6.0 vs 7.3?

[18seeds]

I can't seem to figure it out. What is the difference btwn a 6.0 and 7.3 psd?

[ddog]

The basics

6.0, available 2004 and up in vans, has an intercooler, more power and the 5speed automatic (5R110).

7.3 Last available in 2003 in a van, no intercooler, 4R100 4speed automatic.

Haven't owned a 6.0 so only know what Ihave read here. It appears to be a bit more difficult to work on than a 7.3 mostly due to the extra plumbing in your way for the intercooler.

The 6.0 is detuned for use in the van compared to the trucks. Maybe someone who has owned both can provide more input.

[BlizzardVan]

The 6.0 got better breathing heads, higher sustained icp pressure---all good. Less head studs and poor placement---very bad.

[DarthSurplus]

Everything that has been said, plus:

The 6.0 has a variable vane turbocharger, and is therefore much more responsive. It can build boost quicker, and at lower rpms, than the 7.3. Also, factory settings allow for maximum boost pressure of 30 psi, compared to 17 psi for the 7.3.

The 6.0 has four valves per cylinder. The 7.3 has two.

The 6.0 acheives its best fuel efficiency at 1900 rpm, the 7.3 at 1450 rpm.

The 6.0 has a redline of 3600 rpm, compared to 3100 (or so) for the 7.3

My 6.0 was louder than my 7.3 at idle. The airdog has equalized their idle sound levels. At cruise speed, my 7.3 is louder than my 6.0, but I'm not sure that my data is pertinent to your inquiry, since I've got an AFE Stage II intake on my 7.3, it's in a truck, and my 6.0 is in a van. It's not even apples and oranges. Early 6.0 engines had a feature known as pilot injection in their programming, which made them (comparatively) whisper quiet. Subsequent programs issued from Ford, which are flashed onto your ECM whenever you have your vehicle in the dealership for service, eliminate pilot injection. Some folks reportedly are jealously guarding their pilot injection programming.

The 6.0 has an exhaust gas recirculation system (EGR) for emissions purposes. This system is reported to be sensitive to fuel-adding devices such as chips and tuners. I've heard my EGR valve opening and closing on really hot days, and other times I can feel it opening, as it robs the engine of power. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] Discussions of ways, means, and methods for modifying the EGR system are not allowed on this here board, but if you would like to know how to ameliorate the EGR system, send me a PM.

The torqshift transmission is actually a 6 speed transmission, but it only uses five gear engagements. In practice, it engages all 6 speeds. It skips a gear engagement as it upshifts from a stop, but it skips a different engagement as it downshifts. This transmission is leaps and bounds a better unit than the 4R100, the four speed unit you'll find behind a 7.3. It works effortlessly in concert with the 6.0 to make the most of the 6.0's performance assets. The 4R100 is widely known for its inability to survive behind a diesel. The torqshift had some early difficulties with programming, and planetary gear set spindles. The spindles are pressed into the spider, making this assembly more susceptible to the statistical variation inherent to the manufacturing processes involved. This problem has been addressed.

Both engines use unit injectors, also known as a HEUI system. The fuel injectors for the 6.0 are made by a different supplier.

The dual alternator configuration of the 6.0 require two serpentine belts, neither of which look fun to replace. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] At least, that's how its done on my van. Trucks might be different. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

The 6.0 uses a fuel conditioner instead of a plain old fuel pump. I think it mixes incoming fuel with return fuel, but I'm not sure. It's louder than an airdog.

Because of the engine compartment opening geometry, the intercooler tubing and other new components, reaching the top-mounted fuel filter in a 6.0 van to replace it requires the services of an 11-year-old Asian girl. (Asian girl not included)

Your choices here are grim:

1. Asian girl (probably followed by prison and membership in the national registry of s. offenders)
2. Grow your own slender wrists (obtaining the proper permits for nuclear medical experimentation is a lengthy process, check your local zoning ordinances) (not recommended)
3. SawZall
4. Complete Disassembly
5. Trade it in

[Casey_1]

[ QUOTE ]
The 6.0 has dual overhead cams and four valves per cylinder. The 7.3 is a pushrod engine.

[/ QUOTE ]

Both engines are pushrod, but the 6.0L does have four valves per cylinder.

You can clearly see the pushrods in the Powerstroke Demo HERE. Go to the rear gear train selection, which is #11.

[Doug Bensen]

Number 10 really scares me. They mount the oil cooler inside the engine to "minimize the risk of damage and leaks." It left me feeling a little funny but maybe I'm used to the old IDI's that leak at about 150,000. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]
Doug
'86 F-250 4x4
'89 E-250 ATS

[msnunes]

[ QUOTE ]

Discussions of ways, means, and methods for modifying the EGR system are not allowed on this here board...

[/ QUOTE ]

How come? We can discuss modifying just about every other thing on our vans...

[ QUOTE ]

1. Asian girl (probably followed by prison and membership in the national registry of s. offenders)
2. Grow your own slender wrists (obtaining the proper permits for nuclear medical experimentation is a lengthy process, check your local zoning ordinances) (not recommended)
3. SawZall
4. Complete Disassembly
5. Trade it in

[/ QUOTE ]

Or 6. Have someone else do it, install an Airdog, and never touch it again -- but it sounds like you already have that covered...

[18seeds]

WOW all great info. Thanks

[DarthSurplus]

Oh, yeah.

4 valves per cylinder offers two advantages to a diesel engine, and the primary advantage isn't what you think.

The primary advantage of four valves per cylinder is that it allows the fuel injectors to be centered in the combustion chamber, which allows for a quicker, more complete combustion event.

While it is true that four valves offer more cross-sectional area of flow path for the gases, it isn't nearly the issue for an engine with forced induction that it is for a naturally-aspirated engine.

Now that your head is packed with all of this important, life-changing, delightfully lucrative trivia, you no longer have storage space in your brain to retain the memory of your first kiss in third grade. We here at the dieselstop apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you, especially in the eventuality that you are presently still with your third-grade sweetheart. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img]

[sixiron]

OK, with all that in mind, someone explain to me how to remove the valve covers from the 6.0 engine in the van....

appears to be a monumental task at the very least, or raising the entire body off the chassis...
bd

[MikeL46]

[ QUOTE ]
OK, with all that in mind, someone explain to me how to remove the valve covers from the 6.0 engine in the van....



[/ QUOTE ]

I had both my valve covers removed to change a bad injector on each side.....It wasn't pretty.

Start by removing the AC condensor, trans cooler, radiator, turbo hoses, alternator and turbo. For the passenger side you must remove the motor mount and lower the engine. Then you can get the valve cover off and access the HiPressure oil reservoir and after removing that, you can get to the injectors. The driver's side is easier because the turbo and motor mounts don't need to be pulled. Took the tech 3 days of solid work to do one side, retest and find the bad injector on the other side, and then do it. Counting the weekend, we had 5 days in a hotel in northern BC while our van was being fixed.

Except for the loss of power, it ran reasonbly with two bad injectors. Thank our lucky stars that they both failed closed so we could still drive.

Mike

[Yardbrew]

This is a nightmare.....will someone please wake me up.

Unbelievable. F**d must really hate us poor souls who insist on driving a diesel van.

Yardbrew.

[DarthSurplus]

[ QUOTE ]
Unbelievable. F**d must really hate us poor souls who insist on driving a diesel van.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is a very, very simplistic generalization, and it is incorrect. See, F**d LOVES YOU with a fierce, everlasting, and loyal love, a love that transcends the ordinary bounds of space, time, conditions, rebates, extended warranties, and compound interest. Your confusion and frustration is a direct result of a simple case of mistaken identity. See, true love is blind. And when you go into the service department with a problem, or call the district warranty claims rep, F**d is incapable of recognizing you for who you really are - the guy they deeply and truly love. And the truth is that you've changed significantly since F**d first fell in love with you. When you first met, you were a happy, attentive, and confident fellow, with a pocket full of cash and an eager fondness toward amortized payment plans. Your happy face was framed by the front doors of the sales department. Your countenance bespoke a heart full of good cheer, devotion, and dreams of spending a lifetime together with F**d.

Nowadays, F**d just can't tell that it's you when you scowl, fold your arms, stamp your foot, and speak harshly about ending it all. To F**d, you're just not the same guy that F**d knows and loves - in their loving blindness, they mistake you for someone else: A vile detestable creature who makes exacting demands and threatens to end it all. It is truly emotionally traumatic for F**d to see you this way. Some of what you see and hear from F**d, when you have placed F**d in this state, may very well look and sound like hatred - but it isn't. It's just the cry of a hurting heart.

There is hope for you, because F**d's love is filled also with forgiveness. What you must do is take F**d back to that happy time and place, and remind F**d that your love is also eternal and forgiving. Take F**d back to that place where the romance began - fill your pockets with cash, remove the fears, doubts, grudges, bad memories, and that eerie spider-sense tingling from your head, and go back to the sales department. You've got to do something that will make F**d absolutely swoon. I guarantee that if you make the right kind of gesture, such as purchasing a brand new Lincoln Navigator with DVD, Nav system, Power liftgate, extended warranty, rust protection, floor mats, and conditioned air for the tires, financed through F**d for 66 months at 9.25% interest, F**d will once again treat you like a prince. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

You have to work at relationship to keep it filled with love. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

And don't forget - it's almost Christmas! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif[/img]

[MikeL46]

[ QUOTE ]
This is a nightmare.....will someone please wake me up.

Unbelievable. F**d must really hate us poor souls who insist on driving a diesel van.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not really. Actually, it seems like they bent over backwards to make the diesel van for those of us who wouldn't settle for a gas engine. It is a VERRRRRY tight fit, and they had a difficult time getting it in there.......but, they did it just for us!

Mike

[Casey_1]

[ QUOTE ]
F**d

[/ QUOTE ]

Who is that? Are we not allowed to type Ford here? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]