gasser or better yet a Ford 6.2 gasser would serve you quite well if you determined to own a Ford.

Sadly there is a whole era there in Ford trucks for F150, F250, and f350 where the majority of the engines basically suck . I can only say if I ever own a Ford it will be 2011 or newer as the engines get a bit better starting then.

Well according to the internet, both my VW engines should have grenaded by now, my 5.4 with 212,000 miles should have lost the cam phazers by now, and I have friends that got rid of both GMC's and Ram's because all their new engines self destruct, LOL

I had a 6.0 Powerstroke. Yep it blew up. Right after I had it turned up to 400 h.p. and 800 ft-lb of torque. Swore I'd never buy another one. But I did. Now I have an F550 with one that is studded and has the heavy duty coolers. But I did not increase power and it still has the EGR valve intact.
Also have two friends that have 2003 6.0's (first year that is supposed to be the worst) and they drive the crap out of them and do ZERO maintenance. Don't even change oil and they are still going????
I think the key here is leave them alone and don't crank up the power.

 

[rankrank1]

Well according to the internet, both my VW engines should have grenaded by now, my 5.4 with 212,000 miles should have lost the cam phazers by now, and I have friends that got rid of both GMC's and Ram's because all their new engines self destruct, LOL

I had a 6.0 Powerstroke. Yep it blew up. Right after I had it turned up to 400 h.p. and 800 ft-lb of torque. Swore I'd never buy another one. But I did. Now I have an F550 with one that is studded and has the heavy duty coolers. But I did not increase power and it still has the EGR valve intact.
Also have two friends that have 2003 6.0's (first year that is supposed to be the worst) and they drive the crap out of them and do ZERO maintenance. Don't even change oil and they are still going????
I think the key here is leave them alone and don't crank up the power.

Glad you have had decent luck with the Ford crap engines of that era but the 6.0 is still not statisically reliable even when left factory stock. Lots of people have major issues with them even when left at factory stock. As for the 5.4 gasser? The Gen II 5.4 Triton is easily the worst mainstream engine ever put in a full size truck. The 2nd worst mainstream engine ever put in a mainstream full size truck would be the the Gen I 5.4. Such a great engine that Ford killed it after what 12 years and 2 major redesigns and both had major issues. Are their exceptions where one of these pieces of crap was reliable? Of course there are some people smoke cigarettes for 80 years and still live to 100 years old, but the odds simply are not in your favor if you do. Heck I have a little Chevy Aveo with over 350K problem free miles, but most others have not been nearly so lucky with a Chevy Aveo. I realize I have been lucky as I have not done anything special other than follow recommended maintenance intervals to the little Aveo to make it last either...I am simply one of the lucky ones with my little piece of crap.

Used market values reflect just how good these fine Ford powerplants are too of this era, Ford was the number selling truck when these were new so in theory they should also have the best used resale value but they have the worst resale value by far of this era and it is solely due to this era of crap engines.

 

[HarryVanderpool]

I think the key here is leave them alone and don't crank up the power.

BINGO!!!
'99 7.3 & '16 6.7 Turn the key, push the pedal.
Preventative maintenance and drive like you have at least half of a brain.
The main problem with most vehicles is the OWNER.

 

[Paystar]

Yep, if I lived my life wondering and worrying about if/when my motors are going to blow up, wouldn't be a very nice life. They get me where I need to go and if if/when they break, you just fix them. No big deal. And drive on.

And as far as resale value, don't care. All my dealers around here are criminals anyway, so I drive my cars and trucks until they turn into dust and leave my money in my bank account where it belongs.

 

[goeduck]

As for the 5.4 gasser? The Gen II 5.4 Triton is easily the worst mainstream engine ever put in a full size truck. The 2nd worst mainstream engine ever put in a mainstream full size truck would be the the Gen I 5.4. Such a great engine that Ford killed it after what 12 years and 2 major redesigns and both had major issues. Are their exceptions where one of these pieces of crap was reliable? .

:hypnodisk: :cuckooclock: :cuckooclock: :hypnodisk:

 

[Paystar]

Quote: "Are their exceptions where one of these pieces of crap was reliable?"


Ya, mine, LOL.

2006 F150 335,000 KM's.

Oh wait! Had to edit post. I had to change #7 coil pack last summer. So I was wrong, I guess it's not reliable.

 

[5030]

The only difference between a good truck and a bad one is a payment book. No payment book here. Haven't had one for years.