6.0 ford diesel

buying a truck in a few weeks, wanting a 1997-2003 7.3 diesel but they are hard to find so that leaves the 6.0, which i seen are not very good cause of head bolts etc..but if i found one is there a way to tell if the work has already been done on it

Get me the VIN and I can run the OASIS on it.

The 6.0 is a risky move , but on the plus side it aint a 6.4

richter69 wrote:Get me the VIN and I can run the OASIS on it.

The 6.0 is a risky move , but on the plus side it aint a 6.4

i will be looking , so i cant really say hey check this out, do they do it at a certain mileage or it is hit miss , say if i find one that has 150,000k on it would it be safe to say that the problem has already occurred and its been fixed..thanks..hope i can just find a 7.3

If you can get your hands on an 06 or 07, they are rumored to have less head gasket problems. Seems the robots weren't torquing the bolts properly the first few years. Best thing to do is beg, borrow, or steal a scan guage or eqivalent to check the engine oil temp vs engine coolant temps to see if the oil cooler is plugged or plugging, which takes out the egr cooler and then hydrolocks the motor, lifting the heads and blowing head gaskets. These electronic guages just plug in since the truck already reads most of the values. Should be about 5-7 degrees difference in temps with a max of 15 degrees. These are good engines when all of the weak spots are addressed, but require strict maintainence. Batteries must be kept up to prevent burning out the ficm, fuel pressure needs to be 45 psi min (install the blue fuel press spring and change filters regularly) use good oil and change it on time, use only Ford or Racor filters, do a proper cooling system flush and install a filter and flush it regularly and use the right coolant, upgrade the STC fitting on the high pressure oil pump, and if you want to run tunes, stud the heads. The turbos like to stick the vanes, so you need to work the truck, don't idle it around town. The latest Ford flash "sweeps" the turbo vanes to keep them from sticking. Finally, use a good fuel additive with a cetane booster to help prevent turbo sticking and egr gumming. These motors aren't for guys that just jump in and drive, they require more than normal maintence, but they generally sell for less than other trucks because of their bad reputation, you can save thousands buying one. Lots of great info at ford-trucks.com too.

I have done head gaskets on all years....the 03 seems to have less issues with this, the 03 also has hardly any egr cooler failures.....all years can pop an oil cooler and fill the cooling system with oil. 03 also has no stc fitting to fail, but the alum high press pumps take a crap.

FICM failures across the board as well as turbo sticking problems.........the program that sweeps the vanes has little effect as they will still rust up............the redesigned CHRA will address the issue for good.

Injectors will fail or develop cold start issues after time even with frequent oil changes and fuel filter replacements.

Bed plates will leak, STC and rail plug failures, EGR valve will stick, intake will coke,.................I can go on and on but I type too slow,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

Bottom line is all years have their share of issues, one is not really better than the other, it will break sooner or later with a good percentage of the failures leaving you stuck and your callin a tow truck.

One can buy a truck at a decent price, pop the cab and address all the issues.........it would be a good rig but you start getting a bunch of mines even on the redo's its not sure bet it still wont break down. An egr delete is a good idea, and my opinion on the head studs is save your money.............I've put a few sets in and they feel like shit when you torque them down............have done hundreds of sets of gaskets with stock bolts done right and never a repeat repair...even on a hot truck

Fact is Ford just spent a ton of money as the 6.0 had its problems and the 6.4 was the straw that broke the camels back, if you can afford one (which I cant see how anyone can ) get a 6.7...............we dont work on um.

Sorry to hi-jack, but thanks for the insight. I don't really check around on many other forums, and it's good to hear some valid and real-world experience on these last two international deals. Bummer for sure, thought. These generation trucks look wicked I think. Maybe have to look at some of the Dodge deals (If I can ever afford those either).

J.Toney wrote:Sorry to hi-jack, but thanks for the insight. I don't really check around on many other forums, and it's good to hear some valid and real-world experience on these last two international deals. Bummer for sure, thought. These generation trucks look wicked I think. Maybe have to look at some of the Dodge deals (If I can ever afford those either).

the 6.7 cummins "bluetech" aint problem free either.

2 $2500 bills, off warranty.

if i can not find the ford diesel i want i may look in to the chevy durmax diesel