Superduty V10 vs 6.0

Buliwyf

Viking with a Hammer
Even without all the lame emmisions controls, I'd still avoid the 6.0L. IH put out a rubbish engine. There are no excuses for the amount of failures with that engine. If you're after an Econoline, stick to the 4.6, 5.4, 7.3L engines.

My love for Ford diesels started with the 1998 F350. And ended with the 7.3L. The 2005 diesel should have been the greatest truck ever, what a disappointment. The 6.0's in my area sell for less than the 5.4's. The 6.8's have premium prices in the used market. Just like it's hard to find used Dodge diesels, it's hard to find 6.8L Fords.

Even now in 2011, Ford still hasn't realized that a messy complex engine is not the way to go. I've allways believed that a good engine looks like a good engine. As if engineers that designed that engine cared so much that they decided to make a nice clean simple good looking engine, not a mess that looks like a prop from the movie Aliens. Even the simplest repairs require removing the cab, and even with the cab off it's still a hard engine to repair. I know, I know, diesels shouldn't need that much TLC past filters and fluids that are easy to reach. But Murphys law still applies. If you bury a component in a hard to reach place, and think it's ok because that component should never need replaced.......guess who's going to fail first.

If you opened the hood and dumped a gallon of water on the top of the engine, with all that clutter, would the ground under the truck even get wet at all? Sorry, but I can't pay a premium for an engine that appears to be designed as messy as the cables behind my homes component stereo.

Look at the Cummins QSX, CSX, and what ever theyt call the dodge engine now. Nice clean installs. I can actually reach the manifold and have plenty of room to drill and tap for a pre-turbo EGT sensor.
 

NothingClever

Explorer
Now I'm in the 7.3 PS versus V10 vs. 6.0L quandary.

These threads don't help...they only make the obsession over options more intense.

Guess I'll take a month's worth of sandwhiches and go to the garage since my wife will find out sooner or later I'm in the hunt for another truck.
 

john101477

Photographer in the Wild
All the hate for the 6.0l how many of you actually owned one? I had an 04 it burnt on me this past febuary with 135k miles and I was never nice to that beast. I loved that truck and if the right one came along I wouldn't hesitate to get another. I loved that truck it was a true work horse.

That would be me... 60,000 miles and it is garbage...
 

oldestof11

Observer
My brother owned a 7.3L and now owns a 6.0L. Loved, loved, loved the 7.3L but had to sell it do to financial reasons. Bought a 6.0L just recently. Nothing wrong, OASIS reports came back clean. He is doing a RCD delete kit though. The 6.0L is light years ahead in ride, quality, power but has its major weak points.

Just an FYI, the biggest reason of the Ford 6.0L is too small of an EGR cooler and tuning. In fact, the 5.9L in the bigger Ford (650/750) is having reliability issues. Why? Ford HAD to do the injector mapping. That is why you see most of them with Cats, because Ford can map HEUI's better.
 

rabbiporkchop

Adventurer
The 6.0 was the biggest mistake of my life to date lol. 60,000 miles, 3 fuel injectors @ $1500 and $2000 for a high pressure oil pump. In 6 months!!!
Never again

I made the same mistake. I bought a 2005 ford excursion with the 6,0 in Denver Colorado for my wife, the check engine light came on 50 miles into Kansas. It barely made it to Pennsylvania. Took it to the dealer and found out it was the oil cooler. Bought the Bulletproof oil cooler kit and dealer installed it. 75 miles later, egr cooler and hpop went out. bought the Bulletproof egr cooler and dealer installed it and the hpop. $6000.00 later it runs, but I did some research and found out the 6.0 only has 10 head bolts holding each head on. My Chevy Tahoe has 18 on each side with half the compression. Needless to say, my 05 Excursion is up on ebay right now. It was the worst mistake of my life. With 10 head bolts per side, it's a matter of when, not if you blow a head gasket. $26000.00 into it, and I will be happy to get 11 or 12.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd...9&item=230760334505&sspagename=STRK:MESELX:IT
 

darien

Observer
I just bought my 05 F250 with a 6.0. I trust it in its stock state more than I ever trusted my Discovery. This truck isn't perfect but there was no amount of money that could be thrown at a Land Rover to make it dependable. I expect to have $2 - $3 grand in this truck tops on preventive upgrades. I had at least twice that amount in the LR and still lived in fear of it, and of course it cracked the block at 165K and was a total loss. Reliability is a matter of dedication, but you have to at least start with a foundation and I think the 6.0 is a solid foundation.
 

conifers4

Suburban nomad
I just bought my 05 F250 with a 6.0. I trust it in its stock state more than I ever trusted my Discovery. This truck isn't perfect but there was no amount of money that could be thrown at a Land Rover to make it dependable. I expect to have $2 - $3 grand in this truck tops on preventive upgrades. I had at least twice that amount in the LR and still lived in fear of it, and of course it cracked the block at 165K and was a total loss. Reliability is a matter of dedication, but you have to at least start with a foundation and I think the 6.0 is a solid foundation.

I read yur post and I just have to respectfully disagree with the last sentence. The 6.0 is barely a solid foundation, there are serious design flaws with this engine that no amount of preventative or dedicated maintenance can overcome. I do wish you luck with your truck and I hope that it works out better than your Rover.
 

cmayer

New member
I bought my '06 after doing research and am very happy with it. The '03-'05 were more problematic than the '06 and '07's in the F series and later 6.0 engines in the E series. The engine needs help to correct the common issues, but once taken care of they are good engines.

Either delete the EGR or make sure the EGR isn't leaking and replace the EGR cooler with a Bulletproof diesel unit, replace the oil cooler while you are doing the EGR cooler because you're right there anyhow, flush out the Ford gold coolant and replaee with ELC coolant, and get a set of gauges to watch your essential data. Also, the 6.0 likes clean filters so routine maintenance and replacing oil filter, fuel filters, and air filter are important, but should be with any vehicle.

Watch your ECT and EOT to make sure they are within 15 degrees of each other cruising at 65 mph. If they're not the EGR cooler / Oil cooler are probably plugged up. That's when you replace them with the above products. Other things to monitor are FICM, EGT, and Boost. It sounds like a lot, but I glance every now and then at a scanguage; not a big deal.

Unless you're over boosting or running aggressive tunes your headgaskets will be fine. If you want to run a ton of power then swap out the torque to yield head bolts with ARP studs. A shop will have to lift the cab to do this, so it's pricey. If you're comfortable doing it yourself then a little firewall reshaping can get around the cab lift.

Go to any make specific forum and you'll see all the horror stories and then do research and be proactive in maintenance of common problems .
 

RocKrawler

Supporting Sponsor
I call poop on the last statement, people on a forum complaining about a $26 CPS on the 7.3 have too much time on their hands and can't figure out a 10mm wrench but have no problem with a computer. That's a lot different than the bucket of grief that is the 6.0 and its laundry list of expensive issues that need constant monitoring and repair. You also forgot to address the famous turbo issues the 6 litre is plauged with. Any vehicle that requires thousands of dollars yearly in mechanical maintenance is not a well designed initial platform, whig is why the ford 7.3 and cummins 5.9 have the reliable reputations they do, and the 6.0 does not.
That same post in a 7.3 thread would say to keep a spare crank position sensor in the glove box and change your oil regularly.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2
 

rabbiporkchop

Adventurer
The 7.3 has 18 bolts holding the head on while the 6.0 only has 10. No amount of money in the world can fix that design flaw.
 

SilverBullet

Explorer
I bought my '06 after doing research and am very happy with it. The '03-'05 were more problematic than the '06 and '07's in the F series and later 6.0 engines in the E series.

This is a very true statement. I have a 2006 and love it. Even the guys on Bulletproof Powerstroke and lots of others say issues were pretty taken care of by the last 2 years' trucks, but the reputation had already been tarnished.
 

NothingClever

Explorer
Several months later and I'm no closer to a decision.

V10 gasser: lower maintenance costs, higher gas bill, reliable engine but lacks tug boat abilities for a 2,000lb slide in camper and a 3,000lb Subaru behind it,

6.0 diesel: narrowed my search to MY 2006, drives the price up a bit, RCD EGR delete kit drives the price up a lot, coil sprung front end opens up some nice suspension options, nagging doubt about reliability

7.3 diesel: tough to find with relatively low mileage, go quicker than I can react, SFA makes suspension options really limited, 4 wheeling in Colorado a chore

Aaargh.....
 
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bjm206

Adventurer
Several months later and I'm no closer to a decision.

V10 gasser: lower maintenance costs, higher gas bill, reliable engine but lacks tug boat abilities for a 2,000lb slide in camper and a 3,000lb Subaru behind it,

As long as you have the right gearing/springs this loading should not be an issue for a V10 (3V or 2V). The diesels will accelerate a good bit better but the gas engine will still keep up with traffic well enough. The V10 was very popular with class A/B/C Motor Homes.
 

BCHauler

Adventurer
V10 happiness is all about gearing. 4.30, 4.56, even 4.88 is where you can really take advantage of the v10's power.

You mentioned IFS with the 6.0 . You must be referring to the coil springs upfront. None of the super duty 4x4's have IFS. All use solid axles, 99-04 leaf springs, 05-12 coil springs. Biggest advantage to the coil springs seems to be better turning radius and ease of lifting.
 

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