There are many other brands besides Banks...if you want to spend the most, get Banks but there are less costly solutions out there.

I would caution you a tad on putting one on...the back pressure sensors will compensate the injection so you may not really save MPG's but decrease them...but hey it will sound cool. I really wanted to do a Cat back on mine but after talking to the PSD tech he advised me not to do it. So I didn't. I have an SCT with ID tunes but to be as honest as I can, I think it tows better in stock. Could be the tune I have for towing but it just seems to make the engine grown under the floor board if I get on the gas between gears on grades...

 

Thanks, so what could I do to it to help me get better mpg but i dont want to mess up my engine?

 

Let me give you a little more....i talked to only 2 techs and they both said the same thing. Now there are hundreds of PSD owens who have them and have no issues what so ever, but then again, this is the 6.0 we are talking about..it's not perfect. I have the 100K warranty on it, and personally I don't want to do anything that could be considered questionable by Ford if there is a problem. I know the argument, let the engine breath, and i get it, I buy into it but I think Ford would push back if there was a warraty issues and the truck was mod'ed up even with a simple exhust.

So to answer your question. There are several reasons why we are all getting lower MPG's. The main culprit is ULSD. The second, is Winter Blend.

No doubt you can get a programmer and have custom tunes for economy etc but that will be short lived b/c you will quickly see that you have "more instant power" and thus your MPG's may go down. Where I see the biggest improvement with a tune is highway driving. I get upwars of 2-4 better with a encon tune.

You best bet is to learn the shift points and control your right food to get better MPG's.

Sorry if this sounds like hogwash but I have had tunes in my last two trucks and while they do/can make a slight difference they may take longer to recoup the costs....not to mention your truck is sure fun to drive when it is tuned. The looks on some peoples faces when you leave them sitting at stop lights is almost worth the price.

Net is, its your truck, if you have the means to pony up for repaires that Ford may deny go for it. But for me, in this enonomy, my truck has been in stock for the last 6 months.

One last tip...every couple of weeks you do need to drive it like you stole a few times. With a warm engine, hold the revs over 3K for several seconds, slow down and repeat.

 

What you've heard here about '03 & '04 6.0's is correct. Stay away from them. We've got an early build '03 in the fleet and it's been nothing but trouble from day one - and it's completely stock. I can't begin to tell you the list of things that have gone (and continue to go wrong) with it. When it's running, it's one sweet engine. Up until a few months ago, everything was covered under warranty. Now it's dig deep time.

We've got another 6.0 in the fleet that's an '05. It's the best running truck in the fleet and the owner is only reluctantly replacing it with on '08 this week. I'd say the one you're looking at should be a good bet.

 

I have two good friends that are ford mechanics and one happens to be a highly respected diesel man and they both have told me the biggest issue with the 6.0 is the head bolting (studs). Ford put in head bolts that have to be torqued to their max yield, so, the heat cycling of a diesel (especially one that you are working hard or have throwd in some HP mods) eventually stresses the bolting you see the problems with head leaks. Ford knows the problem and will change them out for $600, which really isn't bad if you consider the motorcraft trained technician will likely have to jack the cab off the truck to do the job. My brother has a late 03/early 04 6.0 and he's pushing about 130,000 and hasn't had to have it done yet, buuuut, he does have a coolant leak that he can't find-nor can the dealerships (only seems to leak during heat up and cool down cycling). Plus he's had some little things like sensors and crap, but, not a whole bunch of stuff to mention.

 

I am a school bus mechanic who used to have a fleet of about 60 7.3's and 20 6.0's. The 7.3's had problems with injectors, cam sensors and ipr valves, but problems didn' t start until around 50,000 miles. The 6.0's had problems with injectors, egr coolers, and injector oil supply tubes breaking. These problems started around 10,000 miles. We also had about 15 6.4's. They had maybe 10,000 miles at the most, when we lost the contract and the fleet was transferred. We hadn' t seen many problems, but we did have 1 that burned a hole in a piston and had to have the engine replaced at about 2,500 miles. In my opinion, if I was buying a ford diesel, I wouldn' t touch a 6.0 or 6.4. I would get a 7.3. They just had less problems and were easier to work on.

 

Run it hard, leave it stock, don't buy it if you're just gonna putter back and forth to work, don't idle it all day, and more than likely it'll be just fine.

Aside from the injector and calibration problems at launch, most 6.0 liter problems are self-inflicted, IMO.