z13976

I'm looking into purchasing a new truck soon. I've always wanted a diesel and the 6.0 powerstrokes seem to be a good deal. However, it seems they are plagued with problems. Some say they are doomed from the beginning, some say they have never had problems, some say they have problems but are worth fixing. I need someone who has experienced owning one of these trucks to enlighten me, and hopefully convince me that they are alright. Thanks in advance for any help.

Koots

I've heard lots of horror stories, but I'm sure good headgaskets, headstuds, a better turbo and good tuning would make for a great reliable engine.

I've never owned one, but I know a few people who do and some who run them hard everyday and they are still bone stock. I still see a bunch around town in great shape, I don't see them as much as the older 7.3's SD's I still see around but I see more 6.0L versions than the newer 6.7's.

1FastBrick

iTrader: (17)

The Stock head gaskets are ok, the biggest problem is the head bolts need to be replaced with head studs. But to do that, you need full access to the motor since it sit's partially under the firewall. The easiest way to do that is to pull the cab with front clip off.

When they blow a head gasket it's usually about 4k to repair on one of those since it's so labor intensive to pull the heads.

If you don't push them hard and you do all the normal regular maintenance there not that bad. If you want to lift them with over sized tires and put a #5 haul *** Black smoke tune on them, then be prepared to pay the price for the repairs.

Lowexpo

The EGR cooler that runs over the turbo causes a lot of problems. It cracks and you lose coolant which gets head gaskets too. Sinister diesel and Strictly diesel among others offer kits to relocate or delete EGR.

Koots

Unless you live in a **** state where they think EGR's and diesels actually do something (California), I would get rid of EGR on any diesel.

The problem with EGR and diesels...just think about how sooty the exhaust of a diesel can get, now imagine that exhaust being recirculated back into the intake, to further dilute the air/diesel mixture and make it even sootier.

This makes for a very dirty diesel engine. I'm sure I scraped a 1/4" thick layer off of the intake and heads of my ol' 6.2L diesel w/california emissions.

Lowexpo

^^^What he said. Our driver at work has an '08 Cummins. We did the EGR delete on it and with 100k he's already replaced the turbo. Laymans terms raw sooty exhaust directly back into turbo

greasemykey

iTrader: (5)

buy yourself a 7.3L truck. a little less power but you will have an engine you can weld the hood closed on and not worry about. my buddy has one in a 99 f350 and rolled a mil on the original engine. its only needed 2 sets of injectors and a few clutches. and he pulls a car hauler with it all over the country.

z13976

Thanks for all the input, I guess im gonna stray away from the 6.0s after all. Ive been looking at a lot of 7.3s. Hard to find one without a ton of miles. I usually do my searching on autotrader, does anyone else know of any good sites to look for used trucks?

greasemykey

iTrader: (5)

i found mine on craigslist. what to you is alot of miles. i have 200k on my 7.3L and to be honest that is not alot of miles for these engines.

mwalls54

I have owned 2 2006 6.0s and still have one. The first one I ran the crap out of it towing 10-12k trailers all over the country on a 120hp tune. At 98k I had the head gaskets, egr, oil cooler and turbo rebuilt under warranty(knew the service manager) and at 125k the tq converter and tranny decided it had enough and started slipping. It never left me stranded but I sold it and bought the truck I have now. Now that my new one is out of warranty I am going to put egr delete, and head studs on it and call it good. With the 2005-2007 you dont have to pull the cab to pull the heads.
7.3s were great motors but the newest one is 11 years old and 250k miles is getting close to the end of its life and the truck is probably worn out.