So, my local credit union has a 2007 F250 4wd CC LB for sale with 137k miles for $11k. It has the 6.0L Powerstroke. Will I go bankrupt trying to maintain it? I don't plan on towing 15k everyday. Maybe 5-8k a few times a year.
I know the 6.0L PSD doesn't have a good reputation at all.
Any experiences with that engine or should I run away?
Find out if it had ever had a tune installed and it has been bulletproofed.
My 07 has 185K on it and the only engine issue ever was a FICM that cost $210. Think I could use a new turbo because I keep getting an underboost code, but that could just mean I need to clean the EGR. The 07 was the last of the diesels that did not require additives. My 03 had 130K when I traded it in. Had to replace an alternator on that. Ford changed a rear main seal that started leaking the day I bought it. In fairness the 03 was one of the first 6.0s built. The 07 was one of the last. I have a buddy with 450K on his 07. Its identical to mine in every way. He did the ARP head studs as a precaution. There is a guy here in town selling a loaded 03 regular cab 8 foot bed with 23,000 miles. He is asking $16K. It even has racks and a truck box. Guy is 86 and wants a Ranger. Mazda605 is friends with the guy.
I think this was a work truck for a local utility company. It's an XL; rubber floors, crank windows and vinyl seats.
The truck is 2 hours away at another branch location so I can't get eyes on it right now.
Here is the kicker: the credit union that has it is listing it in one of their vehicle auctions, and the auction ends in 4 hours. There are zero bids currently.
From the research before I bought the little bus.
The 6.0 has a few known problems.
The EGR cooler overheats and burns a hole in it. It then leaks coolant into the intake. When it tries to compress the water, it lifts the head off of the block. A EGR cooler delete or aftermarket EGR cooler solves most of that problem.
The oil cooler gets stopped up. Usually caused because the canister filter has a felt seal on one end. Every time you change the filter it dumps a little more felt into the cooler where it eventually stops it up. The oil runs hot and causes all kinds of problem.
People drive them too gently to work and back. The variable vane turbocharger gets carboned up and jambs. This causes boost error codes and requires pulling the turbo. Which you can't do without pulling the cab off the truck.
If you tune it without bulletproofing it, it will probably lift the heads off the block.
Bulletproof it, drive the crap out of it, problem solved.
Edited to add: The E450 6.0 was derated compared to the trucks. That solved a lot of the EGR problems. It also has a different oil filter location, so when you change it it dumps the felt out into a oil pan rather than leaving it in the engine. That solved the oil cooler issue. Being a bus, it is driven hard and under load 100% of the time. That solves the turbocharger issue. My E450 bus has 325k on it and runs like a champ. That engine will be going in SanFord in the next year or two.
In reply to stanger_missle :
Bid it up to a price where you know you can sell it and recoupe if it turns out to be not what you wanted.
Whelp, I won the auction with a bid of $10,500.
NADA values the truck at $16,750.
I have either made a great deal or a huge mistake.
Crap haha
I would say that was well bought. With a little TLC it should last you a long time.
Congrats, that looks like a great truck once you take care of the 6.0 precautions!
Now I'm anxious to crawl all over it and check everything. I won't be able to pick it up until Monday.
I'm hoping I won't have to dump a bunch of money in it right away but I'm not opposed to throwing some money at it to fix some of the issues.
There is a really good diesel shop here in town that I might take it to for a thorough inspection.
DUDE, that seems like a steal. If you change your mind offer it up here. I don't think I'm in the market but someone would be.
John Welsh said:In reply to stanger_missle :
Bid it up to a price where you know you can sell it and recoupe if it turns out to be not what you wanted.
At $10.5k you could get your money back (and then some) any day of the week!
I just had to know, so I went to Ford's site and built a 2018 F250. With no options a new XL trim, crew cab, long bed, 4x4, diesel has a msrp of $50k!!!
My local Ford has a leftover 2017 in red. Extra cab, diesel, long bed, XLT in red. They are even throwing in a plow with the truck. $47K. Want is strong for that thing. Mine is showing its age after 11 years of total neglect/hard work. Plus write offs are good. Edit, just looked again and its gone.
My recently acquired ex-Gov't Mule is also a Spuer Duty of XL trim. The one thing I really miss is that it does not have cruise control. I miss it so much that I am considering a retro-fit or aftermarket solution.
Next most missed is power windows because there is no way to reach the passenger side window while driving alone. Not the end of the world, just inconvenient. A retro solution is more of a job than I care to tackle. So, oh well.
I already upgraded the radio from the basic AM/FM to a factory unit w/ 6 disk for $20 junkyard. Millions of easy solutions for radio.
Mine has cloth seats but they are rougher than your vinyl. If you find you dislike the vinyl there are millions of quality seat covers designed for Ford Trucks. If you really want an upgrade, then a JY seat from a higher trim wrecked F250.
I had an 05 powerstroke and it never treated me wrong. Traded it for a 2015 at the 150kish mile mark due to body rust (thanks New England).
Dealers can add cruise for not much. The provisions are in place, just need the switch and the ECM flash. Make sure if you have a tune you put the computer back to stock before taking it to the dealer or your tune just went bye bye.
I dunno I think $10.5k for a used up work truck with a 6.0 is probably about market value, could barely give away my 2002 7.3 which had literally every single option you could get except an automatic transmission, plus was a 7.3 instead of a 6.0.
The only buyers of work trucks are companies and they buy them brand new. Stripper trucks are hard to sell to the unwashed masses.
I think you overpaid for an XL work truck, no options. I paid about that much for an 06 Lariat CC with a little more miles than that.
Get the bullet proof oil cooler and egr and you'll be good. They can go through FICM's too. Also, completely flush the coolant and run the ELC coolant. Drive it hard, keep it untuned.
In reply to John Welsh :
Yeah, I missed it not having cruise control in the description. Oh well. It does have A/C though.
Upon closer inspection of the interior, it does appear to have cloth seats. I could of sworn they were vinyl. Hmmm... I guess seat covers are cheap haha
I will need a tailgate as the truck has a dark green one. I was thinking about buying a cheap louvered tailgate. While I can find used white tailgates, shipping would kill me since none are local.
stanger_missle said:
That is clearly vinyl in this picture. Also seems that there is a tailgate in this picture. If the tailgate is currently green, have it painted to white. That's the kind of thing you could drop off at a body shop and they will do it "when they're slow". Or, take a try at painting it yourself. Are those actual photos of the truck you bought?
I also see that you have a silver front bumper. This means should mean you have the "appearance package" which likely gives you the silver front grill and the fancy (and expensive) headlights.
Aside from crank windows, this truck is just a JCWhitney Catalog away from being not a "base model".
It does appear to have the nice lights, which is nice (although repops are not expensive on the bay) but crank windows on a crew cab is the suck.
This truck has likely had two owners. The company who bought it new and the guy who bought it after the company and then had it repo'ed. Is it possible that it already has been bulletproofed in it's 11 years and 137k miles? I know nothing of this bulletproofing. Are there visible signs or clues to tell if it has already been done?
Seems like silver bumper but black grill with fancy light, like this:
...which is better than the low-rent look for all balck and cheap light:
John Welsh said:Seems like silver bumper but black grill with fancy light, like this:
...which is better than the low-rent look for all balck and cheap light:
I prefer the "low rent" all black over the pitted and rusty chrome that I see everyday.
In reply to John Welsh :
Yep, you are correct. It has the XL "Appearance Package". Those pics are from the credit union site. I cannot access the auction again to grab more pics. I promise I'll take some when I get the truck into my possession.
The grille and headlights show some wear, indicative of lots of highway miles. I'll try to polish the lenses out and replace the faded Ford emblem to make it look a bit better.
The green tailgate currently on the truck is a bit beat up and it's missing the emblems. It's just cosmetic but I'll have to do something about it eventually.
I'm ok with the truck being a work truck spec XL. Yeah, the crank windows aren't the most convenient in a full size truck but I'll manage.
You'll need to log in to post.
