to 6.0 or 7.3 that is the question

[flimmy]

This is my first post on here and joined to help with my search for a new to me truck. I've had 4 Cummins in the past and just sold one. I like the 99+ trucks and have found a bunch of 99-04 trucks in my price range. The only thing I'm worried about is the problem that I've heard about with the 6.0's. Should I avoid the 6.0 and just get a 7.3 ?

[Buffalo444]

If you have the extra $$ to make a 6.0 more reliable, get the 6.0 (uber powerful). If yiu want reliability ROTB, get the 7.3 (uber hard to kill)

[flimmy]

How much cash to make the 6.0 reliable and what would need done ? egr delete ?

[Buffalo444]

Originally Posted by flimmy

How much cash to make the 6.0 reliable and what would need done ? egr delete ?

egr delete, headstuds, and coolant. egr delete can range from 150-350$ i think, ARP head studs are about 500$, and I think the full coolant is around 150$. Getting all that installed is another story. probably ad a couple grand to that total. wrenching on a 6.0 is a PITA as far as I'm concerned. but for the price of all the hardware, you can slap exhaust, intake, and custom tunes and have a reliable AND powerful 7.3.

And yeah I'm a bit bias I own a 7.3

[flimmy]

Yeah I have a friend that has 3 7.3's and would give me alot of **** if I bought a 6.0 plus he's the one i'd have do the work.

[Huckleberry]

I have had two 7.3 and they both dumped trannys (3000.00), I bought my 2004 6.0 and have put about 300.00 into it so far for a hub and an ICP sensor. There are a lot of guys who bash the 6.0 but I have 170k on mine and still going strong. If you do not mind maintaining a truck the 6.0 is a great motor, with an egr delete, new oil cooler, coolant filter and flush to cat elc, all for under a 1000.00 if you do yourself you will be on the right path. Plus the 6.0 have the 5R110 trans which is a pretty stout tranny.

[flimmy]

Originally Posted by Huckleberry

If you do not mind maintaining a truck the 6.0 is a great motor, with an egr delete, new oil cooler, coolant filter and flush to cat elc, all for under a 1000.00 if you do yourself you will be on the right path. Plus the 6.0 have the 5R110 trans which is a pretty stout tranny.

I can do all that myself.

[JohnO]

My own experience: I have an 06 F350 with 6.0.

Currently showing 112k miles. Exhibiting a bit of stiction on the injectors, rev-x is on order to take care of that. Blew a HPOP seal at 94k miles, fixed under warranty. Otherwise, it has been bulletproof. A friend has an 02 F250 with 7.3. He has lost the crank position sensor (common problem with them), otherwise the only problem he has is getting left behind by me.

If you want to make a 6.0 very reliable, do these things:

1. Buy an 05 or later 6.0
2. change to an ELC coolant (stock ford coolant can clog up the EGR and oil coolers), and maybe put on a coolant filter.
3. Regular oil changes, preferably with synthetic (I use Rotella T6 in winter, T5 in summer)
4. Get an Edge Insight gauge package, keep an eye on the water and oil temps.
5. Leave the engine alone.

You do not need to install head studs, unless you want to add power. The studs may cost $500, but it's at least $3k in labor to get them installed. Not a job you can do in your back yard on a weekend, the easiest way to do this is to pull the cab off.

Removing the EGR: mine is still in place, hasn't caused any problems. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Then again, I changed coolant early on, flushed it once six months after the change, and the Insight box tells me if there's an imbalance between oil temp and water temp - a sign the oil cooler is clogged. So far, so good.

Adding more power - The 6.0 is a lot touchier than a Cummins for more power. Do your homework before going this route, it's expensive to do it right, and very expensive if you do it wrong. The penalty for error is blown head gaskets, and that's $4k.

The problem you run into with the 7.3 is: most of them are older, most have a lot of miles on them. It's a good engine, but even good engines develop problems with enough miles. And the transmission isn't quite as solid as the 6.0's 5R110. Tranny problems can cost serious money too, but if you've owned Dodge, you may already know that.

[ToMang07]

7.3.

[kingRanch 6.0]

6.0 all the way