I hate to say it but reading some of these threads about Door crack, door rust, spark plug blow outs, etc. Im thinking of trading my 2002 f150 for a compareable f250 diesel. I know its probably not that bad but i kinda wanted a diesel anyway......

My question is... What should I look for in a F250 and what are the common problems? For instance do any of the F250s have the door rust issues or simmilar things that go wrong with it?

I want a good hauler and a strong truck... not too many girly frills.

 

It depends if you're looking for a 6.0L or a 7.3L. The 6.0L is going to be late 03+ and the 7.3L will be late 94-early 03. Are you looking for something you can start upping the hp on, or just a DD. If you're going for hp I would be with a 2000 or older. The simple reason is that they have forged rods instead of PMRs (powdered metal rods). The PMRs are notorious for failing over 400hp, but can also fail if introduced to propane, meth, NOS, too much injection timing, or any combo of the above.


The 6.0L in 03 and some of the early 04s had growing pains due to their being a new design. Some are fine, but others are not and will be problematic all their lives. The 6.0L are still having their problems but not as much as before. They do have problems puking coolant from the head gaskets which nobody has figured out yet. I've also seen TSBs and reported failures of the 5R110 torqueshift trans. It seems to be a crap shoot as to whether or not you get a good one. Myself I would still go with the 7.3L as its been a proven engine. Ford is also supposed to be releasing a new 6.4L diesel for the 07 model year so problem resolution for the 6.0L might start to disappear.


As for problems with the 7.3L they have had problems with CPS sensors, water pumps, coolant addatives, air in the fuel, etc. For a complete rundown on the problems and their descriptions read my post at the bottom of the thread here

 

well from what it sounds like i would want to trade my 2002 for another 2002 or early 2003. If they change the engine to a 6 liter diesel im sure its noted isnt it?

why would they go froma 7.3 diesel to a 6 liter in their HD trucks? just caue of CAFE?

also.... powerdermetal rods?????? whats up with that?

 

Working for a company that has four 7.3's and two 6.0's, let me add just a bit. We work our truck really hard - plowing in the winter and towing landscape trailers in the summer. We figure 40,000 miles for a 4R100 (in a 7.3) is about it. Our first 6.0 just lost a tranny (new Torqueshift) at 32,000 miles. Guess what, the dealer had seven others (with as little as 150 miles on them) all in for the same TSB. We were kind of hoping the new tranny would be better. Oh well.

 

It doesn't specifically say anywhere on the badging I don't think. It just states Powerstroke V8 Turbo Diesel. The 6.0Ldoor badges though are chrome and the 7.3L are black.

The went to the 6.0L diesel because the 7.3L cannot meet EPA standards. In the past Ford has been able to release the engine and then pay the penalty fee and thats it. When the new standards come into effect companies have to comply no ifs ands or buts.

Powder metal rods is the manufacturing process in which the rods are made. The metal is in the form of a power and then during casting is forged into a single piece. Now the PMRs are actually somewhat of a forged rod as well, but the properties of the manufacturing process is such that they are different enough to have 2 classifications. Now the new 6.0L trucks have PMRs, BUT the rods are an all new design and were designed as a PMR from the begning so they will hold up much better than the PMRs from the 7.3L will. The 7.3L PMR is an exact duplicate of the forged rod but with different properties. Those different properties were not taken into account, so to speak, which is what causes the problem. Basically if they had redesigned the rods for the 7.3L to account for that there wouldn't be a problem. The PMRs are ok, you just have to be very careful with any hp mods. Because while the PMRs are stronger, they're more brittle, which is their downfall.


As a side note on powdered metal. It IS a very strong and very good manufacturing process if the properties of the metal is taken into account during engineering. For example the new John Deere XP series row units now use a cast shank. Previous to this they used a stamped metal shank, which in rocky conditions may be prone to dam able to release the engine and then pay the penalty fee and thats it. When the new standards come into effect companies have to comply no ifs ands or buts.

Powder metal rods is the manufacturing process in which the rods are made. The metal is in the form of a power and then during casting is forged into a single piece. Now the PMRs are actually somewhat of a forged rod as well, but the properties of the manufacturing process is such that they are different enough to have 2 classifications. Now the new 6.0L trucks have PMRs, BUT the rods are an all new design and were designed as a PMR from the begning so they will hold up much better than the PMRs from the 7.3L will. The 7.3L PMR is an exact duplicate of the forged rod but with different properties. Those different properties were not taken into account, so to speak, which is what causes the problem. Basically if they had redesigned the rods for the 7.3L to account for that there wouldn't be a problem. The PMRs are ok, you just have to be very careful with any hp mods. Because while the PMRs are stronger, they're more brittle, which is their downfall.


As a side note on powdered metal. It IS a very strong and very good manufacturing process if the properties of the metal is taken into account during engineering. For example the new John Deere XP series row units now use a cast shank. Previous to this they used a stamped metal shank, which in rocky conditions may be prone to damage. The new cast shank it much more resiliant to this and while it can and I'm sure did fail under some very extreme conditions during testing (I have yet to see one fail in person) it took abuse much better.

 

Here’s another point you may want to consider before moving from an F-150 to a Super Duty – particularly the diesel. (Please keep in mind that I own and drive an F-150, but work for two employers that use F-250 and F-350’s exclusively.) The maintenance on the Super Duty trucks will really ring your bell if you use them as “daily drivers.”

Let’s start with fuel. Although the diesel does get more miles per gallon of fuel, the fuel (currently) costs more than gasoline. Then there’s the fact that the diesel option costs many thousands of dollars more than the gas engine. When we last did the calculation, we figured that we need to run a truck at least 75,000 miles to break even on the initial cost of the diesel vs. the savings in fuel bills. (That was before diesel cost more than gasoline.)

Then there are things like oil changes. Generally speaking, the diesel needs an oil change either as frequently or more frequently than a gas motor. Assuming for a minute that you change your oil every 5,000 miles (with either engine), the cost of materials (oil & filter) will wake really you up. If memory serves me correctly (which it does less and less these days), the diesel takes something like 14 quarts and the filter is right around twenty bucks. Hint: Don’t slide your 6 quart Auto Zone pan under a diesel and walk away for a beer.)

So, even though the Super Duty is a great truck (and we wouldn’t use anything else), one has to watch out for the “macho factor” in buying one. They might actually cost you more money to run. By the way, if you use them as they’re intended (as beasts), then the maintenance will actually be less than if you tried to do the heavy-duty stuff with a half-ton truck.

 

You had some very good points that should be considered. If its just for putzing around the diesel will cost ALOT more as you need to put miles on them to break even. The oil changes while more (14-15 qts) are typically done every 5000-7500 on a diesel whereas gas is every 3000-5000mi. If you sample your oil each time you can stretch the diesel to 10k or more possibly. Alot of people stretch the change interval to almost 20k with regular sampling and a bypass filtration system. Myself I don't know that I'd push it much beyond 15k with bypass filtration as the oil is what fires the injectors and needs to be in good shape. Flat out diesels require 4-5 times the amount of maintenance that a gas engine will require. If you're not prepared to do this then you may want to look elsewhere. For this reason also make sure you look the truck over well, because if the previous owner didn't keep up on the maintenance you will foot the bill.