6.0 Trustworthyness

[Sock Puppet]

If you aren't extremely familiar with the 6.0, have it inspected by a knowledgeable/experienced shop prior to purchase. Not just a diesel shop but one familiar with the 6.0. It can be a great engine or an expensive one and usually that can be somewhat identified prior to purchase. A good shop will know all of the things to look for and can save you a ton of cash.

 

[RunninCold]

I bought my 2004 6.0 Excursion 5 years ago. I knew what I was getting into. I did my research and searched for the right one. It took me a year to find my 1 owner, with records 6.0 Excursion. I love it. It is the perfect vehicle for my family of 6. It tows well and runs perfect. It is still stock too!

When I first bought it I was worried it was going to self destruct just sitting in the driveway. I took it to a local independent powerstroke mechanic to get it “bulletproofed”. He said to save my money and wait until we have to do it. He said I had a while before I would need any major maintenance, that was at 96,000 miles and I am now at 176,000 on stock head bolts and Ford Gold coolant. My delta between ECT and EOT was 7 when I bought it. As of this afternoon it is at 9. I do all the maintenance on it, except injectors. I had two injectors go out at 147,000 miles because the original fuel pump shelled out. I also replaced the engine harness ($450) due to chafing, which was common in 2004. That is the only engine maintenance I have had to do in the 5 years I have owned it. The previous owner had it serviced regularly at our local Ford dealer. I would not hesitate to fill the tank and drive it on a long road trip. I live in interior Alaska and daily drive my Excursion through harsher weather than most on this forum will ever see and it always gets me and my family home safe.

PM me if you have any 6.0 questions.


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[jeep-N-montero]

I have an option to purchase myself a 2005 Ford Excursion for what I feel is a pretty fair price but I'm after some real world advice from folks that use their vehicles like I hope to. I have my wife and 5 daughters and a dog to haul around. I used to own a 2006 Durango but as you can imagine, there was room for us but nothing else. I've been reading up and going back and forth for almost 2 years about 7.3 or 6.0. This one has 208k miles and is bone stock, as in no egr,oil cooler or head bolt updates what so ever. Its exceptionally clean and is a 1 owner vehicle. I've heard there were some from 05 and newer that had much fewer/no problems than the earlier 03 and 04 model years. I also read that those items should still be upgraded for longevity and reliability but my biggest question is do you guys think it could be a trustworthy vehicle as is for a year or two so I could concentrate on other improvements(such as small lift and tires) or is it a ticking time bomb that you always hear on the other forums. I see it as it's already gone 208k with no known issues but I also fear I might be pushing my luck. I think deep down it comes down to my wife would never let me give it down if I talked her into letting me buy this only for it to fail me miserably haha. I'm really excited to get into another 4x4 and have missed the freedom that it gave us a few years ago but this next purchase for us will be my main ride for many many years(my youngest is 2 and oldest is 10 so I'm talking 15-20 years if not more hopefully) so I'm more or less trying to decide if this thing will be worth the risk. I really have no problem with spending money on it( remember the long term thing) but I just won't have a whole awful lot to throw at it initially. Any input is very much appreciated. An Excursion is 1st on my list with a 2003 or newer Suburban 2nd.

We replaced our diesel with a 2003 Yukon 2500 with the 6.0 LS motor almost 2 years ago and have zero regrets. Do I sometimes miss the power when towing our boat up the passes, a little, but I do not miss the headaches of owning a diesel. Go with the Sururban or Yukon and add a programmer, on rare occasion you can find one with the 8.1 under the hood but might be overkill for your needs. All I have done to ours is add a larger transmission cooler and upgraded the intake, eventually want to swap in 4.10 gears but get by with the 3.73's for now.

 

[Schitzangiggles]

I've had both a 2004 6.0 and still have our 2006 F-250 crew cab lariat with the 6.0. l put a programmer on both and basically did the egr delete, mpg tune and a mild tow tune (to control the tranny shift points, engine brake etc), air bags, and 265/70r19.5 to handle ithe increase in GVRW. Both were/are reliable as long as you keep up on the maintenance. We sold our excursion because we needed more towing capacity, as I was hot shotting vehicles and was running a 53' triple axle 4 car wedge gooseneck with 40,000# plates

The biggest pain and money drain is all of the needless emissions crap Ford had to put on the 6.0. the Navistar VT365 is a 500k- million miles motor in school buses, tow trucks, vocational trucks and ambulances. International didn't put the FICM on the valve cover and because of the size of the engine bay in the medium duty trucks is much larger, they were able to space out components that don't like heat and vibration from places that cause heat and vibration.
The FICM has no lead solder which makes for a brittle joint and the location on top of the valve cover makes it "failure prone". So get an upgraded/reman that uses the better or correct solder and also upgrades the output voltage from 45-48v up to 52-58volts.

The stupid torque to yield bolts vs the ARP head studs are another area that can cause issues. The EGR cooler can flash heat the coolant causing a steam pocket that is capable of lifting the heads off of the block because the steam bubble generates more force than the bolts which have been torqued to their yield limit can handle. So it blows your head gasket. The TTY bolts are faster and cheaper to install when they were building the engines, Navistar fought with Ford to try and use head studs.

The EGR delete solves that possible failure point.
The stock variable vane turbo is capable of making more boost than the engine will handle with the TTY head bolts as well, so people who buy a tuner and slap in a 100+HP tune are setting themselves up for expensive repairs.

If you leave them alone tuner wise and do your maintenance religiously, the are dependable engines. But if you want to nearly double your mpg, your going to need to delete the .gov "good idea fairy" (evil cousin to the tooth fairy) garbage to get a better performing and longer lasting engine.

The tranny is probably one of the best transmissions for the years it was made. Make sure when the fluids are changed, the proper ones go back in.

I run shell T6 Rotella full synthetic in a 5w30 weight and ONLY USE MOTORCRAFT filters. They are the ONLY ONES that are made to the proper spec. Guys that try and toss in a wix, carquest, Mann or whatever are going to have issues.

I have a coolant filter plumbed in and change the coolant every 2 years with the Peak Final charge (pink caterpillar spec juice) and the oil gets changed ever 15k and I've never had issue with my oil/coolant cooler or associated systems.

You can upgrade the ridiculously low 90amp alternator to a 140amp for about $175

We love our truck/excursion. They are probably one of the best bang for the buck trucks out there but you need to understand there's a lot of people who are pushing incorrect/bad info because they heard if from someone who"knows". My wife's F-250 is pushing 200,000 miles and running strong. Ahed rather keep her '06 than get a newer vehicle because her truck has been so reliable.
Much more reliable than my '01 Montero LTD...

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[Schitzangiggles]

Oh and we're averaging about 22-24mpg hwy and 17 city

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[Buliwyf]

Peak Final charge sucks. It eats seals and gaskets, then leaks. I've also seen perfectly good seals leak that stuff. It makes a rock hard permanent stain on the engine. Most notably the compound coolant rails on v16 Mitsubishi's and MTU's. Constant warranty complaints about leaks with that stuff. Maybe it's real thin, or maybe it shrinks orings. Don't know, don't care.

We switched back to plain old green premix for everything. Even CAT doesn't use the CAT branded coolant. Lolz.

 

[Schitzangiggles]

The shops I go to have commented that mine a a dozen other FORD trucks with the 6.0 Powerstroke that use it are the only ones with out cooling system issues. I ran it in all of my class 8 trucks and have also over a couple of million miles of real world use, different drivers, trucks and climates, never had issue with it. The green stuff didn't seem to be able to keep the temps as stable or last as long.

I've run it in my Jeep Wrangler and my '01 Montero for several years with zero issues.

Probably like people who complained about how synthetic oil ate seals and caused leaks.
It cleaned gummed/varnished seals that had already failed and that is why they leak. It wasn't the oil that was the issue, it simply exposed an already failed part.

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[Buliwyf]

This is in brand new engines. Pretty sure it was bulk Peak Global or Final Charge red pink. Stuff was leaky.

 

[Schitzangiggles]

Mine was out of the black one gallon jugs as it was cheaper than the bulk pricing.

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