What do I need to make a 6.0L Reliable?

[jbilliel]

I am in the market for a Diesel Ford Excursion and I have been looking for the 7.3L for its reliability. However they are very hard to find and everyone wants $1 million dollars for them. I can buy the same year 6.0L (which I have in my truck and it has been reliable *knock on wood*) for about 3-4k less. So even if I had a problem with head gaskets I can put ARP's on it for under 3k can't I? The EGR coolers are alos notorious, Once these 2 problems items are gone, isn't the 6.0L very reliable?

Is this just wishful thinking?

[OneTonHillBilly]

The reliability is there with ARP's

[Lightningfast01]

I would buy a 7.3 my buddy has a loaded Limited 4wd white/tan 02 with 210K miles ish he'd take 17K for it. The 7.3's are rock solid. We have 4 6.0's in the family and all have had problems from turbos, head gaskets, tranmissions etc.. The two 7.3's just keep on going and going and going.

[92F350CC]

I've heard that a coolant filter will do wonders for your EGR.

[Smiley1]

Ditto on the Studs. Thats what I did. The Trans is better in with the 6.0.

Be careful talking about emission related stuff as it is prohibited on this forum to talk about compromising them.

[jbilliel]

I like the torqshift tranny much better myself.

[bigwhite1]

the emissions talk might be prohibited, but i think we can still talk about what's causing the 6.0l problems and i think it's the EGR cooler.the way it was changed on the 6.4l is a dead giveaway that this area is a problem. i think ford still needs to take responsibility for this and fix it.

[Bills2003]

My 6.0L has 92,000 Kilometers on it and it has been good. I tow with it and use it as a daily driver. I have some mods (see my sig) but the key I think is to be smart. Gauges, and using them, and synthetic oil contribute to longevity. The torqueshift is very good and when hooked up to a good running 6.O L it kills a 7.3. I know, I have had a 91 and a 97 7.3. The fuel economy of my 6.0 L is way better then my 7.3. I had good performance out of my 7.3, I had a banks powerpack, but I burned up my manual transmission at 120,000 kilometers. I really like my current truck and would not want to go back to the much noisier and less fuel efficient 7.3

Saskatoon Diesel installed my Vanaaken and my exhaust system and they claim increased reliability if you don,t overheat. So far it appears to be true.