Diesel Head Gaskets O/T

[Mike Pearson]

Trade the 6.0 ford in and get a duramax. Mine has 100,000 miles and has not had any problems. The fords with the 6.0 have had alot of head gasket problems. I had a 7.3 ford before the duramax. I bought the duramax because there were so many bad reports from the guys towing heavy trailers with the 6.0 fords. I loved my 7.3 powerstroke ford. the duramax is equally as good. My gooseneck loaded weighs 16,000 lbs. The duramax pulls it effortlessly


Mike

[john bertges]

i work for ford and the problem with the 6.0l is the egr system the oil cooler takes out the egr cooler and the egr cooler leaks and over heats the engine then the head gaskets blow pay the extra bucks and get the studs they work great i have done lots of 6.0l head gaskets if your truck is a late 2004 keep it and stay away from the trucks with the new regen emissions systems they waste fuel

[Philip Saran]

Came back from Mopars @ The Strip last night and this morning called the
Ford dealer for a update on my truck.

They pulled the motor out of the truck (from the front) and have it on the engine
stand, pulled the heads and found a scored cyclinder wall and a few others
that the hatch marks are gone. New shortblock is on the way, but not here yet.

At least they gave me a Hertz rental car for free this week until the truck is done.

Of course I had to be a wise guy and ask if this meant my 100K warranty rolls
back to zero .....smile....NO.

Did you at least upgrade me to the new 6.4 motor.....smile....NO.

BUT Ford will be sending you a letter offering a new extended warranty that starts
at the 100K mark and goes to 200K.

I am looking forward to seeing the cost of THAT!

[Philip Saran]

Newest update, today is two weeks at the Ford dealer.
No new shortblock YET and NO ship date either.

Sure is a good thing I don't use the truck for work.

[gmonde]

philip: i work at a international school bus dealership(i hold several postions ,foreman,servicewriter,technical advisor),the 6.0 (vt365) in your ford is made by international for ford,with some minor changes for ford,these are the same engines that are optionend for our conventional school bus,these engines have crippled the international name,the concept of the variable gate turbo is a great idea but in the real world reliabuilty is the down fall,we have done oil coolers,egr coolers on 80% of the buses we have sold,any kind of rubber deteriation in the cooling system plugs the oil cooler and starves the egr cooler and when that happens the heat from the exhaust will melt the egr cooler an breach the cooling system causing the antifreeze to enter the exhaust (white smoke) this also will fill the engine thru the exhaust valves,injectors are another problem these will fail internaly and either will have a soild miss on that cylinder or may feed oil into the cylinder causing more blue smoke more than usual,the branch tube connection that supplys the second stage high presure oil system that can go up to 3000 psi(operates injectors) if that connection fails you are dead in the water,as far as head gaskets havent seen to many of them go these have plenty of head bolts and clamping force unless the gasket was deteroirating causing failure, when the engine runs right it lives up to is fame for power vs's cubic inch but reliabuilty suffers,i have 95 f350 with the power stoke 7.3 (t444e) this is also made by IH and this engine is most reliable but not as powerful as the 6.0(vt 365) hope this can shed some light on your power plant,if i could give some advise,push for the dealer to give you extra coverage on this and have them pay for it on there dime,play up the ford loyalty and how you may purchase another one but if problems continue this may make your decsion for you,ask to speak to some one over the servce mangers head,(trust me it works!!!)
if you have to pay for this out of your own pocket it will be costly hope this helps gmonde

[Philip Saran]

Gmonde, thank you for the input.

They have told me that Ford will be sending me a letter offering a new extended warranty
on the 6.0 up to 200K (I have 81K on this truck). I may still sell it off since I don't really
need that much truck (4 dr, long bed, 4x4) it was a good price when I bought it, but I can
tow what I need with a F150 5.4 motor or I am also looking into a Dodge 1500, but unsure
if the 4.7 V8 will tow enough weight. I've never really been into the GM stuff, but the 1500
Chevy or GMC looks pretty nice too.

[Chris DeGidio]

Phil,
How much weight are you pulling?? I have a 2002 Dodge 4dr with the 4.7 and it pulls my race car/ open trailer combo great.

[Philip Saran]

Chris,

My duster and open car trailer weigh in just under 5,500 lb loaded, but my
travel trailer weight is more like 7,500 lb loaded.

I have a trailer towing rate book and it did not show the 1500 dodge ram with
the 4.7 as having a heavy enough rating unless I want the HEMI, but I don't
want the poor gas milage of the HEMI.

I'm in a catch 22, my wife and I have talked about getting a motorhome to
replace the truck and travel trailer, but am not ready to spend the $$ at the
present time. If we did the MH, then I could just buy a Dakota for hauling parts
and daily driving. I used to have a 2000 dakota 4.7 4x4 extend cab that I loved,
but got rid of beacuse I commuted 40 miles each way for work back then.

[Philip Saran]

Newest update, stopped by the Ford dealer this morning and talked with
the service manager and my service writer.

Ford has agreed to put a entire new motor in the truck, since they can NOT
get just a shortblock at this time. It will be here by Wed and I should have
the truck back by Friday.

Happy I'm not the one paying for a $12,000. motor.

At this point with a new motor, I will plan on buying the new exteneded warranty
and keep the truck a while more.

Hopefully we will see our way clear to buying a MH later this year or next.

[Chris DeGidio]

Your Duster and trailer weighs in at what my car/trailer does,and the 4.7 would pull it just fine.But the TT is a no go,too much weight. Let me know when and if you go MH,as my wife and I are kicking around the same idea.Hope the new engine works.