Looking at an 03 6.0

[Josh99]

has 222k on it. The transmission has been "repacked?" the motor has a new egr cooler and oil cooler. banks exhaust and bully dog tuner. has a new set of injectors (OEM) and a new steering box. the guy told me the 03s and early 04s were the only 6.0s that didnt have head stud problems, can anyone verify this? its apparently a no expense spared truck, and it looks like it is, the guy has a mechanic that works for the business he owns that keeps up with diff fluid, trans, and all that good stuff. anything else I can look for?

[doubledrop]

the early (round) EGR coolers were better than the later (square) ones and thus werent as likely to fail, but that doesn't mean they didn't. But if they replaced them both there were apparently issues encountered. the real issue is the oil cooler fails from getting clogged thus not allowing enough coolant into the EGR cooler. The 03-04 motor doesnt have 'better' head bolts it was just the cooler were able to hold up better. At least this is what I make of it at this point. There were and are definitely 03-04 trucks that blow head gaskets and it would still be recommended to stud any 6.0 and get rid of the EGR cooler or at least get an aftermarket (BulletProof) cooler when possible.

[Komatsu3816]

I agree with double, if it hasnt been deleted or studded it will fail. I was one of those who was thinking like you. When i bought my truck it was mint and owned by a service tech at Ford who just had an EGR replaced. I was thinking i would be good to go for several years.........nope. A couple weeks later started puking coolant, waited until a week ago to take it in and sure enough at 89000 it has blown headgaskets. Oh and 03 trucks have bad egr coolers as well. I remember myy best friend bought a new f350 dual wheel 6speed and would white smoke like crazy with no more than a few thousand miles, funny part is back then no one knew what was causing it, now look at us lol

[tuckman]

Take it out for a god rip and see if you can get it to start pukeing! Well before you drive it take a look at the de gas bottle and see if there is signs of it pukeing already.

I am with the rest of them, all 6.0's need head studs either h11 or arp. It's just a matter of when you are going to need them.