6.0 Powerstroke thoughts

[Rick]

Just bought the new 2014 6.4
My only negative about it. It Boggs down in the lower gears until you get the RPMs up. The electronic tranny takes a minute to shift up to the next gear. Other than that; no complaints. Go to Dave Smith and finance a new truck!

There are quite a few guys on RV.net with the new 6.4

The gear spacing from 1st to 2nd is a common complaint.

[gr8whthunter]

DO NOT GET A 6.0!!! i know some times you may be lucky and get an ok one, but its not a if it goes out scenero with those trucks its just a matter of when. i bought mine with 98k on it for $22k and sold it at 106k for $13k after i had to put $12k into it just to get out from under it and get rid of the damn thing and i talked to the guy that bought it 2 days ago and its back in the shop with the engine torn apart again, i had to replace headstuds, gaskets, egr delete, ficm, turbo 2x, HPOP (high pressure oil pump), oil cooler, radiator, degas bottle, and injectors and the injectors went out again currently why its in the shop now. i used quality parts from sinister performance and ARP. i never hot rodded the truck or got on it, never towed heavy weight. come to think of it I only towed a car trailor once with a samurai on it about 10 mi.

my take on it is steer far, far, FAR from a 6.0 powerstroke, i did love the truck but i hated the hell out of it and its not worth the money or trouble

[Gamehunter034]

Its a 5.3 which seems to be pretty bullet proof its self I'm more concerned about tranny issues later on. But thats the nature of towing. I am considering a intake and after market exhaust to get a little better flow not sure about a programmer I don't know how much they really help, any ideas?  Thanks guys

The factory intake and exhaust flow more air than the 5.3 can use. Save the money for gas and beer.

If your truck is "sketchy" towing a 23' trailer,its not set up to tow correctly.  Get a quality weight distribution hitch and sway control. Keep the tires inflated correctly.

Don't be afraid to run it at 4K+ rpm if necessary. That's where small blocks make power. If GM thought it wasn't good for the engine,they wouldn't have designed it to turn those rpm.

I have proper distribution and sway control, and ensure I don't have all the tongue weight sitting on the rear making it sag. I more so mean the motor tranny combo. I come from running diesels while towing so pulling with a gasser is what is sketchy to me with the rpms being so high. That doesn't seem normal to me but everyone says it is.


Sent from my Iphone 5s

[GameHunter1959]

I was told the gear spacing was designed towards towing a large load. The truck is low end power. This is why it Boggs down with an empty load. I don't know....
Regardless; I really like my truck. Saved about $8500 buying from Dave Smith. Worth the drive over there.

[DRobnsn]

DO NOT GET A 6.0!!! i know some times you may be lucky and get an ok one, but its not a if it goes out scenero with those trucks its just a matter of when. i bought mine with 98k on it for $22k and sold it at 106k for $13k after i had to put $12k into it just to get out from under it and get rid of the damn thing and i talked to the guy that bought it 2 days ago and its back in the shop with the engine torn apart again, i had to replace headstuds, gaskets, egr delete, ficm, turbo 2x, HPOP (high pressure oil pump), oil cooler, radiator, degas bottle, and injectors and the injectors went out again currently why its in the shop now. i used quality parts from sinister performance and ARP. i never hot rodded the truck or got on it, never towed heavy weight. come to think of it I only towed a car trailor once with a samurai on it about 10 mi.

my take on it is steer far, far, FAR from a 6.0 powerstroke, i did love the truck but i hated the hell out of it and its not worth the money or trouble

Did you flush the heck out of the coolant system before putting in the new oil cooler. Then install a coolant filtration system after?

[C-Money]

I cant believe 6.0s still sell for the money they do.

[gr8whthunter]

DO NOT GET A 6.0!!! i know some times you may be lucky and get an ok one, but its not a if it goes out scenero with those trucks its just a matter of when. i bought mine with 98k on it for $22k and sold it at 106k for $13k after i had to put $12k into it just to get out from under it and get rid of the damn thing and i talked to the guy that bought it 2 days ago and its back in the shop with the engine torn apart again, i had to replace headstuds, gaskets, egr delete, ficm, turbo 2x, HPOP (high pressure oil pump), oil cooler, radiator, degas bottle, and injectors and the injectors went out again currently why its in the shop now. i used quality parts from sinister performance and ARP. i never hot rodded the truck or got on it, never towed heavy weight. come to think of it I only towed a car trailor once with a samurai on it about 10 mi.

my take on it is steer far, far, FAR from a 6.0 powerstroke, i did love the truck but i hated the hell out of it and its not worth the money or trouble

Did you flush the heck out of the coolant system before putting in the new oil cooler. Then install a coolant filtration system after?

yea flushed the system 2x until gin clear water was coming out and installed the filtration system from sinister at the time of install

[b23]

DO NOT GET A 6.0!!! i know some times you may be lucky and get an ok one, but its not a if it goes out scenero with those trucks its just a matter of when. i bought mine with 98k on it for $22k and sold it at 106k for $13k after i had to put $12k into it just to get out from under it and get rid of the damn thing and i talked to the guy that bought it 2 days ago and its back in the shop with the engine torn apart again, i had to replace headstuds, gaskets, egr delete, ficm, turbo 2x, HPOP (high pressure oil pump), oil cooler, radiator, degas bottle, and injectors and the injectors went out again currently why its in the shop now. i used quality parts from sinister performance and ARP. i never hot rodded the truck or got on it, never towed heavy weight. come to think of it I only towed a car trailor once with a samurai on it about 10 mi.

my take on it is steer far, far, FAR from a 6.0 powerstroke, i did love the truck but i hated the hell out of it and its not worth the money or trouble

You replaced head bolts with ARP head studs or you had to replace the head studs, again, also?

[gr8whthunter]

DO NOT GET A 6.0!!! i know some times you may be lucky and get an ok one, but its not a if it goes out scenero with those trucks its just a matter of when. i bought mine with 98k on it for $22k and sold it at 106k for $13k after i had to put $12k into it just to get out from under it and get rid of the damn thing and i talked to the guy that bought it 2 days ago and its back in the shop with the engine torn apart again, i had to replace headstuds, gaskets, egr delete, ficm, turbo 2x, HPOP (high pressure oil pump), oil cooler, radiator, degas bottle, and injectors and the injectors went out again currently why its in the shop now. i used quality parts from sinister performance and ARP. i never hot rodded the truck or got on it, never towed heavy weight. come to think of it I only towed a car trailor once with a samurai on it about 10 mi.

my take on it is steer far, far, FAR from a 6.0 powerstroke, i did love the truck but i hated the hell out of it and its not worth the money or trouble

You replaced head bolts with ARP head studs or you had to replace the head studs, again, also?

replaced head bolts with ARP studs

[Slimdog350]

Now that I think about it more if you don't have any diesel experience I would steer clear. Just the simple fact that labor costs will kill you. I can do the work myself at a fraction of the cost because of my experience. Don't put a programmer on it. The head bolts are torque to yield and will stretch with too much cylinder pressure causing a blown head gasket. The early egr would fail and flash boil the coolant causing all sorts of issues. The oil coolers would plug because of contamination in the system and the kind of coolant that ford was running. There were also injector issues. If the oil wasn't changed at proper intervals the Heui system( hydraulically activated electronically controlled) would shear the oil. This would cause "stiction" inside the injector. Do not do an egr delete. For one they are not legal and two on a 6.0 liter the egr valve is used as a wastegate for the turbo. All a wastegates job is to dump excess boost into the exhaust. No wastegate = excessive cylinder pressure. I've updated my truck with bulletproof items and such and I love it. But I also can do all the work. I've had extensive experience on diesels ranging from the 6.0 all the way up to the cat c15 and isx cummins. No engine is perfect. When egr systems came out it was a nightmare. Cummins engines have injector issues, lift pump issues, throttle position sensor issues and on and on. I'm more than happy to answer any questions.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Why not just buy a dodge if you're going to spend thousands putting a cummins engine into a ford truck?

That's a good question? There are a quite a few Ford trucks out there that are converted. Maybe people really like Ford Truck and not the motors?   Maybe they like the tight turning radius of a Ford Truck?

[Derailed]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LH2NmxXEUJQ   

  This may help?

[DRobnsn]

Why not just buy a dodge if you're going to spend thousands putting a cummins engine into a ford truck?

That's a good question? There are a quite a few Ford trucks out there that are converted. Maybe people really like Ford Truck and not the motors?   Maybe they like the tight turning radius of a Ford Truck?

The turning radius sucks on the leaf sprung Fords but the 05 and up coil suspended trucks turn much better. One more selling point on the Ford, A REAL BACKSEAT. 3rd gen dodge crew cabs have no room in the back comparatively speaking. I know 2010 Cummins and up have ample room as well as 3rd gen Mega's but they can cost almost twice what a well equipped 6.0 does. 

[Skillet]

Now that I think about it more if you don't have any diesel experience I would steer clear.

I agree with slimdog.  These trucks are really great trucks, but you cannot afford to be an ignorant or passive owner with the 6.0 diesel.  You have to constantly be on the lookout for signs of the known issues cropping up.  Any one of the symptoms by itself is not a really big deal - mostly just a day's worth of work and a couple hundred in parts to fix - but allow it to progress into the cascade of failures that are often described by disgruntled 6.0 owners and you will quickly find yourself in the "cab off" club. 

$$$$$$  (You do NOT want to join that club)  $$$$$$$

[gr8whthunter]

im in the cab off club not that awesome