Subaru Enthusiasts Car Club of the Sierras - View Single Post - Cory, and the rest of you guys, talk to me about the 6.0L Ford SuperDuty

sperry · 2012-12-21, 10:41 AM

Since we had the baby, my wife and I have been tossing around the idea of selling her Outback sedan and picking up a crossover with a little more space... like a CX-5 or something. However, my wife just suggested that she keep her car and replace our truck instead.

First off, I love my truck... it's a 2001 F-250 diesel extended-cab long-bed. It's basically ideal for what we use it for: picking up crap at Lowes, helping people move, and towing the car to/from the track. It's not fancy or anything, but it's plenty comfy for how infrequently it's used. Also, it's been super reliable, it's got super low mileage, and it's paid off. The one single thing that sucks about it: we can't put a baby seat in it because the jump-seats in the back are too small. So if we ever need to go somewhere together with the truck... we have to take two cars.

So, the suggestion from my wife is that I look into trading the truck in for a newer F250/F350 with a crew-cab. Now, I could try to find another of the same generation with the 7.3L diesel, but the chances that there are any in the same great shape as my truck, or with the same low mileage is pretty low. The obvious choice is to grab a 2008 or newer with the sweet 6.4L motor, but those are all in the $30k-$40k range. So, I'm thinking about picking up a 2006+/- 6.0L F250, even though those 6.0L motors are absolutely notorious for failing.

My question is whether or not any of you guys have 1st hand experience with the 6.0L, what to look for when shopping, what it takes to make these things reliable, etc. I know that the big killer of these things is heat. Apparently the oil cooler is built into the block and is cooled by the engine coolant. But that cooler tends to clog up and eventually the motor goes blammo. The other big issue is the EGR cooler, which also uses engine coolant to cool the exhaust, and tends to corrode and fail. Finally, the FICM power supply takes a dump on a regular basis, and apparently there's some reason to swap the head studs out for ARPs. There are companies that make upgrades to address all these issues, but it's like $5000 in parts to fully bulletproof the motor, not including the labor to install it all. Cory, have you ever done that work? Any idea how hard it is to do without pulling the cab?

Now, if I could find a 6.0L truck that's in good shape for under $20k, and then throw $5k at it to fix it up, I could justify going with that generation truck. I'm just not sure how to know I'm buying a truck that's in good shape, or how hard/expensive the upgrades really are to make it reliable. And if I need to spend more than $25k on a 6.0L, it seems like I should just suck it up and spend $30k for a 2008, since in addition to getting a much more reliable motor, the rest of the truck is much nicer as well.

Any advice? Also, anyone looking for a nice no-frills diesel pickup?

2012-12-21, 10:41 AM	#1
sperry The Doink Real Name: Scott Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 20,335 Car: '09 OBXT, '02 WRX, '96 Miata Class: PDX/TT-6 The way out is through	Cory, and the rest of you guys, talk to me about the 6.0L Ford SuperDuty Since we had the baby, my wife and I have been tossing around the idea of selling her Outback sedan and picking up a crossover with a little more space... like a CX-5 or something. However, my wife just suggested that she keep her car and replace our truck instead. First off, I love my truck... it's a 2001 F-250 diesel extended-cab long-bed. It's basically ideal for what we use it for: picking up crap at Lowes, helping people move, and towing the car to/from the track. It's not fancy or anything, but it's plenty comfy for how infrequently it's used. Also, it's been super reliable, it's got super low mileage, and it's paid off. The one single thing that sucks about it: we can't put a baby seat in it because the jump-seats in the back are too small. So if we ever need to go somewhere together with the truck... we have to take two cars. So, the suggestion from my wife is that I look into trading the truck in for a newer F250/F350 with a crew-cab. Now, I could try to find another of the same generation with the 7.3L diesel, but the chances that there are any in the same great shape as my truck, or with the same low mileage is pretty low. The obvious choice is to grab a 2008 or newer with the sweet 6.4L motor, but those are all in the $30k-$40k range. So, I'm thinking about picking up a 2006+/- 6.0L F250, even though those 6.0L motors are absolutely notorious for failing. My question is whether or not any of you guys have 1st hand experience with the 6.0L, what to look for when shopping, what it takes to make these things reliable, etc. I know that the big killer of these things is heat. Apparently the oil cooler is built into the block and is cooled by the engine coolant. But that cooler tends to clog up and eventually the motor goes blammo. The other big issue is the EGR cooler, which also uses engine coolant to cool the exhaust, and tends to corrode and fail. Finally, the FICM power supply takes a dump on a regular basis, and apparently there's some reason to swap the head studs out for ARPs. There are companies that make upgrades to address all these issues, but it's like $5000 in parts to fully bulletproof the motor, not including the labor to install it all. Cory, have you ever done that work? Any idea how hard it is to do without pulling the cab? Now, if I could find a 6.0L truck that's in good shape for under $20k, and then throw $5k at it to fix it up, I could justify going with that generation truck. I'm just not sure how to know I'm buying a truck that's in good shape, or how hard/expensive the upgrades really are to make it reliable. And if I need to spend more than $25k on a 6.0L, it seems like I should just suck it up and spend $30k for a 2008, since in addition to getting a much more reliable motor, the rest of the truck is much nicer as well. Any advice? Also, anyone looking for a nice no-frills diesel pickup? __________________ Is you is, or is you ain't, my con-stit-u-ints?