we recently here at maui tree, acquired a 6.0 with a nice arbor box and it got us a few months of work done, before it finally quit on us. over the past few months i have educated myself with the common failures and fixes for these trucks so i have decided to share what i have learned with yall.
first things first, in 2002-2003 ford was producing the 7.3 powerstroke diesel which was a really reliable engine for the day. they had alot of sales and successes with theses trucks in both the ambulance and commercial fields, to the everyday truck owner. around this time chevy came out with the 6.6 duramax diesel which had new tech and better MPG and fewer emissions. ford decided they would re visit the 7.3 and design a completely different motor with fewer emissions then the duramax and even higher tech components. this, is where ford eventually failed in the design of what was supposed to be their flagship new motor. they were under alot of pressure to put out the new 6.0 and in the early 2000's, ford was lacking diesel service technicians and designers so they outsourced their components from a new factory. the major issue this factory had was they did not clean their blocks properly after the casting process was over. what was left behind is up to 2 pounds of silica sand in all the nooks and crannys of the motor. this eventually led to failures in the HPOP's(high pressure oil pumps), the IPR valves getting clogged or damaged due to debris and the oil cooler getting clogged with silica sand. with all that being said, i dont believe they are poor trucks at all. if you can get a 6.0 now days for a cheap price, heres a list of things to consider replacing.
EGR COOLER: all 6.0 eventually need a new EGR cooler a they get leaky and will clog the EGR valve and run poorly with bad emissions ex(rolling coal).
OIL PUMP: the early 2003-2004's require a new oil pump as the factory pumps get destroyed by debris and faulty gaskets, 2005-2007's require the same as the early models only the STC fitting for the HPOP can also break seals and need replacing.
OIL COOLER: because of the silica sand in the casting process, the passage ways in the oil cooler where the coolent is supposed to flow through get plugged and corroded. this is something that needs replacing in all 6.0s along with new gaskets and O rings.
IPR VALVE: this valve sends a signal to your trucks ICP and FICM telling it how much oil pressure is being created and thus the ficm will regulate and distribute the right amount of oil needed to go to the fuel injectors.
FUEL INJECTORS: the 6.0 ford uses HEUI injectors that use the high pressure engine oil to hydraulically actuate a piston in the injector that squirts the fuel into the cylinders. these become damaged due to faulty seals and O rings leading to massive blow by of oil. ford has an entire plant dedicated to just re manufacturing the 6.0 injectors(big money in that!!) as they cost $350 per injector.
OIL/FUEL RAIL: the rails that the injectors mount to are fed by the HPOP and often blow nipple cup seals and dummy plug seals. its important they while you do an injector job to also get new seals and rings for the rails.
FICM: the last and final thing i want to share about really concerns me. ford has major issues with the printed circuit board in the Fuel Injection Control Module or FICM("Fickem"). they break solder joints and cause a major malfunction that will make your truck not run sometimes and run fine other times. if you have injectors misfiring or an extremely rough idle it wouldent hurt to check into your trucks FICM components and possibly getting a new one.
to sum it up, after these parts are replaced, i have heard of ford 6.0s running up to 300,000 miles before anything critical that leads to a trucks death. to protect your truck i recommend you change the oil on regular 3-4000 mile intervals, doing a coolent system flush, and using fuel additives like stanidine or rev-x, archoil products. if your truck is experienceing stiction, rev-x and archoil make great products for these trucks oil.
i hope this helps some of you with your 6.0's its certainly been a long and mechanical journey for me here at maui tree. i have learned more about diesel trucks in the last 4 months then i have ever wanted to know in the 6 years of arboriculture thanks to fords 6.0. haha climb safe and have fun out there
first things first, in 2002-2003 ford was producing the 7.3 powerstroke diesel which was a really reliable engine for the day. they had alot of sales and successes with theses trucks in both the ambulance and commercial fields, to the everyday truck owner. around this time chevy came out with the 6.6 duramax diesel which had new tech and better MPG and fewer emissions. ford decided they would re visit the 7.3 and design a completely different motor with fewer emissions then the duramax and even higher tech components. this, is where ford eventually failed in the design of what was supposed to be their flagship new motor. they were under alot of pressure to put out the new 6.0 and in the early 2000's, ford was lacking diesel service technicians and designers so they outsourced their components from a new factory. the major issue this factory had was they did not clean their blocks properly after the casting process was over. what was left behind is up to 2 pounds of silica sand in all the nooks and crannys of the motor. this eventually led to failures in the HPOP's(high pressure oil pumps), the IPR valves getting clogged or damaged due to debris and the oil cooler getting clogged with silica sand. with all that being said, i dont believe they are poor trucks at all. if you can get a 6.0 now days for a cheap price, heres a list of things to consider replacing.
EGR COOLER: all 6.0 eventually need a new EGR cooler a they get leaky and will clog the EGR valve and run poorly with bad emissions ex(rolling coal).
OIL PUMP: the early 2003-2004's require a new oil pump as the factory pumps get destroyed by debris and faulty gaskets, 2005-2007's require the same as the early models only the STC fitting for the HPOP can also break seals and need replacing.
OIL COOLER: because of the silica sand in the casting process, the passage ways in the oil cooler where the coolent is supposed to flow through get plugged and corroded. this is something that needs replacing in all 6.0s along with new gaskets and O rings.
IPR VALVE: this valve sends a signal to your trucks ICP and FICM telling it how much oil pressure is being created and thus the ficm will regulate and distribute the right amount of oil needed to go to the fuel injectors.
FUEL INJECTORS: the 6.0 ford uses HEUI injectors that use the high pressure engine oil to hydraulically actuate a piston in the injector that squirts the fuel into the cylinders. these become damaged due to faulty seals and O rings leading to massive blow by of oil. ford has an entire plant dedicated to just re manufacturing the 6.0 injectors(big money in that!!) as they cost $350 per injector.
OIL/FUEL RAIL: the rails that the injectors mount to are fed by the HPOP and often blow nipple cup seals and dummy plug seals. its important they while you do an injector job to also get new seals and rings for the rails.
FICM: the last and final thing i want to share about really concerns me. ford has major issues with the printed circuit board in the Fuel Injection Control Module or FICM("Fickem"). they break solder joints and cause a major malfunction that will make your truck not run sometimes and run fine other times. if you have injectors misfiring or an extremely rough idle it wouldent hurt to check into your trucks FICM components and possibly getting a new one.
to sum it up, after these parts are replaced, i have heard of ford 6.0s running up to 300,000 miles before anything critical that leads to a trucks death. to protect your truck i recommend you change the oil on regular 3-4000 mile intervals, doing a coolent system flush, and using fuel additives like stanidine or rev-x, archoil products. if your truck is experienceing stiction, rev-x and archoil make great products for these trucks oil.
i hope this helps some of you with your 6.0's its certainly been a long and mechanical journey for me here at maui tree. i have learned more about diesel trucks in the last 4 months then i have ever wanted to know in the 6 years of arboriculture thanks to fords 6.0. haha climb safe and have fun out there
