Bought a used '04 and Need Your Brains - Diesel Forum

John · 02-09-2009, 10:37 PM

Hey everyone, haven't hung around here for quite some time. When I bought my 99 7.3, I lived here and knew every issue and detail of the 7.3 PSD.

Well time has passed and without any research bought an '04 6.0 PSD. It belonged to my father-in-law who we lost last month. He took care of it well and it is a beautiful truck. My mother-in-law had no use for it and wanted me to buy it which I did.

Known problems: The turbo crashed at about 20,000 miles and was replaced in the middle of a road trip towing their fifth wheel. Other than that, I know of no problems.

I am hoping that a couple of you guys who are intimately familiar with the 6.0 can make me aware briefly of some of the concerns and issues I might see with this truck. It only has 24,000 miles. I have an extended warranty that is good until 100,000 miles or 2011, 7 year/100,000. (I found the paperwork behind the rear seat and it is transferable).

Thanks in advance for any links to threads or any lists that lead me in the right direction.

OT · 02-09-2009, 11:26 PM

John...1st thing..find out the build date of your 04. B/D may be on door jamb or label on FICM Why..early 04's had 03 6L. 04/04 had some changes made. Lots of info here..like 6L SERVICE PROCEDURES Good luck!

btw..hope u dont need it, BUT great u got ext.warr.

John · 02-09-2009, 11:46 PM

Sticker says 05/04......sounds like that may be a good thing?

Exactly the type of help I was looking for....Thank you.

I know there is TONS of info here...problem is there is too much. I belong to a few vBulletin-powered threads on various subjects. You can search but it's days of reading trying to catch up on five years. Hoping for pointers like OT just gave. Thanks, I do appreciate it.

Did I mention I bought their '06 27' Cougar fifth wheel too? Still have the '01 Lance 820 too. The '04 is outfitted for both.

OMCUSNR · 02-10-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

I am hoping that a couple of you guys who are intimately familiar with the 6.0 can make me aware briefly of some of the concerns and issues I might see with this truck. It only has 24,000 miles. I have an extended warranty that is good until 100,000 miles or 2011, 7 year/100,000. (I found the paperwork behind the rear seat and it is transferable).

Thanks in advance for any links to threads or any lists that lead me in the right direction.

The best advice I can give you is: "Use it on a regular basis", & "maintain it regularly". Get it out every week or so, get it to operating temp and run it around to burn off any acids & water that accumulates where it shouldn't. If you have to "store" it, make sure the tank is full to the filler, and you put a battery tender on it. They like to be used though, and running it about a half an hour ever week / 10 days or so will help to keep the turbo in good shape, the batteries charged and if you run it up & down the rpms, it'll help keep the EGR clean.

Service it on a regular basis. If you can't get 15k out of it a year, than make sure you change the oil ever 6mos. When you get to 5yrs, change your fluids out - new trans ATF, brake fluid, f/r boxes & transfer case & coolant. Change you trans fluid ever 30k (drop the pan & replace it with 8 qrts of MERCON SP (ONLY!)) along with the outside filter. Change your fuel filters ever 15k max (& carry a spare in case you get bad fuel). The air filter is one of the best & it should go at least 35k and probablly more. Oil ever 7.5k. I know the guys here mostly go 5k due to shearing, but I've used DELO 400 or LE 15W40 at 7.5k intervals for the 76k life of my truck, and pulled an OA at every change to track fuel dilution. Blackstone says my oil is working just fine & the engine looks healthy. If you live in the cold, you might look into a good 5W40 syn in the winter (more expensive, but easier starts).

As for mods, just gauges & exhaust is all I'd ever consider. The 7.3 needed a tune to help it out. The 6.0 was tweaked at the factory to almost the breaking point, and adding more will break it w/out additionsl stuff. Gauges - EGT, Trans temp & fuel pressure are what I'd get.

Good luck with it!

OMC

John · 02-13-2009, 01:15 AM

Thanks, OMC for your advice.

I am going through the service manual and the service records for the truck. Oil has been changed every 6 months.....never got close to 7.5K. I'll get it changed this month.

Mods.....probably won't do any. Maybe some gauges.....probably exhaust.

I'm working on transferring the extended warranty to my name....I think it is going to cost $50 for Ford to type a new name into the computer...BS.

B-rad · 02-13-2009, 02:43 AM

I would keep up on cleaning your EGR valve, I been seeing a lot of them plugged up and causing problems. If your not running it too much I would pull the EGR valve and clean it out. Make sure you clean it with the valve part (canister) up so you don't screw up the valve.

rock_doctor · 02-13-2009, 08:15 AM

Here's how to clean the egr http://www.forddoctorsdts.com/articl...icle-05-15.php

John · 02-14-2009, 02:51 AM

Was looking at the manual this week...says cahnge "Yellow Coolant" at 5 years and then every 3 years. What the heck is Yellow Coolant?

Well I know it is the cooling system....On my 7.3L, I think I added FW-16 or something??

Send me in the right direction here.

OMCUSNR · 02-14-2009, 11:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John

Was looking at the manual this week...says cahnge "Yellow Coolant" at 5 years and then every 3 years. *** is Yellow Coolant?

Well I know it is the cooling system....On my 7.3L, I think I added FW-16 or something??

Send me in the right direction here.

Ford Premium Gold is the Motorcraft stuff. Zerex G-05 is the over the counter stuff. Some guys still check SCA's, others don't. The Premium gold is supposed to not need them. There are a few more extended life HOAT coolant fomulations out there from fleetgaurd and Chevron, but they're harder to find then the Zerex.

BTW- Don't belnd the older green & the gold or use the Dexcool at all. Causes major problems.

OMC

John · 02-26-2009, 05:02 PM

I have a reputable supplier of B20 that I ran in my 7.3 all the time without any issues....same price as #2. Are there any issues running B20 in the 6.0 without any mods?

fordsforever73 · 02-26-2009, 05:27 PM

Curiuos about how you pull your 5'er and have a camper too. Do you pull the 5th wheel hitch right out to haul camper? I bought my '05 with a "roll-over" gooseneck in the box. I didn't think I'd ever use it until the day I traded my camper for a 5'er. I really didn't want to have a fifth wheel hitch in the back so I went with a gooseneck adapter. Now I can still haul a camper by simply flipping the gooseneck ball over.

John · 02-26-2009, 05:39 PM

Yea, I pull the hitch out. I have an engine hoist and some cables to connect it....makes it pretty simple. Even without the camper, I would pull the hitch out anyway for everyday use of the bed.

It's a short box so I have a SuperGlide 5th wheel hitch. Don't think your application would work for me.

fordsforever73 · 02-26-2009, 05:47 PM

Right on...sounds like a little bit of work though. Good luck with your new ride. Cant wait till the snow disappears and think about heading to the lake with the trailer. 2-3 more months for us.

Smiley1 · 02-26-2009, 08:39 PM

Wow. I thought I had the lowest mile 04. I just turned over 27k miles. Its a great truck. Clean that EGR valve as stated. Consider a coolant filter as well.

John · 02-27-2009, 02:15 AM

Well Smiley, gotcha beat. 24,400 miles. I have a work vehicle that I drive with the exception of weekends. My 99 F250 had only 71,300 when I sold it.

The 04 is a way better truck. many folks swear by he 7.3 but the '04 has a WAY better transmisson as far as I can tell so far...and quieter motor too.