Thoughts and input on Ford 6.0 Powerstroke

[Steve_In_29]

Congrats on the new-to-you truck.

 

[Suck My Glock]

The vans came with the 4l80 which is a bit cheaper to repair than the Allison too.

4L85E, in this one. Rated for nearly 700 ft lbs of torque, so should do ok.

 

[cool arrow]

Thanks, Steve.

There are a few bugs that I need to work out, but was the guys daily work truck, and he had a ton of receipts for past service so my fingers are crossed. The lift makes it right pretty stiff, and its a bit high to get in and out of...sheesh...I am getting old...

 

[Ranger1]

Listening to you guys b$tch at each other is priceless. Ford has the only body style I like that I can easily cut and do a 6 door out of. I have friends that swear by the power stroke but I'm a dodge guy. So if I were to do a ford. I would buy crew cab and do a repower with a dodge. Make sure if you do it the engine has to be the same year or newer then the vin to pass AZ smog if you have to do smog.

 

[Hunter]

Sorry I didn't see this post earlier Cool Arrow. I'm a dual ASE master certified auto and class A truck mechanic. Been in the business for 40 years, the last 25 strictly diesel engines. I can say without any doubt that the 6.0 is by far the worst mass produced diesel engine ever made.

Since you own it now I'll do my best to give you some tips I've learned.

1 Regular oil changes. The HEUI injection system needs clean oil. Because both mineral and synthetic engine oils were never designed to reach 3600 psi you need to add an oil defoamer to reduce oil aeration. Remember everything on this engine rins off oil

2 Consider a real oil pressure gauge, the factory one is just a simple switch that closes below 7 psi. Above 7 psi and the instrument cluster just puts the needle on your factory gauge wherever it wants

3 Electrolysis is a problem. All the aluminum coupled with the 48 volts needed to fire the injectors creates electrical currents that eat up metal. Keep the battery cables clean. Make damn sure all your grounds are clean and tight. Ford makes a cooling system " conditioner" to help fight the inevitable, use it. If it were mine, I'd flush the cooling system as soon as possible, add conditioner and do it every 30k. If you still have the factory EGR cooler, make sure your radiator cap actually holds 16 psi. Caps that don't hold pressure cause the coolant to flash boil in the EGR cooler. Any rust in the system is death.

4 The head studs will stretch and adding chips or programmers only speed this up.

5 Get a diagnostic scanner that will read high pressure oil. This is usually the system where most problems are found and knowing why it won't start,or why it stopped is better than not knowing.

6 Always carry a cell phone with your favorite tow company in contacts.

Good luck Arrow.

 

[Steve_In_29]

Sorry I didn't see this post earlier Cool Arrow. I'm a dual ASE master certified auto and class A truck mechanic. Been in the business for 40 years, the last 25 strictly diesel engines. I can say without any doubt that the 6.0 is by far the worst mass produced diesel engine ever made.

Since you own it now I'll do my best to give you some tips I've learned.

1 Regular oil changes. The HEUI injection system needs clean oil. Because both mineral and synthetic engine oils were never designed to reach 3600 psi you need to add an oil defoamer to reduce oil aeration. Remember everything on this engine rins off oil

2 Consider a real oil pressure gauge, the factory one is just a simple switch that closes below 7 psi. Above 7 psi and the instrument cluster just puts the needle on your factory gauge wherever it wants

3 Electrolysis is a problem. All the aluminum coupled with the 48 volts needed to fire the injectors creates electrical currents that eat up metal. Keep the battery cables clean. Make damn sure all your grounds are clean and tight. Ford makes a cooling system " conditioner" to help fight the inevitable, use it. If it were mine, I'd flush the cooling system as soon as possible, add conditioner and do it every 30k. If you still have the factory EGR cooler, make sure your radiator cap actually holds 16 psi. Caps that don't hold pressure cause the coolant to flash boil in the EGR cooler. Any rust in the system is death.

4 The head studs will stretch and adding chips or programmers only speed this up.

5 Get a diagnostic scanner that will read high pressure oil. This is usually the system where most problems are found and knowing why it won't start,or why it stopped is better than not knowing.

6 Always carry a cell phone with your favorite tow company in contacts.

Good luck Arrow.

Cool Arrow (the OP) bought an F150 with the 5.4 gasser.

Suck My Glock bought a diesel...Duramax