As a diesel mech that sees 6.0’s all the time I really appreciate you showing that not all of us are out to take every cent we can get from customers by doing unnecessary repairs and STILL not fixing the actual problem. But I still think 6.0’s are junk, you can “bulletproof” them but they still blow sooner or later. They’re just a money pit in my opinion.
7.3s are much easier and better to work on as a tech. Especially OBS 7.3s Except the drain pans My work just replaced a fleet with all 7.3s with electric mini trucks. My job has a ford fetish and they even know to avoid the 6.0
Way late here, but what’s been your maintenance intervals, and what are you doing? I do: oil change every 5k Tranny and coolant every 30k Use Howes fuel additive every tank Use HotShot secret oil additive every 3rd oil change Trucks been decent. Have had a few issues along the way.
6.0 and 6.4 are a badass engine. I own both in tandem and love my trucks. I studded and deleted my 6.0… updated the stand pipes, new sct fitting, new oil cooler and seals. Topped her off with a 150hp SCT x4 tune. My 6.4 got all new sensors, block bored 40 over, maxxforce7 delipped pistons and new heads with a 7 angle valve job / fire rings. People forget that ALL DIESELS in this era had problems. Cummins, duramax arent out of this muck. They had piston cracking issues, and head gasket issues just as much if not more often. The real true problem was technicians that weren’t trained and confident in diagnosing these trucks correctly. You have to remember this was all new technology, and nobody knew what they were doing. it took a few years for everyone to catch up with what was actually happening to these trucks. now it’s pretty well documented that a 6 L and a 6.4 L are just as reliable as a 7.3 with a little bit of work. Yeah yeah I know no engine should need any work, right? But that’s just not the case anymore today it doesn’t matter what diesel you by if you want Stonewall reliability, you need to do a couple of modifications to the truck and there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s what you get with emission system, standards, and all this plastic shit they install on these engines nowadays. These arent tractors anymore. They are a ipad with a engine.
A diesels worth is based on how good it is stock, not after thousands in repairs and parts. Literally any engine would be good after you spend a boatload of cash on parts and repairs.
We have a 6.0 EX bought new 05 stock no head studs egr still in replaced oil cooler, 1 injector many glow plugs 250,000 miles awesome truck. Keeping it
I tell people that all the time!!!! My 6.0’s have been great, 2 with 600k combined miles and they’re not mall crawlers either, one has weighted 20k lbs it’s whole life. Most 6.0’s I work on for other people, I’m repairing what the last guy screwed up.
@@chrisaning8823 I found that if you install a coolant filter the issues with the oil cooler and EGR go away, mostly ( they’ll still fail like any other part but not prematurely). Micro channel cores don’t take much to plug up. My F450 went 170k miles on its OEM EGR. Several trucks I work on have over 200k with no cooler issues. All my trucks have coolant filters, my 2020 Ram had 13 miles on it when I put one on it. OEM’s are too cheap to include such things. The first truck I put a coolant filter on was a 05 F350, it ate two oil and egr coolers before it had 80k miles, I put the filter on after the fact. The 6.0 PSD was the most advanced Diesel engine of its time, bound to be issues. Look at Diesel engines as a whole now though, none are as reliable as they once were.
Yours is anecdotal evidence. When the 7.3 was out the dealer I was a tech at had one “diesel guy”. He did bumper to bumper. Any truck came in with a diesel and it went to the truck shop which was a separate building with to extra long bays. In came the 6.0. ‘07-‘11 we had TEN techs working on 6.0s. Not bumper to bumper either. Just the engines. They were running two weeks behind at most times too. Sometimes they would get so backed up and they would put some of their work into the main shop. Ninety percent of those trucks were bone stock fleet trucks that got maintained perfectly. First thing the service writer asked for on a 6.0 truck was maintenance records. All of our fleet customers showed up with the records at drop off. Like anything there are going to be lucky people like you who had everything come together perfect on your engines. But then there is the flip side. Guys who got literally bankrupted because they bought four of those trucks for their business. One guy “took the leap” and bought four trucks to expand his business from just him running his mid-90’s 7.3. That truck had been so good to him he didn’t look anywhere but Ford. The trucks didn’t bankrupt him because he had to pay for repairs either. They never made it out of warranty. They were down so much he couldn’t keep his guys working. The industry was booming. They went elsewhere.
@@AlphanumericCharacters I've experienced the same thing with these trucks. You can maintain them however good you want, they are still a trash design 🗑️
I find it funny that the mobile guy has a better understanding of the 6.0 issue than an “assumed” well equipped shop. Keep up the honesty! It’s hard to come by people with integrity and true honesty. I used to work at a diesel shop which a customer come in after being had by another shop; I find the issue to be a loose connector to one bank of injectors(SD 7.3psd). Scanner threw idm, injector and other codes. It was a simple fix but the shop owner told me to replace all the injectors and idm. It just needed a harness. I quit on the spot. Shops is out of business now.
I love my 6.0 and i belive that ive become a better machanic from the first time i opened the hood to fix the small and big problems. Its been a ton of fun homestly
I just love the way you operate nice work bud, I've seen so many hack it jack shops out there, n your working in the field outta a service, you out do them all nice 👍 work, what a good show
I already spend a lot of money with mechanics dealing with this problem, now I’m learning and doing my own repairs, every time I call the mechanic he say “it will cost you 3k “ 😢 Thank you for sharing
I was on the ending side of the 7.3 turbo diesel, learned a bunch about them but when the 6.0 came in me and the other two diesel techs at the dealership were always booked up it seemed for about 2 and a half years. Always a gauranty to have commercial trucks and farmers trucks coming in on the flatbed wreckers with either cold crank no start concerns, hot crank no start, hot runs but blows white smoke or black smoke, and etc. Between the EGR cooler, IPC, high pressure oil pump, and etc failing we stayed busy. I had friends who worked on Navistar/International Trucks a few miles away and they never had the problems we had they claimed.
As a Master Ford Tech specifically Power Stroke engines. The 6.0 worst reputation was the customer. Then transferred to service writers setting up in trained techs. This was mostly about HG. Which 99% was EGR coolers cracked. Which translates to tech doing the wrong repair without proper diagnostics. I own over 6 Ford trucks with all different engines. 7.3 is a good engine and does have its problems too. Got 2 with 169/565 k miles. 6.0 is a good engine as long as you don’t modify it like it’s a formula 1 race car. It will run circles around the 7.3. I own 2 with 260/372k miles on them. All original parts. Only major thing done was upgraded EGR/OIL coolers at 125k on both. HPOP replaced at 235k on both. Not one problem with either for HG. I pull 9500 to 12,000# trailers all the time. I work on these engines every day about 250-350 a year at my shop. Biggest failure is the customer using techs that don’t really understand the engine. Highly modified engines are my biggest repairs. HG misdiagnosis is the other. There is a difference between HG and cracked heads. The 6.4 is just a bad nightmare.
How many 03-04 6.0s do you work on? They were by far the worst and 05 saw major revisions. So many revisions an 03-04 can not be made to be as reliable as the later years. A lot of the parts arent even interchangable. The 6.0L is the worst engine in fords history. Is has the most recalls, service bulletins and lawsuits, more than any other engine in fords history. And yes the 6.4 was a nightmare in stock form mainly due to emissions, high back pressure from the factory compound turbo configuration and fords lack of effort put into that platform. Keep in mind the 6.7L was already being developed and the first running example was produced(not to the public) in 2007. The 6.4L was merely a tranisitional platform to stop the bleeding of the 6.0L. As a master tech you should know they are similar. The 6.4L was developed off the 6.0L with major improvements, stronger bottom end, better push rods, beefier head bolts, high pressure fuel system instead of HEUI etc.
Well more than you could count. Ford Master Tech since 1995. Shop owner since 1999. Average 200-300 trucks a year. Most issues were enhanced by wrong diagnosis and the dealership telling customers what really happened to their trucks. Bad technicians that were in trained. When 6.0’s were introduced only 2% of the technicians had training. And when a large company had a fleet of these. After about 3 months of service 4 trucks went down. The dealership told the business that it was blown head gaskets. When it was EGR coolers. Because even the customers were telling the dealership service department they blew the head gaskets because loss of coolant and steam Out the tailpipe. So the hearsay started ? Nobody understood or knew about the heat exchanger? So the repair industry has run with this telling customers their head gasket was blown without proper diagnosis. Seen this over and over.
Exactly right, there are very few of us who actually care about this engine and customers. Glad to see another good mechanic out there that does right by his customers and the 6.0.👍🏻
I spent over $5,000+ with my F350 6.0 Powerstroke diesel, started with loss of power, the mechanic stated he changed out all the fuel injectors, glow plugs and some sensor however the truck still ran rough with no power, took the truck back to the same menchanic he returned and stated he pulled out the oil rail and EGR vavle and this would give me more power! again, truck is exactly the same, The mechanic is now a no call no show, MIA! I just found out the truck parts were not changed out with Motocraft parts like I was told along with the EGR and rail was pulled with out a full delete, I have been researching and studing the engine and componets to fix my truck my self
I’m a shop owner in Orange County California and I couldn’t agree more brotha. It’s hard to watch what people go thru owning these trucks and not having the right qualified technicians work to service them. And Use the best parts available from Motorcraft to fix these powerstroke engines no cheap online parts.
True statement, I have an early model that were known to be the worst for EGR problems o-ring failures just total junk well if you don't tune them and beat on them I still have mine the only thing I changed was the oil fuel filter and the batteries I haven't changed any of the coolant hoses or even the coolant and never had an issue but I also don't drive my stuff like I stole it with my 15,000 lb dump trailer on the back.
I just bought a 6.0 for $5k under book value with a hot no start from a dealer that couldn't figure it out. One IPR and 10k miles later it is still a great truck.
It's a known fact you have to bulletproof 6.0 to make it a really good engine it's not always the mechanics that work on these it's one thing after other under this particular engine
that doesn't make it a good engine. that makes it a usable engine... and at the amount it costs to "bulletproof" I find it hard to claim that it could ever be a good engine. it was poorly designed from the factory and even after bulletproofing it you've spent way too much for what you're getting.... especially when for less than the amount you would have spent doing all that work you could just Go for one that didn't need any of that work like a 7.3. it's the same story with these trucks. I once saw a just rolled in video where a 6.0 with less than 2,000 miles on it already self destructed. it's a good engine in the way that shit is good on a sandwich... sure you can put bacon and tomatoes or just about any topping you won't but at the end of the day there's still shit at the center of the sandwich.
More often then not its those exact standpipes your installing that cause that issue. If you dont use the motorcraft ones the top half will wear a grove in the bottom half just below the o-ring and cause it to blow out.
Thank you. Took three shops before I found a guy that could actually fix my 6.0. I own several 7.3’s and 6.7’s and one 6.0. That is the most expensive motor we have to maintain. They are great when they run but not fun to keep running. $$&
When they are maintained and properly serviced, 6.0s are pretty stout. But like anything else when they are abused and not properly maintained, they wreak havoc and go downhill pretty quickly. Filters & fluids periodically along w/not beating the snot out of em' daily they are pretty good powerplants overall.
totaly agree . I was trained to work on the 6.0 by a navistar master tech in 2003-05.. To this day i still see the same problems the mechanics that work on them are not striving to do their best.
As a technician at a very busy diesel pickup shop where 6.0ls are about 50% of the trucks we see, I’ve seen that particular o ring blow on NEW FORD stand pipes way more times than it should happen. So I doubt it’s the mechanics fault unless there’s more to the story. And your new box of off brand standpipes/dummy plugs aren’t gonna last. Only use OEM ford parts and do your customers a favor.
100% true I have a 2003 ford f250 6.0. I deleted it all my self done all the work to it my self bought it new. I have over 700.000km on it and still original motor in it with zero blow by on it.
Idk about that one chief. Just fixed a crank no start on a 6.0 for the company I work for. Everything talked about in the video was shot. Got it running and then it went right back down because a lifter went out and took the whole engine with it.
Are there bad mechanics? Hell YES. Is the 6.0 a bad engine? Hell YES! If you don't think its the engine, then explain the 7.3?? They never has issues.. Brother-in-law bought a brand new 6.0 for his truck after having issues with the engine... All the improved designs... It lasted 3 months... then he had to put a shortblock in it.
They HAD problems, but if the guy working on it is unaware of those changes that need to be made, you’re left with the same ol turd. The 6.0 is a great engine. I’ve got 7.3’s, 6.0’s, 6.7 PSD’s, 5.9 And 6.7 Cummins. They all have issues, and if those issues aren’t resolved, you continue to have issues.
Forgot that 7.3 likes to shit cam sensors and ipr switches valve cover gaskets and also burn the occasional valve on number seven r eight and after all that injector o rings and cups.
@@metalsurgeon9196 Don’t forget the HPOP issues in 99-00. My ‘00 went through 3 before it had 40k miles on it, the last one went 300k though. We’ll see how far this new one makes it, I’ll be on another engine soon as this one needs a refresh. Fantastic engine, runs really good with a bunch of mods, but they like all engines have issues. That’s just how it goes. Thing with a 7.3 is you could teach a monkey to work on it, let that same monkey work on a 6.0 and the results will not be good.
I've got a buddy who bought a 6.0 long ago and he immediately took it to some shop in Phoenix and today it's still running great. I'm not sure what he had done, he just calls it bullet proofed.
@@fern0031 had the deletes done and tuning and head boots nothing over the time. The main thing is keeping up with the maintenance and only using ford motor craft filters
Literally just did the something! One shop told the customer his 6.0 needed a hpop ($2400). Hot no start only! I pressure tested the system and a 81 dollar stand pipe! fixed. Total charge 325. With oil change and fuel filters! Done! The 6.0 is a great engine. Shops not so much!
I have been working on 6.0 for a lot of years and I found out the hard way to not install Dorman stand pipes or any cheap stand pipes I just stick with OEM pipes and have had way better luck with them
this is why I know a guy that's bought probably 8 6.0s one that was totally coustom he got them all at a price in which we said you stole them he just knows what to do to fix them
Boss has an old 6.0 we could never get to run again the whole passenger side of the motor would just stop receiving diesel and we could never figure out why!
IPR injection pressure regulator, I certified on the 60 before it hit the streets. Had one IPR that was giving cold start problems at 38 to 40 degrees ambient temp. Have had several create problems after hot soak. Ford's test criteria for the IPR is misleading, got to use a little common sense and experience.
I agree, I had Koons Ford do warranty work on my 6.0 with the hpop issue the so called mechanic cross threaded the oil pump bolts and they eventually gave out, guess what out of the warranty once the issue was found out.
@@logansmokes.2762, Hi, yes if you ever need a repair. You can find me on Google, @ "California Diesel Services". Written just like that. Im near Palm Springs.. hope to be able to help you some day. Thank You
As a diesel head that grew up in a shop the 6.0 is a great motor but when u add performance parts and don't do it correctly that's when it becomes a time bomb similar situation with the 6.4
@ojmcbaggins, If you were in So-Cal, I could offer some great service, with great prices... And if you are not too far from Palm Springs, I can help you out... I do a lot of work on 6.0's. Check me out on Google @ "California Diesel Services". Strong reputation.
It’s true I have a 2004 f250 6.0 with 220,000 miles. I have a good mechanic. My truck runs awesome and it’s completely stock no modifications except dual coolant filters. Bigger oil filter. I’ve had very little problems with the truck. I tow a 36 ‘ toy hauler with it . I also use it for work.
The 6.0 is actually a really good engine but also a very difficult engine to diagnose if you don’t know what you are doing...they are finicky and require a special kind of knowledge and care which this mechanic certainly possesses!..good job!!
Be sure to check you oil temps after this repair you will most likely see high engine oil temp and you will need an engine oil cooler and likely a cooling fan clutch. 😊
I owned a 2003 Ford f-250 6.0.. I went out to work one morning to get it warmed up. Next thing you the turbos goes out with the head gasket blowing white smoke… but it was a beast. But expensive to have. RIP my sliver..
You're partially right, there are a lot of hacks out there who either don't know what they're doing or are just out to rip people off. But the simple fact is, those engines are such a piece of shit that they offer scammers endless opportunities
Bro you can tell that you love your job and that you are good at what you do. That’s for sure I’m it makes me feel better to know that there’s mechanic like your self out there doing what there supposed to do. We need your services here in Florida.
@@ProleDaddy quite a few things, but a big difference is in the high pressure oil system.. the new version had a more reliable pump, however, they added a two piece stand pipe design.. more o rings, more failures. The old style has a single piece stand pipe with a threaded and o-ringed fitting directly to the oil rail.. less failure points
Lord knows I dumbed a lot if change into my rig to get it repaired from a catastrophic engine failure state to operational, and then had the engine bulletproofed. Mind you, this rig was purchased in 8/2015, and each Winter something acted up, and injector or two replaced, and the failure happened in 2017 near Lovelock, NV. Needless to say the people were really helpful toeing me and the T Trailer I was towing. I was introduced to a kind Mechanic who understood our situation, and we were allowed to stay on their property while “The Truck from Hell”, as it was referred to was being repaired. It is now 2024, and I have been running Hot Shots Secret; both the Fuel additive and the Stiction Eliminator since. I have my fuel filters replaced on each oil change, and had my ERG Valve replaced, and a Fuel Modulator repaired since. Time to replace both batteries when I return from overseas. Recently installed an S&B Cool AIr Induction under the hood, and purchased a Chip from ChipMyCar or ChipYourCar on-line.
@@justnsaliga8518 wouldn't that be with ANY engine? If you send a 7.3L to a crappy mechanic then you'll get bad results. But Ford did a piss poor job on the 6.0 and 6.4L it takes a very special mechanic (and money) to make them good
@@Belzon1 doesn't require a whole boat load of cash. most of the work on a 6.0L can be done in a driveway without pulling the cab on a saturday afternoon. i would know. and yeah. it defiantly applies to ANY engine. there are some rare cases of hugely horrible bad design. that no bolt on parts or removal of some stock things can fix. like all the Northstar V8's and the inherient problem of the Magnum v8's and the 6.5 detroit diesels weak engine blocks. and some of the newer ecoboost engines that can't live with the same set of headgaskets for more than a month. or the Chevy active cylinder technology. that has lifters "fall over" and self clearance a camshaft to be a smooth rod. since you brought up a 6.4L. yeah they're really shitty motors with emissions on them. once emissions is entirely removed off them. i never owned one but 2 close friends had them one was stock just deleted other one had a triple turbo setup deleted. honest to god. they only wrenched on it once when they deleted it. and that was a few years ago and its been a couple hundred thousand miles later. 6.4 powerstroke has emissions systems that cannot be fixed or "upgraded" its blatantly bad emissions although i'd rather keep my 6.0L deleted. the 6.0L's emissions can be fixed. it can be "upgraded" and the 6.0L and the 6.4 both are very easily one of the most reliable diesels out there if a couple mods are done to them and good regular maintence. but the same can be said about anything else. if you watch Diesel podcast. a guy who was all Cummins and did pretty much only Cummins bought his first 6.0L thinking hes gonna hate it. turns out its his favorite because hes wrenched on it the least compared to all his Cummins trucks especially the VE pump trucks, buddy of mine had a real fun time with his 5.9 24v cummins when his grid heater failed. basically dusted the motor in a rather spectacular way. and they rebuilt the motor. and a month later his VE pump went out. after that he sold the truck not to mention Cummins has a major issue from the factory. Cummins Killer Dowel Pin. apparently 3% of all the 5.9 cummins motors experience that. sounds like a small number until you realize they made ALOT of 5.9's that equates out to around 150,000 engines that could randomly explode at any moment independent of age mileage or use. side note we don't talk about Duramaxes here i don't own a whole Snap-On truck and i'm assuming you don't either i only like talking about trucks i have the required tools to actually work on and repair.
@@justnsaliga8518 Yes sir I agree… anyone who has the slightest automotive engine mechanical knowledge will agree , that all diesel engines regardless of make can and likely will encounter some sort of mechanical issues in their normal service life . I think the overwhelming consensus of this comment section is calling out a inferior engine design that prematurely fails in many arenas repeatedly aka the 6.0 …
I will always love 6.0’s, don’t care what people think of them. My dad says, “in order to own a 6.0 you have to be rich or crazy”. I guess Im crazy 😝 😅
My 6.0 had 450k on it when I sold it 🤷🏼♂️ did injectors once and rebuilt the turbo once, other than that all it took was maintaining it like you’re supposed to, and not beating the shit out of it. People don’t maintain their vehicles and beat the fuck out of them their whole lives, and then have the audacity to talk shit about the brand when it inevitably dies 🙄
I own a 2006 F450 with 586000 Miles a tow truck and I've had the egr cooler eliminate done twice replaced the injectors once a water pump and radiator once but so far it's been a good truck
As someone whose replaced stand pipe o rings multiple times. Sometimes those rings come destined to fail. Using assembly grease instead of pre lubing them in engine oil seems to help. Better trade those fancy aftermarkets in for some motorcraft ones
@user-ox5br8bg2t, I totally agree... I use to use Standard Parts for the more affordable repairs, but their quality has gotten really bad. I only use Ford Motorcraft now, not worth the risk..
6.0's are a damn good engine....have one customer with an '05 that has 600,000 (yes,over half a million) still on original long block,never studded, original HPOP and turbo(only de-coked)....only issues has been an injector here and there and wear items(starter,alternator etc) ...it has never been tuned and he does change oil every 200hrs,so that may play a major role in how long it has lasted with ZERO major issues
I the know the 6.0 gets a bad rep but I’ve driven a few. They sound great and make great power as well. To bad they have such a variety of reliability issues. I’d say they are worth owning if you can maintain them yourself though.
6.0 is just a nightmare as is the even worse 6.4. The 7.3 never had many issues, but the greenies weren't happy with a good engine so we as consumers get screwed and have to buy into the junk. To bad a few o-rings buried in the engine cause all the problems. Thanks Greenies!
TRUTH! 100 percent. I paid $8,100 same hot no start. I always thought it was my o-rings because as oil was thick(cold)it maintained oil pressure to start. As soon as it was up to temperature it would die yet, after cooldown, would start right up. Replaced all injectors, hpop, and much more yet now i have 9 codes thrown for low circuit injection cylinders 1,4,5,6, and 7. Also glow plug code, open circuit, and fan clutch communication drop. I assume electrical but point being, absolutely will not have anyone work on my 04 6.0 Because of that exact thing brotha. Everyone says yeah! 6.0! BUT SO EXPENSIVE TO FIX! When truly with some research, patience and willing to get our hands dirty, often issues are not even close to what mechanics misguide us to believe. Its crazy to me.
