Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Thoughts on the Ford 6.0 Diesel

in a 2003 Ford F-350? Good, bad, and why. Les

I think Redneck had one of the 6.0 diesel Fords. Hopefully he'll check in on this.

The 6.0 has the worst rep IMO. Head gaskets being replaced at 50,000 miles and so forth. It could be the best motor ever made, but since the poor reputation is there, dealers damn near can't give them away.

look for a 7.3 instead. It took some looking but that is what I went with and am very happy I did. I get an honest 18 MPG off highway driving and incredible pulling power to boot. Pre 2002 has the 7.3s I believe.

The problem with the 6.0 from Ford is the cooling water/engie oil heat exchanger down low on the driver side of the engine. The early ones have a horrible internal design and are prone to plugging and then overheating of the engine leads to TOTAL engine failure. There are aftermarket guys who can fix that. Ford eventually figured out the problem and did a in production design change and the problem disappeared but I don't know if there is any data out about what VIN's were where in the series re. the design change.

Pile of junk!!! Why do you think ford went away from it. I used to own a brand new 2005 6.0 power joke. Was in the shop three times before it had 18,000 miles. Cam sensor went out, bad injectors and don't remember the third thing. Always was a ford man, but after that truck no more. Traded it in on a used dodge cummins. Still have it after 6 years, and I bought another. Oh ya and I get 20 mpg compared to 13 in the 6.0!

avoid the 6.0 we had one with tons of engine problems, including a blown turbo, dead injectors, and head gaskets all before 10k miles.

I am wanting to find a pre superduty F-350 with the 7.3 with an extended cab, unfortunatly they are far and few between. I would be ok with a 250 but want a soild axle, and I don't want a superduty (I really miss my wing windows).

Running a 2004 crew cab long box, just hit 100K and have had no issues to date. With a 6-speed manual, it does an honest 20-21 mpg.

They are called a sick liter for a reason.

A good running 6.0 is a sweet engine.

Let it warm up for at least 5-10 minutes.


My dad has one and the farm pickup I drive has one.

Both '03 F350's, about 100k on each engine and they are good to go. His regular cab dually flatbed is like a giant four wheeler, turbo makes that thing take off.
Kinda weak for pulling though, a 7.3 seems like it pulled a little better but the 6.0 still works okay.


His pickup might have a chip I can't remember.

Test drive one and you'll know if it's running funny.

And FWIW, neither engine burns any oil but they both needed to be tweaked by the dealer when they were new. Used one should be fine by now.


Ford wanted Navistar(International) to add some (cooling?)chit that IH didn't think was needed and I guess that caused problems.

I have a 2004 F250 6.0L Supercrew and love it. No problems what so ever. I firmly believe most of the problems were operator caused e.g. poor driving habits, short hops, power chips, no fuel additives, lax on maintenance.

I get 17 MPG here and up to 22 MPG in lower elevations such as in Texas.

If they were so bad I wouldn't figure my local dealership would be trying to talk me out of mine so hard.

Good luck finding a 7.3L in decent condition

Only had 2 Fords and both had 7.3' they gave me good service in tow trucks, then I discovered the Dodge/Cummings combo and never looked back!

Pre 2003's have the 7.3. I have the 7.3 in a 2002 Excursion 4x4. Amazing vehicle as far as performance goes when you consider the weight. I get 21-22 mpg in the summer @ 65-70mph with predominantly interstate driving, 18-19 in the winter. Subtract 2-3 mpg with more city driving. Mine is bone "stock", I'm not sold on all of the chips, performance mods as it seems like the trannys suffer and make for $$$ in repairs. People back in 2004 said stay away from the 6.0's and I listened! My cousin had new Excursions in 2000 and 2005? He liked the tranny better in the 2005 but said he wished he'd just kept the 2000 because of the 6.0 problems. He's not a 6.0 Excursion owner now if that tells you anything!

Good luck!

Edited to add that the only thing I do not like about the 7.3 is the 16 quart oil changes... expensive with synthetic oil!

It took a lot of looking but I found a good condition 1999 7.3 manual with "only" 140,000 on it. It was worth the trouble!

You didn't buy this one did you?



Fine '99 I drove around SW Montana for about 3 years during the concrete days, think it had about 140k when work ended. 7.3l/6 speed highway cruiser, great truck, never once stranded us.

More of a hill lugger than the 'quicker' 6.0 liter.

Nope. I got mine in Missoula but it is a white quad cab with a regular bed on it.

Make sure you get a copy of the Ford Oasis report from a Ford Dealer for the trucks you look at before you buy. You'll need the VIN for it. The Oasis report will have a record of maintenance performed by the dealerships which you can check to see if it has been a problem child. Not all 6.0's have nightmares, but some do.

Websites like Powerstroke.org, Ford-Trucks.com (Ford Truck Enthusiasts), Dieselstop, etc. will have more information and expert advice then you'll get here. Take what you're told with a grain of salt though because some guys have never seen a modification they won't do or a boogey man that they didn't believe in. There are some reliability modifications which are wise to do. But then, some 6.0 owners have left their trucks bone stock and strictly maintained them with no problems for many hundreds of thousands of miles. One of the best mods you can do is add a coolant filter.

Les;

PM CFVA. If I were looking for a Ford diesel, I'd listen HARD to what that guy has to say.

Diesel's what $4.29 for highway #1.



Les, how are you going to use the truck?

$3.79 here

Oh and Les....diesels don't make good short trip daily drivers. When mine gets started it is a 60 mile trip minimum.