Was this a bad year for these trucks relative to reliabilty? I have heard that Ford made some bad product when they left the 7.3L but eventually, got it corrected.

I have heard trucks made after the 2nd half of 2004 are the trucks to get. What are your comments?

Thanks!

Bad bad bad stay away in my opinion.

I have had several power strokes

1995
1997
1999
2001
2006
All with no problems.

They had 2 big problems with the early 6.0's. The EGR valve and the head bolts. If you don't have to pass any smog tests you can buy an EGR delete kit and have it installed. It bypasses the EGR valve and cooler completely. You should gain both power and mileage. As far as the head bolts go they had a stretching problem. When that happened it would blow the head gaskets. They do make aftermarket kits for that to. Most of the time the head bolts were OK unless you chipped it. I am not a mechanic but have a 6.0l so I have done some research on this.

I have 06 f250 with 6.0 liter. It has been in the shop 4 times in 20 thousand miles and the check engine light is on now.I have had egr cooler,egr valve,oil pump, 4 injecters,2 glowplugs,new wiring harness.The egr stuff was replaced twice,and like i said the check engine light is on agian for a fuel moldue and bad firing on injecters.BAD do not buy one.They didnt fix them after 04 like they said.The guys at ford said you get a good 1 or a bad 1 its your gamble.I also have a dodge cummins and have had no prob. with it.THe dodge has over a 100,000 and the ford has 85,000,

Ford claims there are fewer late model 6.0l's coming back for warranty work than there ever was the old reliable 7.3l. Sorry for your lemon.

I'd stay away from '03 though. I'd stay away from the first year or two of anything.

i have an 06 6.0L with 80k. i haven't done any mods except a 4in exhaust from turbo back.

ask for an Oasis report, it will tell you when/if/why it has been into the dealer for work. i wouldn't buy a 6.0 that i knew had been chipped. i have been very happy with mine.

Thanks everyone for your help. I found a cream puff but I am going to walk away. Its no wonder the poor fella has struggled to sell it.

USA-1, I also have heard horror stories about the '03-'04 6.0L PSDs. I bought an '03 about 3 years ago on a deal that I could not pass up. The truck has been bullet proof. I have not had one issue.

If you take the truck to a Ford house, or get a carfax on it, you can see what, if any, work has been done. If nothing major has been done, it is most likely one of the good motors. Mine certainly is.

I was very cautious when I bought mine, but have not regretted it one bit.

Ron

For what its worth, my '06 had a Bully Dog on it by the previous owner and I'm running a SuperChips. 32k, no problems. Sure does help turn those 34" tires he put on it.

I had a 2005 6.0 and it was one of the best trucks I have ever owned...

I have a 2003 6.0 with 106,000 miles. It has been a great truck and I have not had any issues.

I've heard some horror stories about the early model 6.0L Powerstroke engines, in fact the things I heard was a deciding factor when I purchased my Ford super duty. I ended up going with a 2002 F250 with the 7.3L, because everything I read and/or heard said that it was probably one of the best engines they ever came out with. I bought it used with 114,000 miles on it. I'm sitting at 148,000 miles right now, and the only things I've had to replace are the alternator, and the batteries. Oh and the cam sensor, which is a known issue.

All of the horror stories I heard of in 2003 have either been fixed or the truck should have a history in Fords records. If you find nothing then its probably been a good truck.
What I remember from back then is that truck had a two injection event per fire that had to be turned off as the truck was in trouble with the EPA and its emissions. To solve the problem each dealer was supposed to turn the second injection event off. It made many owners mad as it made the truck noisier(one of the benefits of the second event).
The second big problem was injectors were leaking and in some cases were filling the crankcase to overflowing. If it happened the truck would loose its turbocharger(bearings shot) and was a major POS to fix.

In any case if either of these two events had happened, Ford would know about it. I'm sure their computers would let you know and these problems would have been taken care of long ago.

Good Point. On the Ford Forums you hear alot of the problem stories but there are many 6.0 owners that don't have issues so they don't post anything. I love mine.

My dad's company had a fleet of 13 '04 with 6.0's in them. 8 of them spent most of the time in the shop. 1 never really made it out. Dealer replaced all 13 of them with V10's.