keroburner said:
You have a 2003 Ford with the 6 liter diesel and 95,000 miles. I have a 2004 with the same engine. This engine has a bad reputation and I am wondering if you have had any serious problems with it? I have 20,000 miles on mine and have had no problems. This truck has to last me so I am curious. I did some research and found out a few things not to do such as not idling cold, not letting the boost get over 25 lbs., and not installing a power chip. I would appreciate hearing from you about your experience with this engine.
Kero, the biggest single thing to watch on the 6 liter is the oil & egr coolers. I'd highly suggest getting a ScanGaugeII so you can monitor all of your temps and make sure your oil to coolant temp delta remains in spec. This is critical and in my opinion the key to getting long life from the Navistar 6.0.
Some other things that are a good idea, a coolant filter and the blue spring for the fuel pump.
Here's what happens 97% of the time when a 6.0 self destructs. Over time the oil cooler clogs with casting sand and crud from worn out dirty coolant. This causes your oil temp to rise which in turn causes the coolant going through the egr cooler to become too hot, eventually the egr cooler bursts, the engine ingests coolant, which stretches the head bolts and blows the head gaskets.
Also on your high pressure oil system, theres a snap to fit fitting that should be replaced with the better, later version.
Check the boots on your turbo, they degrade over time. Also if you've ran the truck hard letting it idle for 5 minutes will allow the turbo bearings to cool off and add to their life span.
If you need to let your truck idle for long periods of time, get the high idle mod so the turbo won't coke up.
Don't skimp on oil or oil changes, remember the engine oil is also used to operate your injectors. Lubrication for injectors helps too since they forced low sulfur fuel on us. I use 20% biodiesel, but you use 2 cycle oil or other additives too.
Change your fuel filters and drain the separator.
;D
Rick