Considering purchasing '06 F350 6.0L

[wfd2]

I have found a '06 F350 dually at a reasonable price and was considering buying it for farm work. (We pull horse trailers, etc). The truck has 28,000 miles on it and looks almost new.

I found some helpful tips on the site already, but wanted to get some more information. I'm of the opinion that in < 29K miles, the engine shouldn't be too worn past the point where the 6.0L issues would become a problem in the near future if I continually check the coolant, oil changes regularly and run clean, high quality fuel.

I checked the Oasis report-- nothing but an ABS sensor that was replaced under warranty at Ford around 3,500 miles. Good sign (I think) that there was little warranty work, or at least that I found.

I have not test driven the truck yet. What should I be looking for during inspection? Is there any visual tell-tale signs that this truck had problems?

Should I be looking for the correct color coolant? Should be gold from the factory, right? If it isn't gold, could be a sign that it had a cooling problem...

Sometimes the "Use it or lose it" applies to vehicles, in this case, being an '06 with < 29K miles. Has anyone else had problems with lower mileage diesels like this? (e.g, dry rot, brakes, suspension, etc.)

I'm not looking for a super deal, just a reliable truck and an honest deal, if that makes sense. If taken care of properly, driven correctly and monitored, should I expect good service from this truck?

Your opinions and experience is welcomed. I appreciate your time!

Bill

[ibanez0154]

I bought a 05 back in july with just under 23k on it and as of yesterday 28.5K on it and still no problems... knock on wood

[Frankf250]

In June 2011 I bought my 07 with 26k on it. I'm at 32,xxx and its doing great. Brakes are at 98% and the warranty shoes 1 injector being replaced. The dealer wanted 39k and I tend to beat up dealerships so I got mine for 31k out the door with premium care warranty. It's a crew cab long bed lariat. Hope it helps ya out a tad. Oh and I pull a 10k 5th wheel a lot. No problems yet. Knock on wood lol


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[HeavyAssault]

Gold coolant will mean the "coolant problem" is still a possibility. I'd say drive it and give her the once over. All you can do after that is prep for the worst and hope for the best. My 2006 has 185k on the clock running just as hard as the day I picked it up. BTW that motor is just broke in....wish I could pick one up with that mileage.

[wfd2]

Thanks for all of your input. After much looking, I ended up finding one in the south with 25K miles on it. DRW Lariat. It's a great truck and hopefully will give me good service.

[Frankf250]

Congrats and good luck bud


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[Coach73]

wow I wished I had found a deal like that. I think that with that low of miles I would flush the gold coolant out and upgrading to the ELC stuff. Good luck! Coach.

[wfd2]

Originally Posted by Coach73

wow I wished I had found a deal like that. I think that with that low of miles I would flush the gold coolant out and upgrading to the ELC stuff. Good luck! Coach.

Hi Coach,

ELC coolant? Can you give me some tips as to what to do to make the truck more bulletproof? I'm not adding any modifications to it, I want to keep it stock, but I might add one of the Edge tuners just to monitor the EOT and ECT.

Thanks!
wfd2

[Coach73]

ELC is extended life coolant, as far as bulletproofing there are numerous detailed threads, I think even a sticky or two, on that very subject. Different people have different ideas, I think it depends on how you plan on using your truck. From what I understand, and I am pretty new here as well, the gold coolant, after time, plugs the oil cooler which restricts coolant flow to the egr cooler which fails due to high temps and dumps coolant into your cylinders which turns into steam that overpressurizes your cylinders and lifts the heads by stretching the head bolts and blows out the head gaskets. That's it in a nutshell. I, personally, would flush the gold stuff out immediately, hopefully it'll be early enough that your oil cooler is still good to go. You'll find lots of good info here! Coach.

[Coach73]

Oh and if you are looking to just monitor gages without performance, the Scangauge 2 is very affordable, that's what I went with (cause I'm really cheap!!!) good luck. Coach