Reliable or not? 2005 F350 6.0 Turbo diesel......

[dad911]

.......with auto-trans, but almost 200k miles.

Reliable for a track tow vehicle? Will only put a few thou a year more miles on it.

[porsche4life]

I would go for a 5.9 Cummins in a dodge. But I am biased.

[Joeaksa]

The 6.0 Power stroke is not their best engine, the old 7.3 was far better.

Also would much rather have a manual gearbox for a tow vehicle. Auto boxes get hot during towing, especially if its in the mountains.

200k miles is getting up there for a PS and unless the price is very good would look elsewhere. Or buy it and put a 5.9 Cummins in it when the PS expires.

[kaisen]

Well, I have a 2007 Powerstroke and I'm about to turn 110K miles. Zero issues. ZERO. It hasn't leaked, burped, hiccuped, or stumbled.

I tow with the truck. That's its only job. Up to 20K pounds, but usually about 5000 pounds.
The advice about manual transmissions is bunk, except for Dodge - then you'd better get the 6 speed or plan on rebuilding every 50K or paying for stronger parts. The Torqueshift 5 speed in that 2005 Ford is just fine. The Allison 5 or 6 speed in GMs is even better.

2005 represented MANY changes in the Ford Super Duty, and refinements for the 6.0 PSD. The 2003's had teething problems, and 2004 was better. 2005-2007 was the best.

The 7.3 was not far better, and it made considerably less power with more noise (kinda like a Cummins).

Ask Denis (speeder) as he's had both.

I've owned all three. Feel free to ask anything specific. But my advice is to give it a good PPI and if everything checks out and it is priced to reflect the miles, don't be scared of it - buy it.

[chapo]

Have owned a 7.3 non turbo, a powerstroke 7.3, and a 6.0 . The 6 liter is by far the smoothest and most powerful, and the auto trans kicks butt. 60k on a 2006 with no problems. if it made it to 200k it will probably last forever. tow my 24 ft enclosed at 75 mph easily. hills no problem.

[slow&rusty]

Originally Posted by Joeaksa

The 6.0 Power stroke is not their best engine, the old 7.3 was far better.

Also would much rather have a manual gearbox for a tow vehicle. Auto boxes get hot during towing, especially if its in the mountains.

200k miles is getting up there for a PS and unless the price is very good would look elsewhere. Or buy it and put a 5.9 Cummins in it when the PS expires.

+1...funny enough this came up at Dinner last night. We all agreed that the older 7.3 was a far more superior engine, although it lacked the power of the newer 6.0. The 6.0 has been plagued with lots of expensive problems.
Yasin

[whiskyb]

Currentlyhave a 2001 with the 7.3psd Over 250K and still pulling my 30' 5er no problem. The 6.0 is a hit and miss with the newer ones being very good. As much as I like my old 01 if I had the money it would be a new F450 4X4 dually

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by slow&rusty

+1...funny enough this came up at Dinner last night. We all agreed that the older 7.3 was a far more superior engine, although it lacked the power of the newer 6.0. The 6.0 has been plagued with lots of expensive problems.
Yasin

Assume that everyone knows why this is?

Ford got hit with a massive fine from the EPA because of "testing irregularities" in the early 2000 time frame. To put it frankly, Ford got caught cheating on some things and was given the option of putting the new engine in service NOW or later with fines. They chose to do it right away and did not have time to do much prelim work on the new version of the PS engine. The early version of the 6.0 engine cost Ford a lot of warranty work and has a bad reputation.

Good friend of mine lives these engines and knows the whole story. He is a dyed in the wool PS guy and grumbled a lot when I bought my Cummins. Loaned it to him for a few days to drive and now its worse. We do not even talk about fuel mileage (I get 27 on the highway, he gets 20 at best) and like Kaisen he gives me schnit about its being noisy. I could care less as once you are rolling you cannot hear a thing.

Caught him the other day looking on the internet at Cummins conversions into the Ford F-250 chassis. Guess the 27 mpg and 500,000 miles between overhaul got the best of him! You guys enjoy your 6.0 engine ya hear!

[911boost]

My 04 Excursion has the 6.0 PS in it. While I only have 52,XXX miles on it, it has been perfect the short time I have owned it.

Bill

[speeder]

There is no absolute, yes/no answer when it comes to whether to buy a 6.0, IMO. It depends on several factors. It came in the nicest PU trucks they ever made, (I like them better than the new ones), and they are awesome engine/trans combos if left stock and maintained by the book. It's important to mention that scheduled maintenance on modern diesels is crucial. They are not as forgiving as gas engines when an owner skips oil or filter changes. (Air/fuel/oil). I bought my 7.3 w/ a blown engine @ 157k miles because someone never changed the oil and a piston-squirter got clogged, frying a piston and breaking rings. It was not the engine's fault, that thing would have gone 300k easy w/ proper service.

The 6.0 is unique among modern TDIs in that it really doesn't do well with chips/tuners, at least not w/ stock head bolts. One reason is that it's a very high specific-output engine in stock form, my '05 makes 570 lbs. of torque from 6 liters. It doesn't take Stephen Hawking to explain the physics of that. It also has 4 valves/cylinder and fewer head bolts than a 7.3. The 7.3 PSD can easily handle another 100 hp tuner if other intelligent mods are made, such as exhaust and gauges. (To monitor EGTs while towing, for instance).

Since I bought my 6.0, I've been obsessively reading and posting on this diesel BBS: http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f23/ It's sort of like the Pelican 911 tech board with lots of pro diesel techs and lots of road mile experience on it. There is a definite pattern to the posts in that a large number of problems involve modded trucks or used trucks w/ unknown service histories. There are others than claim real lemon stories but w/o knowing all factors, it's hard to get the full story. BTW, lemon stories are present on all truck boards. (Ford/GM/Dodge).

My truck is bone stock and still under factory engine warranty, which is 5 yr./100k for all manufacturers for diesel PUs. I did not get records w/ it but all signs point to a reasonably well-maintained truck. When I got it, the CEL light was on but I did not care because of warranty. It turned out to be an EGR fault+turbo code, they replaced EGR and cleaned carbon from turbo free of charge. (6.0s have a variable vane turbo which can get coked-up making vanes stick). Both of these procedures would have been DIY possible for the mechanically inclined if out of warranty. This improved power and mileage. 2 weeks later, CEL was back on w/o any real driving or running symptoms. I brought it back to dealer, turned out to be a fuel injection control module putting out low voltage. Replaced under warranty, truck now runs like silk and fast as hell.

Before you scream, "what a POS!", I should mention that modules and sensors go out on 7.3s as well. Visit the 7.3 board at that site if you don't believe me. Neither of the services that I needed would have left me on the side of the road, just made the truck run less than 100%.

I absolutely love my truck now that it's sorted-out. I have all new factory filters and fluids in it and add a good lubricity additive to every tank which really makes it quiet and saves the injectors. (A good idea on any diesel that is not the very latest edition running ULSD). The new diesel fuel has terrible lubricity. If you can get even 5% bio-diesel in your area, that is the best lubricity additive out there. There is an excellent scientific study on this here:

http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/f23/fuel-addative-lubricity-study-231198/

That all said, I'm a lot more comfortable w/ this engine if it's under Ford warranty and if I keep the truck I will probably extend it. Ford offers an additional 2 yrs./100k miles for about $2k. Even w/o a warranty, it would probably be fine if I maintain it religiously and keep it stock. It's a really nice truck, just amazingly smooth/quiet power. It just whistles down the road like a quiet jet engine. Can't wait for my road trip this week.

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by speeder

.......Can't wait for my road trip this week.

You heading my way Denis?

[speeder]

You betcha.

[Joeaksa]

Denis,

I use two cycle motor oil with every fill-up on the truck. Really helps things and engine is just a bit quieter with it. Not doing it for the noise but helps with the injection pump and other things.

If you get near Phoenix let me know.

Joe A

[speeder]

I use TC-W3 2-stroke oil in fuel as well. Did you read that thread I linked re: lubricity? I am "Minnesota" on that board. It's an excellent additive @ 1 oz./1 gallon.

[aigel]

The 6.0 diesel made the F250 the least reliable truck in its class when it first came out. This was in consumer reports. FWIW ...

George

[porsche4life]

See to me it says something that most PS owners are fanatics about the warranty and ditch them shortly after. I have honestly never seen one if dads friends that is a PS freak keep one past 100k. The dodge guys say it's broke in at 200k and good till at least 300k....






Just don't get the new 6.7. That particulate filter makes it suck

[kaisen]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

The dodge guys say it's broke in at 200k and good till at least 300k....

No the CUMMINS guys say the ENGINE is broke in at 200K.
The DODGE guys say the truck is junk at 100K

You will find very few people who disagree that the 5.9L Cummins is a bulletproof motor. In stock form it will easily outlast the Dodge it came in.


I kept my '95 Dodge 2500 Cummins until 4 years ago when the truck had 215K miles (IIRC) at which point it had gone through two auto transmissions, one rear end, two front suspension rebuilds (and needed another), one injection pump, paint peeled off most surfaces, rust along doors and bed, and seat was broken absolutely gone. But the longblock was 'just broke in'.

If a bulletproof longblock is the only attribute you seek in your next truck purchase, by all means buy a Dodge Cummins. If you want refinement, quietness, elastic powerband, a good transmission, or a worthwhile chassis.....seek elsewhere.

The great part is that you get to pay significantly more for the Dodge Cummins than a Ford PS with similar age, miles, options, and condition. So if/when you do have to pay for anything wrong with a Powerstroke, you saved the money up-front.

Denis paid, what, $15K for his 05 XLT 4x4 w/50K mi? Good luck touching a similar Cummins for under $20K. The $5K he saved would easily pay for a new 6.0 longblock IF (and that's a big IF) Denis ever had that major failure everyone fears.

Sometimes the market is irrational. And guys like _____ keep feeding that delusion.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

See to me it says something that most PS owners are fanatics about the warranty and ditch them shortly after. I have honestly never seen one if dads friends that is a PS freak keep one past 100k. The dodge guys say it's broke in at 200k and good till at least 300k....

I have 110k on my Cummins and its just starting to loosen up a bit. Mileage on the highway is 27 and starting to increase a bit. Am hoping for 29 in the end. If it makes 300k might just be the last truck I ever buy.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by kaisen

No the CUMMINS guys say the ENGINE is broke in at 200K.
The DODGE guys say the truck is junk at 100K

You will find very few people who disagree that the 5.9L Cummins is a bulletproof motor. In stock form it will easily outlast the Dodge it came in.

Nice to find people who are not biased.

My 2002 is like new, inside and out. Front suspension has been overhauled right at 100k. Manual 6 speed gearbox is original and works fine.

Sorry you got what you feel is a lemon but please do not paint every other Dodge Cummins with the same brush because they are not all alike yours.

If you like Ford PS trucks then say so but cutting down another brand just to make yours look better is not needed.

[HardDrive]

My dad has the 6.0. Zero issues with the engine at 90k. He did a transmission rebuilt at about 80k, but I'm not convinced it was needed. He had a solenoid go out in the trans, and I think the shop sweet talked him into an unneeded rebuild.