Excursion - 6.0 Diesel

[RedOwl]

I have the opportunity to buy a 2005 Ford Excursion w/ the 6.0 diesel in it. The truck only has 94,000 miles on it and appears to be in great shape. The seller wants $17,000 for it. I do not have the repair history for it as of yet, but I doubt that the head studs have been replaced...

There are V10s to be had for a lower price around here, 7.3s to be had for a similar price but 3X the mileage, and other 6.0s for a lower price, but higher miles.

What are your thoughts?

[shawndoggy]

Bulletproofing the 6.0 costs $6-8k

[TheKiwi]

Do not want.

[Wayne]

Overall the Excursion with the 6.0 diesel is a good package. Ford had issues with the fuel system when they introduced the 6.0 liter. I think they were all worked out by 2004 and no issues for 2005 production vehicles.

Have a good place go over the truck for anything mechanical. Other wise it should be fine. Look closely at the front suspension. If it ever had a snow plow on it every joint in the front suspension will need to be replaced.

[RedOwl]

Do not want.

Would you prefer an Excursion V10 with 95,000 miles at this price OR a 7.3 diesel w/ 200,000 miles?

[RedOwl]

Bulletproofing the 6.0 costs $6-8k

What does bulletproofing entail?

[built2rev]

This place has a ton of stuff for the 6.0 http://www.bulletproofdiesel.com/

I know i just purchased a 2005 F250 with the 6.0 and have great luck with it. I know the 6.0 had its share of problems but they all do.

[jk13]

Contact these guys or search online for specifics to look for before buying any diesel:

http://www.ksfuel.com/contact-us.aspx

I don't know anyone in Madison but they are the authority on diesels here in town. We share many customers (and we do work for each other) and I've heard good things. They do bulletproofing, upgrades, dyno tuning, full service, etc.

[toddthelineman]

I wouldn't want a 7.3 in wisconsin. Because I had one in wisconsin. Maybe bad luck, but it was more than one truck. 7.3s can be very cold blooded but one truck in particular kept melting the fuel pump relay at sub zero temps and couldn't be explained by the dealer in milwaukee. Basically, if you can't keep your diesel plugged in during the winter months you will eventually be stranded... in the freezing cold! Our newer trucks don't seem to have this problem but we buy v10s now because we had problems with dozens of trucks

[Sixball]

The V10 will love the fuel stations. I have known four people with the first I think 7.3l and ever one wishes he had it back. They loved them. The 6.0 I think was the second diesel not as good as the first.

[Pnwrider]

Short answer, no and walk away. What are you looking for in your next vehicle purchase? Towing, hauling people, reliability, etc?

[ndahlberg12]

I had an 04 F250 6.0 as my first diesel. Coworker was getting divorced so it was a great buy. Bought it with 95000 on the clock and traded it at 140K. Would of kept it but my wife got a work vehicle so I had a unique opportunity to trade both our vehicles and upgrade my ride for once.

I did plenty of reading and read all the horror stories. I went ahead and put an extended warranty on it just in case. I did have 4 original injectors go bad and a radiator. Ext warranty footed the whole bill. Truck ran fine, the injectors would just still open a bit on cold start for about 5 seconds. Truck was an absolute beast. Maybe I was a lucky one but it ran great for the 3 years I owned it. And I pulled our boats jet skis and our 12k lb RV with it.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chris4x4gill2]

I have an 05 6.0. No issues to date with it. The little maintenance things and monitoring are the key to longevity.

I would buy a bluetooth OBD reader and download the app Torque to your phone. Run the truck and verify oil and coolant tmeps are good. A high oil temp signals a bad oil cooler - left too long can cause the blown head gasket issue. Replacing / flushing coolant and adding a coolant filter are good first steps, but iof the coolers are already starting to have buildup, a flush can block them completely.

[SkiingPT]

I bought an 05 6.0 Excursion 3 years ago and have loved it. If you don't tune it for more power, the head studs are generally an issue with regular maintenance. The EGR cooler is the primary failure. Drive it tilit starts to fail and do an EGR delete. Just had mine done for$900. Have it checked out and can be a good vehicle. The V-10s guzzle gas.

[RedOwl]

Thank you everyone for your posts - every time I attempted to reply my phone would ring, a dog would bark, or a child would cry...

It sounds like the the 6.0 is survivable (and possibly a really good option).

Our biggest problem is not knowing what we want.

We don't want to own a third vehicle (but we may need to go that way), but my wife and I both drive a 50 mile round trip commute each day, and we put on another 2,000-4,000 miles heading to and from our cabin every year so a big gas-guzzling V8 is a hard pill to swallow.

Cars we've considered thus far:

7.3 excursion w/ 190,000 on the odometer

a low-mileage Mercedes GL Diesel ($28,000 range)

a $5,000 truck that will just get us to the lake and maybe plow a driveway (if we did this, it'd be our third vehicle)

This lower mileage Excursion

A late-model Armada with low(er) miles ($22,000).

We're all over the place...

Edited June 30, 2014 by RedOwl

[malibu2004]

I know 5 people that either a 2004 or 2005 PSD with me being one of them. 4 of us got rid of them before 30k because they where junk. My buddy that kept his had about 130k on it he's had some issues with the motor. Currently it's in the shop with issues and the price to fix it rising.

When they work they are a great truck. The problem is keeping them out of the shop.

[RedOwl]

Throwing another one out there for fun; How do you feel about the late-90's (96-99) GM 7.4 liter 484? Good/mediocre/disaster waiting to happen?

We found a <$10,000 vehicle with that motor and the truck has less than 90,000 miles on it.

Just throwing darts at the wall and seeing what sticks...

[Pnwrider]

I've given in and accepted that owning 3 vehicles is just one of the costs of having a boat. I average 25k miles a year commuting and would rather not put those miles on my truck. I bought a nice truck (don't want to have the family stranded while towing the boat long distances) and buy a cheap commuter every 3-5 years.

[shawndoggy]

the next newer gen with the 8.1 is a great (and VERY VERY thirsty) tow rig.... and can definitely be had for similar $$$.

[Tracktor]

I have an 05 Excursion with a 6.0 and love it. I also have an 06 F350 with a 6.0. Buy an Edge to monitor your oil/temp deltas & enjoy! The issues with these engines were from not knowing how to prevent a major failure usually from a clogged oil cooler. If worried have the oil cooler replaced & Egr deleted/replaced and the other small updates while they are in there shouldn't be more than $3500 at most. I wouldn't trade for a 7.3 at this point. The tranny in the 6.0 is much better plus the 05 has the newer interior, etc. Any Excursion should have the V/modded B leaf spring upgrade done. They drive like s*** until you do this....................For $17k I wouldn't blink an eye if the Oasis report is clean.............

[wakesetter8796]

I have an 05 Excursion with a 6.0 and love it. I also have an 06 F350 with a 6.0. Buy an Edge to monitor your oil/temp deltas & enjoy! The issues with these engines were from not knowing how to prevent a major failure usually from a clogged oil cooler. If worried have the oil cooler replaced & Egr deleted/replaced and the other small updates while they are in there shouldn't be more than $3500 at most. I wouldn't trade for a 7.3 at this point. The tranny in the 6.0 is much better plus the 05 has the newer interior, etc. Any Excursion should have the V/modded B leaf spring upgrade done. They drive like s*** until you do this....................For $17k I wouldn't blink an eye if the Oasis report is clean.............

And that turbo whistle on the 6.0.... mmm

[ryanbush]

We have a fleet of ford diesels, the only 6.0 we have is in a 04 excursion 4x4. We bought it with 74k on it 2 years ago and we're at 200k now and it has had less problems than all but one of our 7.3s. We did EGR delete, ARP head studs and tune... runs awesome

I wouldn't be afraid to buy one again.

[Malibudude]

Throwing another one out there for fun; How do you feel about the late-90's (96-99) GM 7.4 liter 484? Good/mediocre/disaster waiting to happen?

We found a <$10,000 vehicle with that motor and the truck has less than 90,000 miles on it.

Just throwing darts at the wall and seeing what sticks...

The 7.4L is a solid engine but after driving that and a newer 8.1L....um the 8.1 is sooooo much more fun to drive. Both are thirsty no doubt but lucky for us gas is everywhere. No worries about wintertime plug in or soot on the boat. The problem I have is keeping my foot out of it and the smile off my face but has never let me down and is VERY simply to work on. The benefit of the 8.1 is that it was mated to the Allison tranny, for gas engine it's just this side of perfect objectively speaking...

the next newer gen with the 8.1 is a great (and VERY VERY thirsty) tow rig.... and can definitely be had for similar $$$.

[Tims]

The 7.4L is a solid engine but after driving that and a newer 8.1L....um the 8.1 is sooooo much more fun to drive. Both are thirsty no doubt but lucky for us gas is everywhere. No worries about wintertime plug in or soot on the boat. The problem I have is keeping my foot out of it and the smile off my face but has never let me down and is VERY simply to work on. The benefit of the 8.1 is that it was mated to the Allison tranny, for gas engine it's just this side of perfect objectively speaking...

Why did they stop making the 8.1? Age of tooling and design? Sounds like a good platform.

[Malibudude]

Why did they stop making the 8.1? Age of tooling and design? Sounds like a good platform.

2007 the year of disappointment.