New to me '05 Powerstroke 6.0

[ModMike1572]

I've been wanting a diesel for quite some time and finally pulled the trigger. I'm using it to tow my 20ft enclosed trailer everyday for my business.

It's an 05 6.0 F350 Powerstroke Lariat SRW (Dark Stone Metallic). Has just over 100k on it. Clean oasis for the most part, nothing major.

I plan to do EGR Delete, ARP Studs and all those goodies at some point in 2015. Really hoping this 6.0 doesnt cost me too many issues like so many have had, but I love the styling and sound of these trucks so *fingers crossed*.

Any tips from the 6.0 crowd to keep this beast running and performing in tip-top shape? I plan to keep this truck as long as I can.

 

[Zemedici]

That's a beautiful truck.

Now, you're on the ball with the EGR/stud plans. Id put in an Oil cooler when you do the EGR cooler, as they tend to leak.

 

[SID297]

Good looking truck. Switch to ELC and add a coolant filter, along with a new oil cooler as mentioned above. My biggest suggestion is to do everything right and at the same time. You don't want to have to pay to dig back into it.

Also, use very high quality oil and a fuel additive every time you fill up. It will save you a lot of head aches with your injectors down the road.

 

[MTBSully]

Nice rig! Looks kind of like mine lol

Anyways heres a few tips:

1. Your first purchase should be some kind of monitor. They are priceless with these trucks. I got the edge CS for $235 brand new and it has been great. Most important to monitor are engine oil temp and engine coolant temp. If these temperatures vary too much (wide delta), you have an oil cooler problem.
2. Don't buy anything you don't need. Many guys run these trucks well over 200k on the stock headgaskets and bolts. It is all how it is maintained. I would recommend an EGR delete though. Just save some cash in case you do need to do head studs. When you do, use OEM stock gaskets.
3. Check out powerstroke.org. TONS of 6.0 info over there, so read up.

Enjoy!

Oh, and do a 4" straight pipe. Diamond eye turbo backs can be had for around $250 and you can't beat the sound of a straight piped 6.0.

 

[ModMike1572]

Good looking truck. Switch to ELC and add a coolant filter, along with a new oil cooler as mentioned above. My biggest suggestion is to do everything right and at the same time. You don't want to have to pay to dig back into it.

Also, use very high quality oil and a fuel additive every time you fill up. It will save you a lot of head aches with your injectors down the road.

So you suggest doing everything at the same time? I was really hoping to do it in small stages over time.. Do you think adding a high quality oil, as well as changing the fluids and filters would get me by until I'm ready for the bulletproof upgrades?

 

[ModMike1572]

Nice rig! Looks kind of like mine lol

Anyways heres a few tips:

1. Your first purchase should be some kind of monitor. They are priceless with these trucks. I got the edge CS for $235 brand new and it has been great. Most important to monitor are engine oil temp and engine coolant temp. If these temperatures vary too much (wide delta), you have an oil cooler problem.
2. Don't buy anything you don't need. Many guys run these trucks well over 200k on the stock headgaskets and bolts. It is all how it is maintained. I would recommend an EGR delete though. Just save some cash in case you do need to do head studs. When you do, use OEM stock gaskets.
3. Check out powerstroke.org. TONS of 6.0 info over there, so read up.

Enjoy!

Oh, and do a 4" straight pipe. Diamond eye turbo backs can be had for around $250 and you can't beat the sound of a straight piped 6.0.

Thankyou for the tips, and sweet truck. I'll level mine out with 35's.. Thats the biggest I'll go since I'm using the truck to tow 75% of the time. Love the billet grille too.

 

[Zemedici]

So you suggest doing everything at the same time? I was really hoping to do it in small stages over time.. Do you think adding a high quality oil, as well as changing the fluids and filters would get me by until I'm ready for the bulletproof upgrades?

i would do the bulletproof stuff first. No point in doing the fuel stuff if your heads are already lifted from towing the trailer, ya know?

I'd recommend doing the studs before you tow anything AT MINIMUM

 

[luke1333]

nice truck and sounds like a good plan. but as stated above people have ran 200k miles plus on these trucks with stock head gaskets etc IF YOU MAINTAIN THEM! Ford recommends doing coolant flushes every 15k miles how many people do that though? biggest pet peeve is people throwing a fit about ford and their crap 6.0 always needed head gaskets when they dont do what ford tells them to do in the owners manual

 

[SID297]

So you suggest doing everything at the same time? I was really hoping to do it in small stages over time.. Do you think adding a high quality oil, as well as changing the fluids and filters would get me by until I'm ready for the bulletproof upgrades?

Doing it all at once will save you a lot on down time and labor costs.

nice truck and sounds like a good plan. but as stated above people have ran 200k miles plus on these trucks with stock head gaskets etc IF YOU MAINTAIN THEM! Ford recommends doing coolant flushes every 15k miles how many people do that though? biggest pet peeve is people throwing a fit about ford and their crap 6.0 always needed head gaskets when they dont do what ford tells them to do in the owners manual

I have never seen any recommendation from Ford for coolant changes so often. Where is that reco published?

 

[mavisky]

Best of luck to you.

I had good luck with the Rev-X additive when I had some stiction issues with my injectors. Fuel additives help too. In the end mine was falling apart and got rid of it and took a loss on the trade rather than take a bigger bath on the diff, trans, 4wd, and engine issues it was having at the time. Still miss it at times though.

 

[wsvt boost 2004]

I had a 2006 f250 and it was great until it started giving me issues. They can be made in to a reliable setup but as others mentioned you need to address the weak points first. I have a 2012 with the 6.7 and it is the best running, driving truck I have ever owned. Good luck with whatever route you choose for the truck.

 

[F8l Vnm]

Very nice , the 6.0s had some issue but not all of them. Love the front end on these

 

[luke1333]

I have never seen any recommendation from Ford for coolant changes so often. Where is that reco published?

http://www.powerstrokediesel.com/docs/Coolant_Information.pdf


Directly from Powerstroke/Ford

* Special Operating Conditions include extensive towing, long idle time, extended low speed driving, biodiesel use, and off road/dusty conditions

Check every 15,000 miles
(24,000 km) or 600 engine hours
and change every 45,000 miles
(72,000 km) or 1,800 engine hours


basically test every 15k miles. but who does even that? Let me do some research I know when I worked at Ford they said change it every 15k miles and never had an issue if somebody did that


FORD TSB about testing coolant anticorrosion levels

http://ww2.justanswer.com/uploads/apjp02/2010-08-22_201005_tsb09-08-05.pdf

 

[Great Asp]

ha, looks like my truck!

Mine has 236,000 on it (bought it new). I suggest a EGR bypass, or Bulletproof EGR for the 6.0

Good luck!

E

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

nice truck

You need to get something (if you dont have a hand held already see if you can borrow one) and compare you coolant temps engine oil temps.

If the difference between them is 8degrees or less you're fine, if its 8degrees or more the oil cooler is beginning to clog, at 15 degrees Ford would have considered it clogged and needing to be replaced. When the cooler clogs it ends up breaking and dumping coolant into the motor and then you end up lifting the heads.

You also should look at your fuel pressure as well as voltage to the FICM (fuel injector control module).

The bullydog watchdog is garbage, dont buy one

as mentioned, unfortunately all the bulletproofing should be done at once as they all involve a lot of the same labor. While it was apart we also did the fuel pressure regulator rebuild, the kit contains a blue spring that doesnt wear out like the one you have (which causes low fuel pressure which kills the injectors).

 

[Yellow4.6]

Like others have said, EGR delete, Get the coolant out and do a good flush and replace with ELC. ONLY USE FORD FILTERS!! They are the best, do some research on oil to run, I only run Rotella T6. Coolant Filter is a cheap easy mod and is added protection. Blue spring fuel pressure mod ( another very cheap mod but very beneficial). Opening up the exhaust with a Turbo back system like MBRP 4" system will help with EGT's. I'd contact www.ficmrepair.com and talk with ED on updating the FICM for your needs for the truck ( another thing well worth the money. I recommend a good set of Boost and Pyro gauges or scangauge2 to keep an eye on things. While your doing the EGR I'd replace the HPOP with a high quality unit.

An honestly IMO unless your gonna up the boost I'd wait on the studding. Also keep the batteries up and even invest in a quality alternator, those 2 things alone will kill a FICM if not properly maintained.

It sounds like a lot, but it's really not. and you can do a lot of it yourself in the driveway. The 6.0 really is a good motor once a few preventative maint issues are addressed. Just keep up on the L.O.F intervals and it'll last you a long time.

Good Luck

 

[kingCOBRAsvt_99]

Like others have said get a monitor (I have an edge insight cts) and monitor your ect, eot, ficm voltage, and if your going to be towing a lot I would recommend getting a egt probe. Also as mentioned flush out the crap ford stuff and put in ELC. Oil bypass and coolant filter (make sure you flush out the crap coolant first) are good mods to do.

If you find out your oil cooler/ egr cooler are on the way out I highly recommend checking out these guys www.bulletproofdiesel.Com I run their fully bullet proof kit and love the peace of mind.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

we will never put a tune on ours, we left the EGR intact and did not stud the heads either. Bulletproof egr cooler, new oem oil cooler, blue spring rebuild kit and external coolant filter (thorough flush and no silicate coolant)

 

[Logan2003Cobra]

The one thing you DO NOT want to wait on is the EGR cooler; either do the delete or buy the $400 aftermarket EGR cooler. The head gasket/stretched head stud issues are almost always because of a leaking stock EGR cooler. The other issue (which has already been mentioned) is the high pressure oil pump assy and supporting components.

 

[DSG2003Mach1]

i would get someone to run an OASIS and see if the high pressure oil pump stuff has been updated already or not, ours went under warranty and got updated to the new stuff