FireMarshalRob obviously had his share of issues. I believe it starts with Ford's poor choice in coolant, and is compounded by Ford's later FICM flashes, and folks that drive the truck to haul groceries instead of hauling booty.
I'm on the opposite side of the fence. Zero issues in my 03 until late last year at 115k, when I noticed that the oil temp was creeping up. You have to have a monitor in a 6.0, the gauges in all Fords are little more than indicators that voltage is applied to them.
Mine has had religious maintenance, and I was running an ELC coolant, and 10w30. 13 years, and no one had cracked the engine open. I weighed the options... an emissions laden, DEF sucking 75,000 dollar new Powerstroke, or 5 grand in my old gal. the choice was easy. A new Bulletproof Diesel EGR cooler, factory oil cooler, ARP studs, FelPro gaskets ( this is the fix for the 6.0...FelPro has an improved MLS gasket that beats Ford's), water pump with metal impeller, and a little FICM work.
I speculate that if Rob had been switched to a silicate free coolant early on, and if Ford would have left his FICM alone (every later flash in the 6.0 sucked power out, and Ford just compounded the problem with the latest strategy), he might have been happier. Maybe not... I like stories like Rob's. It's keeping the 6.0 market low with horror stories.
And it depends upon what his tech did when it all went to heck. If he had gaskets done at a Ford dealer, they will not machine the heads... it's against what Ford says is acceptable. They have to be flat, and when you machine a couple thousands off, you have to run shorter pushrods... the 6.4 rods are perfect here. Ford does not have a good repair procedure for problem engines at all.
My 6.0 currently has delta's around 8 degrees, it starts and runs like a gas engine with the FICM mods and Atlas tune, except it doesn't run out of steam, and just keeps pulling. And I just knocked out 13.2 MPG towing 10k over Memorial Day week. Sorry for your troubles Rob, but the majority of them were caused by the guys doing your service either not knowing, not caring, or tied up by being forced to use factory Ford parts and service procedures, when the aftermarket has every fix available. Shoot even factory stock will last a long time with a coolant swap, and mild FICM work to address cold start and drivability.
I'm on the opposite side of the fence. Zero issues in my 03 until late last year at 115k, when I noticed that the oil temp was creeping up. You have to have a monitor in a 6.0, the gauges in all Fords are little more than indicators that voltage is applied to them.
Mine has had religious maintenance, and I was running an ELC coolant, and 10w30. 13 years, and no one had cracked the engine open. I weighed the options... an emissions laden, DEF sucking 75,000 dollar new Powerstroke, or 5 grand in my old gal. the choice was easy. A new Bulletproof Diesel EGR cooler, factory oil cooler, ARP studs, FelPro gaskets ( this is the fix for the 6.0...FelPro has an improved MLS gasket that beats Ford's), water pump with metal impeller, and a little FICM work.
I speculate that if Rob had been switched to a silicate free coolant early on, and if Ford would have left his FICM alone (every later flash in the 6.0 sucked power out, and Ford just compounded the problem with the latest strategy), he might have been happier. Maybe not... I like stories like Rob's. It's keeping the 6.0 market low with horror stories.
And it depends upon what his tech did when it all went to heck. If he had gaskets done at a Ford dealer, they will not machine the heads... it's against what Ford says is acceptable. They have to be flat, and when you machine a couple thousands off, you have to run shorter pushrods... the 6.4 rods are perfect here. Ford does not have a good repair procedure for problem engines at all.
My 6.0 currently has delta's around 8 degrees, it starts and runs like a gas engine with the FICM mods and Atlas tune, except it doesn't run out of steam, and just keeps pulling. And I just knocked out 13.2 MPG towing 10k over Memorial Day week. Sorry for your troubles Rob, but the majority of them were caused by the guys doing your service either not knowing, not caring, or tied up by being forced to use factory Ford parts and service procedures, when the aftermarket has every fix available. Shoot even factory stock will last a long time with a coolant swap, and mild FICM work to address cold start and drivability.
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