New Member -- Diesel Fan

[JK23112]

I am new to the forum, but certainly not new to diesel vehicles. I am a trucker by trade - so I drive BIG diesel trucks every day. I am not familiar, however, with having a diesel truck as a 'personal' vehicle.

Eventually, I may consider buying a used F-250 in the next year or two; probably an '03 to '07 model with the 6.0L PowerStroke. I don't haul anything, save for some mulch or soil from Home Depot once in a blue moon.


Is the 6.0L better than the 7.3L PowerStroke that it replaced? What type of fuel mileage (mpg) do you typically get with an F-250 in normal driving without hauling heavy loads? Is it really worth it to have a diesel versus the 5.4L gasoline-powered V8 engine in one of these trucks?

Are there any particular problems inherent to this generation of the truck & the 6.0L engine? Are they really hard to maintain or service (being a non-Ford engine)?

Sorry if I am asking questions that have already been asked, but I just signed up tonight as a forum member.


~THANKS!!~

[dhanna6powerstroke]

Originally Posted by JK23112

I am new to the forum, but certainly not new to diesel vehicles. I am a trucker by trade - so I drive BIG diesel trucks every day. I am not familiar, however, with having a diesel truck as a 'personal' vehicle.

Eventually, I may consider buying a used F-250 in the next year or two; probably an '03 to '07 model with the 6.0L PowerStroke. I don't haul anything, save for some mulch or soil from Home Depot once in a blue moon.


Is the 6.0L better than the 7.3L PowerStroke that it replaced? What type of fuel mileage (mpg) do you typically get with an F-250 in normal driving without hauling heavy loads? Is it really worth it to have a diesel versus the 5.4L gasoline-powered V8 engine in one of these trucks?

Are there any particular problems inherent to this generation of the truck & the 6.0L engine? Are they really hard to maintain or service (being a non-Ford engine)?

Sorry if I am asking questions that have already been asked, but I just signed up tonight as a forum member.


~THANKS!!~

First of all, . You will get mixed reviews of 6.0 vs. 7.3 on here. I had a 95 that I loved. I now have the 04 that is in my sig and I love it. The main problem with the 6.0 is the EGR system and puking coolant out the reservoir which is caused by a ruptured EGR cooler and/or head gaskets. The 03 6.0 had some injector and programming issues. Might want to think about installing head studs and blocking the EGR if you buy the 6.0. As far as fuel mileage, I average about 16-16.5 and that is figuring highway and city driving. The one thing that almost all will agree on is that the transmission in the 6.0 is much better than the trans in the 7.3. Hope this gets you pointed in the right direction.

[simpleman 6.0]

[03f250stroke]

welcome aboard

[JK23112]

Thanks for the warm welcome, folks! I do appreciate it, ya know.


I did not know that these trucks only got 16 mpg or so, and assumed it might be a bit better than that. Then again, the 5.4L gas engine in my friend's 1999 F-250 4x4 gets about 11 to 14 mpg and he drives like an old lady. If those numbers are correct, that is still a 30 to 35 percent improvement for the oil burner; which is not too bad. (Unfortunately, the higher pump price of diesel might negate such a gain. Doh!)

Nevertheless, I may still end up getting one of those trucks someday. We'll see how things go, eh?

I'll drop back in here again soon & read some of the "old" posts around here.




P.S. Thanks for the nice pics. That two-tone paint on the F-250 is nothing short of awesome - and I normally am a monochromatic kind of guy.

[JAVA JOE]

I have a 2002 f250 2wd. cc short bed 5.4L and a 2004 f250 4wd cc long bed PSD and BOTH get 10.5 mpg. Crazy!!!!!!!!!! Good thing I only drive 2 miles to work everyday

[mudrunninpig]

welcome to the org