problem areas to look for on the 05-06 6.0

[JLimb]

I am new to the forum and figured I should come to the source for information. I am looking at a few 05 and 06 6.0's. Did Ford work out the kinks that they had with the early 6 liter engines ? Any problem areas I should look for? Thanks.

[00Javelin]

I just went from an 03 6.0 to an 05 6.0. I'm not as expert as most of the people on here, but the 05 seems to have a lot of kinks worked out. I have not experienced the injector stiction on my 05 that I had problems with in the 03. The truck I traded and the one I bought have nearly the same amount of miles on them, also. My 05 runs like a Raped Ape

[wbones9]

I'm also interested to hear what changed in the 04, 05 and 06 motors... Is there a general build date where major things changed?

[Gramps10]

Not many major changes, but go over here Diesel Technician Society download & read the articles. Very informative.

[JLimb]

Thanks for the information all. Everyone I had talked with warned me to stay away from the early 6.0, but said from 05 on they were much better. This is my first foray into the diesel world. I want to be able to tow my boat south during the winter and my current truck isn't up to the task.

[Jayson41]

The biggest problem with my truck is the loose nut behind the wheel!

[Canadian6.0]

03 and early 04 have the round EGR cooler. Much better design than 05-07. 03 and 04 have a different hpop, that does not have the stc fitting as do 05 - 07 motors, and different hpop rails. Different turbo on the 03. Cylinder head dowel pins were increased from 18mm to 20mm on 05 or 06 motors I believe. Buy an Edge Insight or similar to monitor Engine oil temp and engine coolant temp. Upgrade the stc fitting if not done so already. Add a coolant filter, switch to and ELC Coolant and flush motor with vc9 and restore. Run motorcraft, fram, or racor filters, and service religiously. If you treat the truck good, It'll do the same to you.

[obsidian]

Canadian6.0 pretty much hit the nail on the head.

I firmly believe that the 03-early 04 engines are superior to the newer ones. The best thing about the newer ones is the better dowels in the cylinder head and the fuel line "trap" to keep the fuel in the secondary filter housing.

But all of these engines love maintenance. Use the proper filters and do not cheap out. Use a good oil, I've found these engines love thinner oil like 10w-30 or 5w-40. Use a cetane booster in every tank of fuel and keep the fuel filters changed every 15k or so. Also a coolant filter.

And above all else, the coolant MUST BE FLUSHED and filled with a diesel coolant. That stock ford stuff will LITERALLY kill your engine. I just bought 5 gallons of Cat ELC for my truck. Out the door price of $58. That's some cheap piece of mind right there.

[JLimb]

The coolant flush would have never crossed my mind. Thanks for that one. I saw in your post that you had an 03. Did you do the EGR delete and studding ? I see a lot of 03 and 04's out there that have gone over 100,000 miles for sale, but am worried by all the bad press on them. What do you think having owned one.

[wbones9]

What is considered high mileage? I am looking at an 05 with about 180K miles on it and a stack of reciepts that I haven't completely goen through yet. Oassis is clean as far as engine, onlt went in for PCM reflash. Would the amount of miles concern you, or anything I should specifically look for?

I generally like higher milegage trucks that are only 3-5 years old. Usually it means easier highway miles (no gooseneck or 5th wheel hitch in it) and a serious reduction in asking price.