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ford 6.0 powerstrokes....need opinions please!!

S

Sparktrician

Member
Ok, the wife and I are thinking of getting a ford excursion. The newer ones (03 - 05) have the 6.0 powerstroke. Our inlaws have a 2000 with the 7.3. It has been a very good truck with about 200K to date on it with no major issues. I would like to find one in the 100k mile range, but that seems to be getting up to a 04 or 05. I want to know how the newer 6.0 are? I know they had issues at first, but the later ones? how is their longevity? All opinions welcome!
 
I think you will find the later ones will have a better rep. Being that it is in an excursion I would assume no real heavy towing. If you can try to get the opportunity to cold start it. Less than 30 degrees. If it pops right off and runs good than your alright. If it cranks and starts hard and pops and farts until warm chances are the injectors are bad. $3000+ to replace them. That is the only issue I have had with my 05 with 130000 miles. It does not do heavy towing though.
 
I want it to pull our camper with....that is about all the pulling it will see. Should be well overkill for that task.....which is what I like.....lots of power to spare!
 
Head gaskets and Egr valves are the weak points of the motor. People who tow with them seem to have the most problems. My advice would be find a 7.3 even if it has more miles. You won"t regret it.
 
I have an 'o6 F250 with the 6.0 and it has been relativily trouble free. Had more trouble with the back brake calipers and electronic googaws than the motor. I always change oil at 5,000 miles and fuel filters twice a year. Be sure to drain the water separation module when the light comes on, I run Powerservice additive yearround. I also put the Magnaflow 6 inch exhaust on it, takes alot of the heat load off the motor Truck regulary tows 25ft. gooseneck with hay or 2 pulling tractors and a 3 horse gooseneck.
 
Why anyone would even consider buying something with such an iffy history as the 6.0 diesel is beyond me ? They sure seem to ask top dollar for them. I guess people have alot better luck then me or like working on them or visiting the dealer all the time.
 
(quoted from post at 07:20:06 12/20/11) Ok, the wife and I are thinking of getting a ford excursion. The newer ones (03 - 05) have the 6.0 powerstroke. Our inlaws have a 2000 with the 7.3. It has been a very good truck with about 200K to date on it with no major issues. I would like to find one in the 100k mile range, but that seems to be getting up to a 04 or 05. I want to know how the newer 6.0 are? I know they had issues at first, but the later ones? how is their longevity? All opinions welcome!
Click to expand...

I would not take the 6.0 for love nor money. The 7.3 very good but nearly all have high mileage now a days. 6.4 is better than the 6.0. The newest (6.7) is supposed to be very good but for the price it should be outstanding.
 
My advice from experience...run don't walk away from that motor!! We have an '05 van with one and it has been one problem after another all related to the egr system. The last trip to the shop for a leaking egr cooler and plugged oil cooler cost just under $3k. It only has 65k miles on it but because it is 6 month beyond 5 years Ford washed their hands of it (and we buy fleets of vehicles)!
 

i agree with mike stay away from the 6.0 they also have alot of injector problems very poor diesel engine .
 
I would not even think about the early 6.0 diesels. You can Google and find thousands of horror stories about them. I posted on here about a implement dealer that had five new Ford 6.0 service trucks. They could not keep any of them running the first harvest season. He had to rent pickups to use. Traded them all in on Dodge Diesels.

Ford dumped big money trying to fix these engine but they are now out of warranty by age. You can easily have several thousand dollars repair bills on them. A set of injectors can be $3000 up. Egr valves and oil coolers too. This engine is just poorly designed and has too many head aches for me to own one.
 
Ive been a ford diesel guy for12 years. My last Ford was a 04 with 6.0. I now currently drive a cummins. Stay away from a 6.0. Even guys who dont pull with them still have troubles. It is true you can fix all the issues these motors have but by the time you do your gonna have well over what a brand new motor costs. They are notorius for once they get around 80-100,000 for EGR cooler goin out, head gaskets goin and in some cases when the first set goes even with it fixed rite it still blows them. They like turbos too. The fuel injectors and the computer that controls your fuel system. You can fix all the issues these motors have and there fine from what im told but by the time you fix these problems youll have more than the truck is worth or be in it for more than a new motor costs. I drove mine easy and no programmer or hot rod parts in it and used it at the farm to haul my tool boxes and fuel tank fof fillin up tractors and pulled combine heads in the fall. I replaced 2 turbos and an egr valve by the time it hit 85000 and when I got rid of it I had replaced all the injectors at 700bucks a piece. So for a long time I thought I mite have one of the good ones until I hit 80000 and all my troubles started. I think anyone who says they never ahd troubles are the lucky ones or on borrowed time. There alot more expensive to maintain and fix. I would take a 7.3 with 200000 on it before I bought a 6.0. Do as you like but Id stay away from anything with a 6.0. There is more bad than good talked about them and alot of dealers wont even trade for them. Just look and see I bet youll find more 6.0s for sale than 7.3s. 7.3 outstanding motor. 6.0 not so much. Im still a big ford guy but my diesel pickups will be cummins till I feel Ford diesels are worth owning again
 
Buddies 6.0 came home tooo many time on a flat bed truck. He switched to gas and never looked with cost of diesel.
 
The 03 and 04 6.0 engines are a problem waiting to happen. They were not much good when new and I doubt putting a 100K on them makes them any better. I'd look at V10 first. The gas Triton engines were very good for longevity and fair on fuel mileage. The 05 and newer 6.0s are OK, but unless you are planing on towing more than 40% of the time you are probably still money ahead with a V10.

The older 7.3s are very good engines but I wouldn't want to bother with one in an Excursion - even small problems in the desiel engines turn into very expensive repairs. If I were buying a tow vehicle I would be much more interested. The V10s in those years are good for 300K without to much trouble unless you abuse them and have no trouble with power. Fuel mileage is comparable and gas is going to be cheaper than desiel for some time to come.
 
I would steer away from an 03 6.0psd. anything 04 or later should be ok.

at work we have a fleet of 04 6.0 psd's with no issues.

I personally have 2 7.3 psds from 99.. a f350 and f450.

I love those engines.
 
I didnt know the excursions had a V10 option. I thought it was only diesel or the 5.4 which the 5.4 is really underpowerd for doinin anything more than drivin around town getin groceries in my opinion.
 
Brother works for a coffee plant they had 20+ Ford Econoline service trucks, due to Ford's outstanding engineering service and warranty policies (including the 6.0 Diesel and Explorer rear ends in CEO's company truck) they now have all Chevys and GMCs, including their medium duty route trucks and the semi tractor. Company I worked for used Chevys for their pick-ups and medium duties, had for 20+ years, bought some of those 6.5 turbo diesels, all their new pickups are Dodges with the Cummins. Now we need someone to complain about Dodges, the new Fiat van they are coming out with shows promise!!!!!
 
(quoted from post at 09:56:13 12/20/11) I didnt know the excursions had a V10 option. I thought it was only diesel or the 5.4 which the 5.4 is really underpowerd for doinin anything more than drivin around town getin groceries in my opinion.
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I have an 06 F250 w/5.4 V8 and I certainly don't find it "underpowered". Pulls a 5000 lb. trailer at interstate highway speeds without a problem. If you think it's weak what would you think of driving small dump trucks in the late '40's early '50's powered with 100 horse flatheads.Those things were all over the place in hilly northern N.Y. where I live. They did well and made the operaters money.
 
The 5.4 was under powered especially in 1999 and 2000 (only 190hp or so) bumped up some in 2001 and then it became "impressive" with the 3V heads in 2004.

The 5.4 V8 was the base engine and the V10 and V8 diesels were options in the 6 years of production.

The V10 had the most hp until the 6.0 V8 diesel became an option.
 
Your 2006 model has the 3V heads. It has about 300 hp. In the 1999 and 2000 Super Duties the 5.4 only had about 190HP - less power than the 5.4 in the F150 and the "light duty" F250.

My brother had a 99 F250 in 4WD and extended cab - driving it was like driving a 4 cylinder Ranger. It couldn't even maintain 65 MPH on the hills in NE Kansas - towing was joke. After two years of cussing it he traded it for a 2002 with a 7.3.
 
Thanks for the knowledge. Ive only had one gasser ford and that was a 97 350 with a 460. Guy I farm with has a 250 with the triton and It is miserable to pull anything over the weight of a car trailer.
 
Nope. The v8's and V10 spit spark plugs out if they aren't properly tightened to about 06. Now they twist off in the head if you don't use an impact to remove them.
 
6.0's make me alot of money at the Ford dealer I work for. If you have had a 7.3 in the past, you will not be happy with a 6.0. If you can find a 7.3 powered truck that isn't thrashed, 1. It's not going to be cheap. 2. If it's nice, it will sell fast.
If you're bound and determined to own a 6.0 truck, always have at least $3K available at all times to fix it. Immediately THOROUGHLY flush the cooling system and change the fuel filters. Reliable 6.0's are like UFO's. You seldom ever see one, and when you do, nobody believes you.
 
The 6.0 in ford products have issues and are very expensive to repair. One thing that can help is to only use Ford filters. I have had them towed in with aftermarket filters. Change the filters and good to go. That said, my shop works on a fleet of 6.0 engines in 66 passenger school buses. The engine has been trouble free. I have wondered if some of the issues are related to Ford control modules and software issues. Good luck.
 
i have a 03 6.0 that I've put over $10,000 in repairs in the last year and a half. its just one thing after other. JUNK.JUNK . would anyone like to buy it.
 
We bought an '04 with the 6.0L with 190000km (118000mi). After injector and EGR delete, it ran well for 2 years and 70000km. We used both fuel and oil filter straight from International, and because we towed almost constantly with it we changed oil before it was due.
Then it died and wouldn't start no matter what I did. Ford scanned it: blow-by on #6 cylinder, 2 injectors not responding on other side, needed some module replaced just to start and scan it.
There was no warning, there were no signs. The guy that bought it knew the risks, and also knew friends in a engine shop. He was going to rebuild. I wish him luck.
We weren't idling it much, working it hard, doing everything right, and it still died on us.
I would suggest you avoid 6.0L, either the newer or the older. Just not worth the risk. It changed from a $14k truck to a $5k truck overnight for us.
 
Unless you have DEEP pockets for major motor repairs, do NOT buy a Ford 6.0 diesel! Did that twice but bought one extended warantee. One cost me $1950, but Ford put about $9000 in that motor. I got rid of the second before it ran out of the original warantee. Those motors run well when they're on, but cost megabucks to fix when they frequently go bad.
 
Here at the dealership the owner is a Ford pickup man. He will not buy them or take them in on trade. DO NOT BUY IT, DO NOT EVEN GO LOOK AT IT.
 
(quoted from post at 10:25:18 12/20/11) The 5.4 was under powered especially in 1999 and 2000 (only 190hp or so) bumped up some in 2001 and then it became "impressive" with the 3V heads in 2004.

The 5.4 V8 was the base engine and the V10 and V8 diesels were options in the 6 years of production.

The V10 had the most hp until the 6.0 V8 diesel became an option.
Click to expand...

Far as I know the first 5.4 installed in F250/350 were rated at 230HP and upped to 260HP one or two yrs. later. Then to 300 HP. Friend of mine has an early one. Hauls heavy,plows snow -no problems. If 300 horse and 360 lb. ft. of torque don't do it for someone at a rated load find something else to do.
 
well just as well add my .02, I talked with a ford upper management fellow at the farm show a few years back and he said that the company had spent more money on warranty work for the 6.0 than it did for the previous 20 years on diesel engines. Take it for what it cost you.
 
Hahahahahaha! That is so funny, I'm glade I have a 2000 F250 w/7.3 176000 pulls trailer 5 days a week and I live on top of a mountain. Only replaced alternator, on that engine. Beside regular oil and filters. Prolly a close best truck I have ever bought, tied with my 89 chevy 3500 4wd rack truck! Lol
 
I just bought an '02 7.3 Limited for my son. We wanted a 7.3, but would have taken a low mile '05 if we could have found the right deal. As it worked out, we found this '02 with 64,000 miles, and drove 8 hours to get it. They're out there, if you have the time to look, and will travel for the right one. We didn't steal it, but with those miles, I was willing to pay a premium. Dealer was asking $21k, traded in an '01 F250 4x4 7.3 XLT with 145,000 miles, paid $9,500 difference. His F250 needed a few things, so I was satisfied.
 
I have a 1999 navigator with the 5.4 engine. It's 265 hp. My friend had the same 5'4 in his Expedition and also owned a 5.4 with the 3 valve cylinder heads in a F-150 and the 5.4 two valve in the Expedition was far stronger than the 3 valve F-150. My navigator runs very strong. Pulls a large V nose snowmobile trailer very well. Have also hauled car hauler with race car and tractor on it very well. So I really don't buy your information here because I have the vehicle in the driveway.
 
The 5.4 engine in the 1999-2000 Super Duty was detuned to less HP (actually 220 hp - 190 hp was another engine) than the same engine used in other vehicles and Ford still had huge problems with blown head gaskets. Your 1999 Navigator has either the 260 HP 5.4 2V or the 300 HP 4V engine.

The 1999-2004 5.4 engine rated at 260 hp 350 lb ft F series - nonsuperduty

The 2004–2009 3-valve SOHC, 300 hp and 365 lb·ft


Seems strange Ford would invest in the 3V head if the 2V head actually had more power as you claim.
 
(quoted from post at 09:46:34 12/21/11) The 5.4 engine in the 1999-2000 Super Duty was detuned to less HP (actually 220 hp - 190 hp was another engine) than the same engine used in other vehicles and Ford still had huge problems with blown head gaskets. Your 1999 Navigator has either the 260 HP 5.4 2V or the 300 HP 4V engine.

The 1999-2004 5.4 engine rated at 260 hp 350 lb ft F series - nonsuperduty

The 2004–2009 3-valve SOHC, 300 hp and 365 lb·ft


Seems strange Ford would invest in the 3V head if the 2V head actually had more power as you claim.
Click to expand...
Back to the 6.0.........did you know that it was the reason that Ford had a falling out with International after all those years of togetherness? Current Ford diesels are FORD, no longer International. Totally clean sheet of paper design. Designed & built by Ford........probably in Mexico though. America doesn't manufacturer anymore!
 
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