A good place to ask this question is here:

http://forums.thedieselstop.com/ubbthreads/postlist.php?Cat=0&Board=2003Drivetrain1

The dieselstop is a forum for ford diesels, the link above will direct you to the 6.0 forum.  There are a lot of knowledgable people on there who should be able to give you info on the 6.0.  From what I understand, they have worked out a lot of the problems, but I'm not sure if all of them have been taken care of.

Hi there, What is wrong with the Ford 6.0?

I know someone who has an '05 powerstroke diesel 6.0 for sale and am considering possibly purchasing it. But didn't know about this.

If buying new get the DuraMax! If buying used STILL get a DuraMax or a Dodge.The 06/07 Fords are improved but still a headache.The 03/04/05 Ford 6.0s are a bigger headache.Lots of folks on the Diesel sites are trying to move their 6.0s to new homes as the 100k warranty runs out for obvious reasons etc.I really LIKE the specs on the 08 Ford coming down the pike but until PROVEN lots of comments about who's gonna be the first guinea pigs to buy one etc.Do a comsumers buy new/used on 03 up Ford diesels and read.The info has been out there for a LONG time.

I had a 97, a 2000, a 2003 and now a 2006 Ford. 7.3L and 6.0L

My 6.0L were a better truck than my 7.3L

My 2003 6.0L had a few problems. Which Ford fixed with the warranty.ICP, VGT, And main problem was my EGT Back pressure sensor. Once they replaced that my problems went away. None of the problems that I had, ever left me stranded or endangered. Most were replaced while I  had the truck in for regular service.  My most frustrating problem was that my truck ran great at home. When I'd go to the mountains to ride my horses. When I tried to start up and go. The turbo would shut down and I had no power. The Back Pressure sensor would still think I was in the valley at lower elevation and would send a signal to the turbo to not over boost the engine.  Shut it off, restart and everything was fine. An inconviences, But never made me late for anything.

My 2006 has 18,000 miles and I have not had any problems with it. I have one of my three trailers hooked up to it almost daily. My GN horsetrailer is 13,000lbs loaded.  My Dump trailer is 5000lbs empty and I frequetly haul 8000lbs of rock in the dump trailer and my Skid loader is almost 7000lbs and it's trailer is 3000lbs. My trucks get worked.

I considered a Dura Max last march when I bought the 2006 Ford. But the Ford rebates were substantially more. Allowing me to buy the ford for several thousand $ less than a GM product.

The various diesel website all have a tendancy to show case the those with problems.  So you will always see more folks complaining than praising their trucks.  Ford sells more diesels than Dodge and GM combined. So with more owners there will be more complaints. The early 6.0L did have some problems. Some folks had bad injectors, which left them stranded or broke down. (I didn't and my 2003 6.0L was built the first week of production) The ICP, VGT and EGT affected most trucks. Ford started changing the computer programing and those changes seemed to affect how quite the engine was ( split shot inject was removed) Fuel mileage dropped a little.

The 6.0L is a little weak until the engine builds some RPMs and the turbo gets to work. That's why the new 2008 trucks will have a 6.4L with twin turbos. The extra displacement to help with low end torque, the twin sequntial turbos to help get boost quicker.

I suggest you drive all 3 makes and decide which one you like @ the prices available.

Just turned 7700 on My 06 F350 DRW cc long box 4.10.

Runs great,so far no problems.the compass modual is being replaced,it doesn't know wich way it's going.But neither do I sometimes.Just took a 700 mile Round trip deer hunt and boogied right along.15 min out of the truck and had a deer down and ready to cut up.

Really like it.Saw a Caddy with a smashed in windshield....deer jumped the car and landed on the windshield. Deer dead,people cut up a little.

Saw alot of chevys along the road with hoods up,not sure what that was about,no one around.

I have a 2004, 2500 Dodge and a 2006 F350, I dislike the Dodge so much that I refuse to drive that truck! (The 04 was a buy back, we had an 03 that was the BIGGEST piece of crap, Tranny fell out on  I-10 in the middle of June, in PHOENIX, with 3 horses on!!!) Had such front end trouble that they NEVER did fix it, they decided to buy it back! The 04 tranny slips, Been in shop 3 times and the front end is starting to do the same thing that the 03 did! Never again will I own a Dodge! NEVER!!!

I  have had NO trouble with the Ford, My x has an 03 F250 4X4, has th 6.0, he has had NO trouble with the truck. Just general maintance. My son has an 06 Chevy with the Duramax and alison, its new so I cant say anything about that truck. (other than its a Chevy, lol)

So far, My Ford has had no trouble at all. I cant say that about the dodge! 

Funny how autos are you could reverse the Ford and Dodge and that would be my story

WELL ANSWERED THAT QUESTION,IT'S LIKE TRAILERS,YA FIND A GOOD DEALER AND THEN HEAR ABOUT BAD DEALERS.

PROBLEM IS IT RUINS THE WHOLE EXPERIENCE.

I hope I dont jinx it, I just turned over a 100,000 miles on my 2005 Stroker 6.0 and all I have had to do is replace my starter at around the 90,000 mile mark. This truck also has a 3H GN Charmac Trailer about 60% of the time, I travel thru all the southwest including Colorado with some pretty steep grades. My old man owns a service repair facility and he says they all have their problems. I guess mine was made on a teus. thru thurs.

MarkM

Pretty much correct.

I had a 76 F100 that would jump out of park.  My dad didn't believe me and thought I was nuts for carrying tire chocks until he borrowed it to move.  He parked it on the street with out the chocks and in the morning it was gone.  He called the police and when they got there they informed him that the truck was at the end of the street halfway through someones garage door.  It wasn't much of a hill, but oviously enough to get it rolling.

I didn't realize that it was a "problem" and not just my truck.

One band-aid after another. Ford had a perfectly good engine in the 7.3L, they just needed to tweek it for more HP and torque to keep pace in the diesel wars. Most 7.3L owners that feel the need for more power can upgrade injectors or chip the truck and voila...more power than the 6.0 with the reliability of the 7.3L. The 6.0 is quieter.

Mark, That's a lot of miles in two years.

Just curious, What are you doing that requires that much driving?

I'll have to hit you up on some new trails to ride around St George.

Painted Horse,

I am an outside sales rep for Charmac Trailers.  Where abouts from Utah are you from?

MarkM

copy and paste it into your browser's location bar and hit the go button, it's there.

http://www.horsetrailerworld.com/home/truckdetail.asp?ID=3041

Wow, folks, what a debate. As an update, I did speak to someone at Ford over the phone about one of their 6.0s on the lot. I said, "Swear to me this isn't an issue". He said, "Hang on and let me go back to service and check on the this engine". Came back on the line and said it was ok. I don't remember verbatum, but I think he was checking on the date it had been made. When I went down to the dealership, that truck was sold. Spoke to the same guy and he swore we hadn't had the conversation we'd had. He said all the engines were just fine.

After all this, I think I'm actually going to wind up downgrading my trailer to a 2H BP and going with gas.