Buying first used Diesel - What year - what to look for

[nickrevo]

I need some help, I am buying my first diesel truck and I need to know what year and what to look for on a used 6.0. I am looking at 04-06 F250 4X4 Crew cabs. I will be putting a 2800lb camper on it and towing a 4500lb boat. Any advice would be apreciated.

[wildfingas]

You can get an oasis report from one of the members on this site. Abrannan19 is who got mine for me. He is a good egg and will most likely help you out once you find a truck you are interested in. This will tell you a complete warranty repair history on the truck.

Really you can get any year 6.0. They all had there quirks. They all had EGR cooler issues, Oil cooler issues, ICP issues and on the 05 and newer 6.0 they were prone to high pressure oil leaks at the STC fitting on the back of the HPOP. but there are a few things to look for in that respect.

The 03's had less problems with the EGR cooler failing and they weren't as prone to high pressure oil leaks.

There are updated parts for the STC fittings on the newer trucks and the EGR cooler can be deleted. on any model year 6.0.

If I were to be buying a 6.0 again I would take said interested truck to a shop that has and IDS and have it looked over real well for any signs of anything failing or on its way out because a lot of these thing can sneak up on you and not really show any noticeable signs.

The biggest thing that I would check for is if EGR cooler is leaking and oil cooler for proper EOT (engine oil temp) to ECT (engine coolant temps). They should be within 10*. And have the truck checked for head gaskets.

Not to scare you at all just giving you an idea of what to look for so your not surprised once you hook a load to it. They are all great trucks. Most prople who hate on them got lemons or ask to much of them when they are towing or just beat the snot out of them so they have problem after problem.

It is very simple to make a 6.0 super reliable with an EGR delete and very religious maintenance.

[nickrevo]

Thanks for the advice. I just drove an 04 with 39600 miles. The trucks looks and sounds good. We are negotiating the price. They are sending me an Oasis report. I noticed that the 04 did not have a boost gauge like the 05 I drove before. Is the 04 better for the issues listed above that the 05 and 06 suffer from? It looks like it has larger exaust. How will I know if it has been chipped modified? Does it matter?

[wildfingas]

Originally Posted by nickrevo

Thanks for the advice. I just drove an 04 with 39600 miles. The trucks looks and sounds good. We are negotiating the price. They are sending me an Oasis report. I noticed that the 04 did not have a boost gauge like the 05 I drove before. Is the 04 better for the issues listed above that the 05 and 06 suffer from? It looks like it has larger exaust. How will I know if it has been chipped modified? Does it matter?

That is pretty low mileage for the truck for sure. What are they asking for the truck?

The factory boost gauge was in the 05 and newer truck and you might as well throw it in the trash. I personally do not know but usually the factory gauges are inaccurate and the boost gauge is no exception. There are many who will second that. Your better off putting in a set of gauges on the pillar or a digital gauge monitor.

The 03 and 04 trucks were better for the egr cooler design, less failures, the 05 to 07 were the high pressure oil leaks and based on techs in my area the 05 and up also seemed to have more egr cooler issues.

They all from 03 up can have oil cooler block up and all years should have the cooler deleted when the time comes. I dont see this one having any issues that will show up with that low of mileage especially if the updates and maintenance was done religiously.

As far as knowing if it was chipped there is no real way of knowing. If it was a plug and play style like an Edge is it wont leave a foot print. A flash device will just show that the PCM was flashed recently. I would not worry too much if it had a tuner on it or not just make sure you have it checked my another dealership or someone adequate enough with the proper scan tool and knowledge of what to look for on the 6.0L.

On that particular truck with that low of mileage I would not worry too much about it but still have it checked real well. I bought mine with 50k on it in Nov. of 09 and the only problem I have had was injectors, completely my fault, and the oil cooler was clogged so it was rebuilt and the EGR was deleted. I have 108k on it now and still runs strong. The key is maintenance. I learned quickly, but luckily it was under warranty still when I learned the importance of it.