Powerstroke questions

[ironpig70]

Not a Ford guy and have a family of Chevy guys but am looking at trucks and seeing lots of Fords that I like. I have heard from my Chevy family that the Powerstroke had problems and it was either the 6.0 or 7.3.

I am sure that there may be some truth to this as anytime a new motor comes out there is always some issue. So what years was there problems and what should I be on the look out for. I am looking at trucks around the 2004-2007 range. The one in particular is an 2005 with 7.3.


Also what kind of life do these motors have. Not been around diesels alot.


Thanks

[84CJ7LT1]

6.0 had the issues 7.3 are workhorses

[ironpig70]

Originally Posted by 84CJ7LT1

6.0 had the issues 7.3 are workhorses

Thanks. Thats what I wanted to hear.


What kind of life do they have 300k miles, 500k miles or more

[moonshiner68]

6.0L are junk! And the 7.3ls are the best from 95-97. In 2005 the 7.3l wasnt put into the fords on 6.0Ls. My 96 7.3l is at 240k and running strong. Ive seen em make 500k but mainteniance costs go up.

[ironpig70]

Originally Posted by moonshiner68

6.0L are junk! And the 7.3ls are the best from 95-97. In 2005 the 7.3l wasnt put into the fords on 6.0Ls. My 96 7.3l is at 240k and running strong. Ive seen em make 500k but mainteniance costs go up.

Sorry my bad was looking at a couple trucks its an 02.

So what else is a truck of this eras weak points?

[ky scrambled]

Originally Posted by moonshiner68

6.0L are junk! And the 7.3ls are the best from 95-97. In 2005 the 7.3l wasnt put into the fords on 6.0Ls. My 96 7.3l is at 240k and running strong. Ive seen em make 500k but mainteniance costs go up.

meh.

[moonshiner68]

Depends how much power u want and what you want to use the truck for.

[ky scrambled]

Originally Posted by ironpig70

Sorry my bad was looking at a couple trucks its an 02.

So what else is a truck of this eras weak points?

thier spelling sucks







unit bearings
trannys
ball joints
hubs

[ironpig70]

Originally Posted by moonshiner68

Depends how much power u want and what you want to use the truck for.

I want power lots of it. I don't know what I'll tow but someday wanna tow a travel trailer, would like to tow like equipment like skidsteers or dump trailers.

Would like to jump onto the freeway loaded down with 10k in tow and not stress about the assholes who wont move the fawk over

[moonshiner68]

Trans, turbo, they r kinda expensive to mod, not as expensive as a gasser but still. Your lookin at 400 horse to move that load fast. Thats about 10-15k if u do ur own work and shop around. Thats just the engine though, trans if its auto will run 4k, manual is about 2-3k.

[ironpig70]

Originally Posted by moonshiner68

Trans, turbo, they r kinda expensive to mod, not as expensive as a gasser but still. Your lookin at 400 horse to move that load fast. Thats about 10-15k if u do ur own work and shop around. Thats just the engine though, trans if its auto will run 4k, manual is about 2-3k.

Damn guess I'll have to go chevy as stock the new 2011's put out 390 hp

Or just drive like an asshole


I see a 7.3 is about 250 horses is that about correct?

[Dr.Danger]

Originally Posted by ironpig70

Damn guess I'll have to go chevy as stock the new 2011's put out 390 hp

Or just drive like an asshole


I see a 7.3 is about 250 horses is that about correct?

Yes, the 7.3 is around 250 for that year. There were some dana 50 front axles that were being phased out in 02 so that truck could have that or a dana 60. Don't stress over unit bearings, you won't find another truck from the last decade that doesn't have them and they live just fine as long as you use a stock wheel offset. Try to find a manual trans, the automatics could use a little work from the factory but can be made bulletproof if you wanna spend a couple grand. The rest of the truck is built well and the engines are great.

If you wanna spend the coin on a new truck, I really don't think you can lose whichever brand you go with, they all have awesome power nowadays. Trucks have come so far in power and tow ratings in the last few years it is ridiculous. Only downside I see to owning the Chevy is that you don't get a decent 4x4 setup in the front, but the duramax/allison combo is good. The new Ford 6.7 looks pretty promising and a few of the Ford techs on here have had nothing bad to say about them yet.

[Panthers65]

Originally Posted by ironpig70

Damn guess I'll have to go chevy as stock the new 2011's put out 390 hp

Or just drive like an asshole


I see a 7.3 is about 250 horses is that about correct?

or go with a 2011 6.7 that puts out 400 hp... apples to apples man

[Ford rules]

If you want big power on the cheap you want a 12v then...

[FordFascist]

Big power on the cheap is a 6.4L. Period. Otherwise they are a pain in the ass, but if you want to make 500 RWHP for less than $1500 in mods, it's the truck to do it in.

[Rusty-One]

I think you will be happy with a 2002 7.3 Powerstroke. Bought mine new over 140,000 miles now & hasn't missed a beat.
Great puller

[ironpig70]

Originally Posted by Rusty-One

I think you will be happy with a 2002 7.3 Powerstroke. Bought mine new over 140,000 miles now & hasn't missed a beat.
Great puller

One in question has 120k on the odometer. Crew cab, long bed. Nice looking truck. Interior is plain jane work truck with cloth seats and cheap stereo.

I'd love an 2011 but at 40k its not in the budget.

[ironpig70]

What is the big downside of the 6.0 or 6.4 compared to the 7.3

[Ford rules]

first year 6.0 had lots of problems egr failure head gaskets failure to name a few. Ive never heard much good about the 6.4 either other then you can make big power for cheap but its not gonna last very long though. My brothers diesel shop has 6.4's commin in all the time with crankshaft isssues
Like stated before stick with a 7.3 last year for them was 03.5 there great motors our 7.3 has 150,000 on it has had chip intake and exhaust from day one and is not babied tranny is still sold also

[Ford rules]

Originally Posted by FordFascist

Big power on the cheap is a 6.4L. Period. Otherwise they are a pain in the ass, but if you want to make 500 RWHP for less than $1500 in mods, it's the truck to do it in.

If you want big power on the cheap and still be reliable then it IS a cummins period.

[moonshiner68]

Originally Posted by Ford rules

If you want big power on the cheap and still be reliable then it IS a cummins period.

Not true anymore. the early 7.3's 94-2003 are the ways to go with power in mind. The cummins are nice, and relatively cheap to build but a 7.3l with good programming will make alot of power. Guy outta the Wide Open Performance diesel shop just made 940 rwhp with his single turbo 7.3l. It can be done you just have to be smart about it, alot of cummins and early powerstroke guys just wanted to dump fuel into their large turbos to get power, not so today in 5yrs since I started my initial build on my truck alot more is known about programming and turbos and fuel. Today the trend is towards a smaller injector 238cc instead of 400cc, because they've found out how to machine the nozzles to offer more fuel and not puke themselves like the 400's did, live tuning is also popular. And if your not a moron you'll have a "reputable" turbo shop build you a turbo, not just pick one off the shelf. For too long people have relied on magazines to tell them what crap (*cough* BANKS *cough*) to put on their trucks, and they wondered why they were loosing trannies, blowing up turbos, or puking locomotive smoke out of their 5" exhausts without going anywhere fast...

Just a story i thought ya'll would find interesting.
My two cents on the Duramax/allison... its crap, as are all the new diesels, just cause of the emmissions crap, and the marketing behind them. Chevy couldnt make a diesel engine/truck worth its weight in compost if they tried, which is why they farmed their engine out to Izuzu (who stole their engine designs from american companies...)... (off the soapbox now)

[Ford rules]

Ya but how much money did it take to make that 940 hp? Im a ford guy all the way but cummins is a better motor all around. Think about it no one puts a power stroke in a dodge or a duramax in a dodge theres reasons cummins are the motor of choice.
I will also agree that banks is overrated there shits junk IMHO.
And i will also agree about the duramax/allison.

[mikevyota]

People swap the 12V Cummins because it's 3 wires and a fuel line to make it run. The 7.3 Ford is a complex, HEUI injection system that requires an ECU, IDM and multiple sensors to run. AND, no one makes a stand alone harness for a the swap( like the newer common rail 24V's). If a SAH did exist, you'd see some 7.3's being swapped in alot more vehicles.

Don't get me wrong, the Cummins is a great engine and I've seen more than a few with 600k miles on them. They also have problems, like everything else as well( killer dowel pin, "53" block problems, etc..). But any truck that get the shit kicked out of it daily without maintence is going to give you problems.

OP, any 7.3 or 5.9 Cummins that's been taken care of will suit you fine. 400hp is easy and reasonable. Above that it gets pricey. And why do you need to tow 15k lbs at 80mph? When I tow my 6k trail rig/trailer with my 97' F-250 PSD at 70mph, I get 13mpg. When I slow to 65mph, mileage picks up to 15mpg and I get to where I'm going 10 minutes later.

[ironpig70]

I do not wanna pull at 80 mph. What I want more than anything is to know if I have 8-10k in tow and I need to get onto the highway that I can.

[broncoguy]

In my opinion the only option for buying a Powerstroke is the 7.3, doesn't matter whether it's the 1st or 2nd gen. The 2nd gen powerstroke is already intercooled though, so keep that in mind.

If your planning on actually using the truck and pulling with power mods, go with the 6 speed unless you want to dump 4 grand in an auto to make it live. I'm not saying there aren't auto's out there with high miles, but they are the exception not the rule.

The superduty's ride better and have bigger cabs, but I prefer the looks of the old body style, so cosmetics are up to you.

They have never made a reliable year of 6.0, they got a little better in the later years of production, but they still suck. They couldn't fix all the design flaws that were built into that engine so they finally scrapped it and the 6.4 was born.

The 6.4's are a decent engine but it takes a dpf delete and a good tune to make them pass a fuel station. I've seen a few with crank issues too, but they seem to be few a far between.

The 6.7 is doing good so far, but the lack of a manual trans and the 50,000 dollar price tag ensures that I will never own one.

Go with the 7.3 put an intake on it, open up the exhaust, put a good custom tune on it and it will drag 10,000 lbs around like it's not back there. And those mods won't cost you more than about 1,000 dollars if you do the work yourself.

Just my .02