# '03 or '06 6L Opinions



## JD822 (Aug 4, 2011)

Hello gents!

Looking for opinions on what to do. I am looking at buying one of two trucks. The first one I am looking at is a '06 F350 S.C. S/B with the 6.0 that has 116,xxxk on the odo. Seems like a well maintained truck. The other one is a '03 F250 S.C. S/B with the 6.0 with 73,xxx on the odo. Also looks well maintained. I have read so much about the 6.0L's and read both positive and negative reviews about them. Also plan on having the OASIS ran while I am at the dealers. If it was YOUR $, what one would you put it on? Appreciate any help with this.


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## Mark13 (Dec 3, 2006)

If it was my $ I'd skip both or buy the 06 and do all the deletes and mods on it to make it more reliable. That is if the oasis on it comes back clear.


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## Holland (Aug 18, 2010)

I've got six vehicles with the 6.0 in it here at work. two 05's, two 08s and two 09's. We have alot of problems with the 05's. Granted they have 100k more miles on them than the 08's, but if i were you i'd stay away from the 03. Just not a good year. Supposidly they are a better engine starting in 06. Our one 05 i spent three weeks off and on trying to fix it, decided to take it to the dealer and its been there over two weeks and they cant figure it out either! And this is a good dealership, never had a problem with them helping me out. And definately do an egr delete with either one you get. Ive replaced the egr in both the 05s already. Anyway good luck with your purchase!


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## Chillerq (Feb 3, 2011)

Go with the 06 ford pickup. In the second gen 6.0 diesel they addressed some of the issue. Youll find that the head bolts are 20mm instead of 18mm. Also the turbo is different...better response. The ford engineers changed alot in 05. Go onto the powerstroke.org if you wana learn more.


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## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

Holland;1306681 said:


> I've got six vehicles with the 6.0 in it here at work. two 05's, two 08s and two 09's. We have alot of problems with the 05's. Granted they have 100k more miles on them than the 08's, but if i were you i'd stay away from the 03. Just not a good year. Supposidly they are a better engine starting in 06. Our one 05 i spent three weeks off and on trying to fix it, decided to take it to the dealer and its been there over two weeks and they cant figure it out either! And this is a good dealership, never had a problem with them helping me out. And definately do an egr delete with either one you get. Ive replaced the egr in both the 05s already. Anyway good luck with your purchase!


2003-2007- 6.0 Powerstroke
2008-2010 - 6.4 Powerstroke
2011+ - 6.7 Powerstroke built by Ford

IMO go with the 2006. With 116k miles, it was probably traded because the Factory warranty just ran up at 100k miles. But if it has a decent OASIS, I wouldn't think twice about it, they can and do run well.


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

Use antigel religiously or you'll be buying injectors for 2400


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## Dissociative (Feb 28, 2007)

Ohh, and don't buy either until you hook a 10k trailer for a ride and make sure NOOO coolant pukes out the fill cap.


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## JD822 (Aug 4, 2011)

Mark13;1306577 said:


> If it was my $ I'd skip both or buy the 06 and do all the deletes and mods on it to make it more reliable. That is if the oasis on it comes back clear.


I won't buy a Dodge due to tranny issues, and not a fan of Chevy. Hate rebuilding those front ends every season. But I do like that Allison. Thank you for your input.



Holland;1306681 said:


> I've got six vehicles with the 6.0 in it here at work. two 05's, two 08s and two 09's. We have alot of problems with the 05's. Granted they have 100k more miles on them than the 08's, but if i were you i'd stay away from the 03. Just not a good year. Supposidly they are a better engine starting in 06. Our one 05 i spent three weeks off and on trying to fix it, decided to take it to the dealer and its been there over two weeks and they cant figure it out either! And this is a good dealership, never had a problem with them helping me out. And definately do an egr delete with either one you get. Ive replaced the egr in both the 05s already. Anyway good luck with your purchase!


I have heard mixed results about that also. I have read some guys said not to do anything to them and they are fine while other guys say to do what you recommended and everything is fine. Also visited powerstrokehelp.com and Bill on there states the same as you. Since this will be the only truck I have to start with, and after a hefty investment in it and the blades, I just don't need major engine issues in the first season. Thanks for the advice and recommendations. I appreciate the help.



Chillerq;1306698 said:


> Go with the 06 ford pickup. In the second gen 6.0 diesel they addressed some of the issue. Youll find that the head bolts are 20mm instead of 18mm. Also the turbo is different...better response. The ford engineers changed alot in 05. Go onto the powerstroke.org if you wana learn more.


Yeah, I have been scanning those forums also. been at this for two months and everytime I made a decision on one it was sold. I have read about the H.P. Oil pump branch tube connectors and the Oil rail dummy plug seals going bad on these, so that makes me a bit leary. I just definitely want a diesel. Event though they have more maintenance costs, with this typ eof work the low end power is worth it. Thanks for your input.



plowguy43;1306701 said:


> 2003-2007- 6.0 Powerstroke
> 2008-2010 - 6.4 Powerstroke
> 2011+ - 6.7 Powerstroke built by Ford
> 
> IMO go with the 2006. With 116k miles, it was probably traded because the Factory warranty just ran up at 100k miles. But if it has a decent OASIS, I wouldn't think twice about it, they can and do run well.


It is definitely a nice truck. And looks well maintained, but pics online only tells you so much. I do like the fact that it is also a 350 instead of a 250 so I have no worries about weight with the blades. I am also going to see if they offer an extended warranty for it, and if they do I will be adding that to the deal to protect myself. I have read that some of the issues with the 6L is due to the low grade of diesel and not running them hard causing soot buildup in the egr system and in the turbo. Therefore I will be adding cetane boost to the tank and run synthetic oil. Just wanted to get opinions of guys who are runnning these trucks. Thank you also for your input and if I decide on this one, I will post picks. Appreciate the info from all you guys.


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## Holland (Aug 18, 2010)

plowguy43;1306701 said:


> 2003-2007- 6.0 Powerstroke
> 2008-2010 - 6.4 Powerstroke
> 2011+ - 6.7 Powerstroke built by Ford
> 
> IMO go with the 2006. With 116k miles, it was probably traded because the Factory warranty just ran up at 100k miles. But if it has a decent OASIS, I wouldn't think twice about it, they can and do run well.


Sorry forgot to mention im working with e-450 bus conversions. They are all 6.0's. Ford couldnt fit the 6.4 in the e-series. Trust me, i know the difference! I'm the mechanic! lol


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## JD822 (Aug 4, 2011)

Dissociative;1306727 said:


> Use antigel religiously or you'll be buying injectors for 2400


Planned on using anti gel with cetane boost in the winter and cetane/fuel conditioner in the summer. Thumbs Up



Dissociative;1306728 said:


> Ohh, and don't buy either until you hook a 10k trailer for a ride and make sure NOOO coolant pukes out the fill cap.


That may be a bit difficult finding. I do pull a 7800# trailer, but finding a 10k close to the truck might be a problem.



Holland;1306756 said:


> Sorry forgot to mention im working with e-450 bus conversions. They are all 6.0's. Ford couldnt fit the 6.4 in the e-series. Trust me, i know the difference! I'm the mechanic! lol


Do they have issues while idling then? I heard that if they idle for to long that causes issues due to soot buildup in the egr and turbo. I don't plan on letting it idle for long periods of time, but if it happened to be a 15-20 minute window for shoveling, is this going to cause issues? Thanks Holland.


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## Holland (Aug 18, 2010)

JD822;1306761 said:


> Do they have issues while idling then? I heard that if they idle for to long that causes issues due to soot buildup in the egr and turbo. I don't plan on letting it idle for long periods of time, but if it happened to be a 15-20 minute window for shoveling, is this going to cause issues? Thanks Holland.


Idling does cause issues, and ours idle ALOT. Just looked at one, 170K and *7300hrs*! That one just got its first egr valve a few thousand miles ago. Its was completely packed full of crap. The other 05 was under 100k when it got an egr. A shop a buddy of mine works at started to just put egr delete kits on when they need a new one. So far its working for them, but the e-series are bad enough to put just the valve in so i've just been replacing them. The f-series are easy to replace and the valves themselves arent that expensive. Up till now the only issues we had ever had with them was egr vavles and leaks in the high press oil system. We havent gotten our latest issue worked out just yet tho, i'll let you know what the issue was. Otherwise they really havent been too bad with us. Both our 05's are around that 160/ 170k mark and the highest mileage 08 is around 80k, so time will tell how the newer ones hold up for us. Come to think of it, our 08's gave us some turbo trouble over last winter. Actually had to have the one turbo rebuilt under warranty.


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## JD822 (Aug 4, 2011)

Holland;1306786 said:


> Idling does cause issues, and ours idle ALOT. Just looked at one, 170K and *7300hrs*! That one just got its first egr valve a few thousand miles ago. Its was completely packed full of crap. The other 05 was under 100k when it got an egr. A shop a buddy of mine works at started to just put egr delete kits on when they need a new one. So far its working for them, but the e-series are bad enough to put just the valve in so i've just been replacing them. The f-series are easy to replace and the valves themselves arent that expensive. Up till now the only issues we had ever had with them was egr vavles and leaks in the high press oil system. We havent gotten our latest issue worked out just yet tho, i'll let you know what the issue was. Otherwise they really havent been too bad with us. Both our 05's are around that 160/ 170k mark and the highest mileage 08 is around 80k, so time will tell how the newer ones hold up for us. Come to think of it, our 08's gave us some turbo trouble over last winter. Actually had to have the one turbo rebuilt under warranty.


7300 hours idling!  Damn that is crazy. I would definitely like to know what the latest issue is though. I went down to look at that truck and wouldn't you know it I got there and it sold about 2 hours before I arrived.  Been my luck lately. If I hadn't stopped at my normal Ford dealer and talked to my rep and had him run the oasis on it (which was real clean and had the egr replaced not to long ago) I might of caught it in time. SOOOO I am back on the hunt. I have found a few more that I was interested in but a bit more $ and a quite a bit farther to get to. But, to find the *right* truck, it is worth spending the time to find it. This one was almost perferct though. I did get to look at it before I was informed it was sold and it had towed goose necks. They removed the gooseneck from it and it had a huge hole in the middle of the bed. But I could of dealt with that since the rest of the truck was beautiful and in immaculant condition. And it isnt to hard to weld a plate in there. But alas, it is gone. I will find the one, just back on the hunt again. lol I appreciate your input on these and feel much better about making a decision on purchasing the 6L. Cheers!


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## Holland (Aug 18, 2010)

No problem! good luck with your hunt!


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## dfd9 (Aug 18, 2010)

JD822;1306735 said:


> I won't buy a Dodge due to tranny issues, and not a fan of Chevy. *Hate rebuilding those front ends every season.* But I do like that Allison. Thank you for your input.
> 
> Uhhh, ummm, hate to tell you, but Fords are not exactly known for reliability of ball joints.
> 
> ...


Sorry to hear that it's gone, I would have said the '06 as well. But still, the Cummins is far better than a 6.0. And the trannies are easy and cheap to fix compared to a 6.0.


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## plowguy43 (Jan 2, 2008)

Thats actually a pretty good point. The 04.5-06 (early 07) CTD's came with the 48RE that in stock form is very reliable. When built (Good build is probably around $3000) its nearly bulletproof. Not even spending that much money and just upgrading the Torque Converter and Valve body makes it much more reliable.

This in comparison to some repairs to the 6.0 it kinda is less.

Regardless, I dont think the 6.0 is as bad as the forums make them out to be.


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## dfd9 (Aug 18, 2010)

plowguy43;1308083 said:


> Regardless, I dont think the 6.0 is as bad as the forums make them out to be.


I have 3, I tend to disagree with your beliefs.


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## JD822 (Aug 4, 2011)

I know they all have suspension issues, but doing a few ball joints every 75k would still be better then rebuilding the entire front end of a chevy every season! Been through that mess for to many years. 

Maybe the newer Chevies are better. 

I have been looking at so many trucks as of late that I am going crazy! I was at the dealer yesterday where my mother bought her last few cars and they are going to give me the "deal, deal, DEAL of the century" on a '08 Ram 2500 with the 5.7 and their 4 y/o Western MVP. :laughing: I guess we shall see. It is a nice truck with only 45k on the odo.Going to go in tomorrow and find out this awesome deal and take it for a spin. If the deal is good and they do a warranty on it then I might bite. 

Will know later today what the deal is and if I do it, I will post some pics. Definitely appreciate all the info you guys have given either way. Things have changed allot since I have been in the loop!


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## smoore45 (Oct 27, 2007)

Good luck to you! Thats about all you can do when shopping for a used truck. Find something that looks like, feels like and sounds like it has been taken care of and is going for a reasonable price. Thats the best truck you can find. All this Ford vs Chevy vs Dodge stuff is BS and doesn't mean anything, so don't let it get into your head.


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## mustangman02232 (Mar 21, 2011)

buy a scanguage 2 from autozone, get the codes for Engine oil temp, and water temp, make sure they are within 15* going down the highway cruise set at 65-70, that sets off a lot of the problems with these, get rid of the ford gold coolant and put in some CAT EC1 rated with a coolant filter, allways use a fuel additive, syn oil, and ONLY ford filters. keep the batteries and alternator in spec so you dont loose the FICM, and if you idle you can install a basic switch for $3 to bump the idle from 750 rpms to 1200 rpms to help keep the EGR clean. 03-04s actually had the better EGR cooler (mines deleted though) but both 03-04 and 05-07 had small things.

my 6.0 is running 13s in the quarter, gets 18-21 mpg, plows and hauls, im on stock gaskets. there not a 7.3, you do have to do more maintence to them. love people thnking they are junk though, because you can buy a low milage newer 6.0, sink ~$1200 for an oil cooler/EGR delete, and a tune for allmost the same price as a 200k mile rode hard and put away wet 7.3.


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## ultimate plow (Jul 2, 2002)

People hear things so they say things. Everything starts with maintenance. Beyond that its a luck of the draw with ANY diesel engine wether the durmax powerstroke or cummins. They ALL have their fair share of problems. I just prefer the ford for a primary work truck (no pun intended) I was in your shoes when I was truck shopping 4 years ago. Iv done my homework on the whole 6.0 wrath. First things first, You will want to bring some kind of scan tool to hook up to the obd II port. You'll want to make sure coolant and oil temps are within range of reccomended delta temps from ford. No more than 15 degrees apart they should be so romp on it a lil bit when warmed up, to observe. There are things you can do prevent future problems once you find a good truck


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## maxslights (Sep 20, 2011)

I have a first gen 6.0L engine in my 2004 f250 and its been a good engine. Its got all the power I need. From what I've found out throughforums and friends that have had 6.0L, its all about maintenance. I have taken apart the turbo, EGR, and intakes and cleaned everything. When I got my truck from its second owner and pulled the EGR valve, it had about 1/8th inch of soot on it. I clleaned it with some carb and shoke cleaner, let it dry and reinstalled it, and could feel the difference in boost and power instantly when I restarted and drove the truck. The turbo also requires some TLC. I am personally going to clean my turbo here in the next month. If you don't use your truck often, you will have veins in your turbo stick and not have correct boost. There's a good cleaning method on a site that I will post on my homepage. Im a junior with deisels, but its all about maintenance. If you treat it good, it'll last just about forever. This is just my two cents.


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## JD822 (Aug 4, 2011)

Well, an update. The "deal of the century" wasn't such a deal. He thought he was doing me a solid by selling me a '08 Ram owned by a contractor ( quite rough for the year with a 3" hole drilled through the floor board behind the front seat, holes in the headliner, and a huge hole in the dash, and that is just the interior!) and a 4 y/o western mvp+ (used by the dealership for their lot) for $29,500 otd. Sorry, not turning on the sucker sign this time!! :laughing:

So I decided I am back to looking for my 250. I will just check it out thouroughly, and have my dealer do the same. I still have a bit of time so the right truck will show up. definitely appreciate all the input on the matter though. Now if I can just get my head to stop spinning from all the input from all the forums i might be alright. Thumbs Up

Cheers!


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## mustangman02232 (Mar 21, 2011)

get VIN number and run oasis and car fax

go to autozone or amazon.com and buy a scanguage 2 to monitor EOT and ECT on test drive (can also program FICM volts, tranny temp, volts etc), make sure they are within 15 degrees of each other on the highway at around 70

if they are not you have room to barter, new oil cooler and preasure check EGR or get the delete and an SCT to turn off the idiot light, before taking it in, flush the system with cummins restore and restore plus (or MC VC9) install a filter, and use a CAT EC1 coolant,

allways run syn oil (i use rotella) and motorcraft/RACOR filters and a fuel additive.

If oil temp is in spec, just keep draining and filling the radiator with distilled water till its clear, and on the final flush add about 3.5- 4 gal of the CAT coolant and a filter, (dont do the chemical flush, might knock more stuff loose) the silicates in the coolant is what starts the chain reaction of the plugged oil cooler/EGR/headgaskets


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