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Started By
Message
Should I “bulletproof” my 6.0L F250?
Posted on 7/25/18 at 11:59 am
Posted on 7/25/18 at 11:59 am
I bought it new in ‘03, about 160K mi, pull a small boat every now & then. What can I expect after? I’ve just heard all kinds of stories and outcomes so it’s hard to judge. The posters on this board are solid, so I’m asking for help. It’s been diagnosed as having a couple of bad injectors so I’ve got to make a decision. Thanks guys
8
Posted on 7/25/18 at 12:13 pm to banone74
You can't bulletproof a Ford; impossible
After what?
IF you're asking whether to have the injectors replaced or buy a new truck, if you like the truck replace the injectors and go fishing.
quote:
What can I expect after?
After what?
quote:
It’s been diagnosed as having a couple of bad injectors so I’ve got to make a decision
IF you're asking whether to have the injectors replaced or buy a new truck, if you like the truck replace the injectors and go fishing.
Posted on 7/25/18 at 12:15 pm to banone74
Lots of questions to ask here to make an educated decision. Bulletproofing is very expensive and I know of some 6.0s that went up near 300k miles with only very minor issues.
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you should strongly consider it.
Do you suspect the previous owner added power to the truck? Programmer/chip/mods/etc
Do you plan to add power to the truck?
Are you bad about not following factory scheduled maintenance plans and using OEM fluids and parts?
Is it worth the money to you to not have that concern in your mind?
Do you intend to keep it up to and past 250k miles?
If you answer yes to any of these questions, you should strongly consider it.
Do you suspect the previous owner added power to the truck? Programmer/chip/mods/etc
Do you plan to add power to the truck?
Are you bad about not following factory scheduled maintenance plans and using OEM fluids and parts?
Is it worth the money to you to not have that concern in your mind?
Do you intend to keep it up to and past 250k miles?
Posted on 7/25/18 at 12:47 pm to banone74
I don’t feel bulletproofing is a necessity unless you have a programmer. If it’s never had a programmer and you have been the only owner and just casual hauling, I would fix the injectors but save the 3-5 grand on cost of bulletproof.
Posted on 7/25/18 at 12:52 pm to banone74
I had an 06 until last year 170K mi, pulled a large boat but no frequent "heavy" towing beyond that. I never had more than injectors / oil cooler / turbo clean / glow plugs replaced.
I had a sct programmer on middle setting, but didn't hot rod it. I thought about it, but I did not do head studs.
You will probably go through more injectors, nature of the beast. You will most likely have the oil cooler and the egr cooler fail eventually. It is just a matter of time.
If it was mine, I would go with at least the bulletproof egr cooler or delete. At a min. Blow that and you could be talking at the worst hydrolock with catastrophic engine damage.
Head studs, maybe not so much, but if you have the funds you might as well.
Bulletproof oil cooler (expensive) but again if you have the funds, why not. Or at least change it out when you do the egr cooler. If it clogs with casting sand or other gunk from the block, your egr cooler will cook itself.
Somewhere in the process do a full coolant flush with VC9 to get rid of the casting sand / gunk.
A word of advice - Only Motorcraft filters all the way around, changing to 5w/40 and adding some archoil 9100 might help with the injector issue if it is due to stiction (you can try hot shots secret but it didn't do much for mine) archoil at every oil change got me through three years of "bad injector(s)" before I really had to change the ones that were failing. Continued with that after the change and ended up not having any other injector issues for the rest of the time I owned it.
Make sure they check your fuel pressure, and if low or close to low have them upgrade it to the blue spring (I believe it is the blue spring).
There were several FICM calibration updates along the way. One buzzes the injectors for a while when you turn on the key. This was supposed to heat them up a little / free them to help with the stiction issue. Didn't do much for mine, but you might want to check if all the calibrations are up to date.
While you are at it, pull the turbo and clean or change the unison ring, vanes and housing. I also think there is an upgraded oil feed or return line for the 03 turbo too.
Don't test drive a 17 or newer while having yours looked at, trust me.
I had a sct programmer on middle setting, but didn't hot rod it. I thought about it, but I did not do head studs.
You will probably go through more injectors, nature of the beast. You will most likely have the oil cooler and the egr cooler fail eventually. It is just a matter of time.
If it was mine, I would go with at least the bulletproof egr cooler or delete. At a min. Blow that and you could be talking at the worst hydrolock with catastrophic engine damage.
Head studs, maybe not so much, but if you have the funds you might as well.
Bulletproof oil cooler (expensive) but again if you have the funds, why not. Or at least change it out when you do the egr cooler. If it clogs with casting sand or other gunk from the block, your egr cooler will cook itself.
Somewhere in the process do a full coolant flush with VC9 to get rid of the casting sand / gunk.
A word of advice - Only Motorcraft filters all the way around, changing to 5w/40 and adding some archoil 9100 might help with the injector issue if it is due to stiction (you can try hot shots secret but it didn't do much for mine) archoil at every oil change got me through three years of "bad injector(s)" before I really had to change the ones that were failing. Continued with that after the change and ended up not having any other injector issues for the rest of the time I owned it.
Make sure they check your fuel pressure, and if low or close to low have them upgrade it to the blue spring (I believe it is the blue spring).
There were several FICM calibration updates along the way. One buzzes the injectors for a while when you turn on the key. This was supposed to heat them up a little / free them to help with the stiction issue. Didn't do much for mine, but you might want to check if all the calibrations are up to date.
While you are at it, pull the turbo and clean or change the unison ring, vanes and housing. I also think there is an upgraded oil feed or return line for the 03 turbo too.
Don't test drive a 17 or newer while having yours looked at, trust me.
Posted on 7/25/18 at 1:41 pm to banone74
I wouldn't bother with head studs, but you would be well served to put in a new oil cooler, delete egr, and install a coolant filter while doing the injectors. Do you know what your current oil/water temp Deltas are?
This post was edited on 7/25/18 at 1:42 pm
Posted on 7/25/18 at 1:54 pm to banone74
quote:
6.0L
get rid of that as fast as you can.
This post was edited on 7/25/18 at 1:55 pm
Posted on 7/25/18 at 3:00 pm to banone74
I have a 2003 6.0 with 166k on it. Bought new, no mods. Replaced injectors once, FICM and a few other things along the way.. It finally died. Mechanic said there was metal in the oil, bad valve etc. I don't remember what all. He recommended rebuild/replacement. It is not my daily driver and hasn't been for a while. so here it sits. Shiops in my part of the world start at 12k. Not to mention the tow bill.
Posted on 7/25/18 at 4:38 pm to banone74
How long do you plan on keeping it?
Weigh that against the cost of the work, keeping in mind bulletproofing does help with resale.
Weigh that against the cost of the work, keeping in mind bulletproofing does help with resale.
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