ronc

A friend of mine is about to buy an 2004 Powerstroke with 158,000 miles and wants to know what problems are common on these trucks. Any help would be appreciated.

cincydiesel

Sorry not enough time to write about all the problems with the 03 and 04 6.0's. Heck I never heard of one with that many miles with original parts. I can tell you about the good things!

1. Nice interiors
2. Solid front axle
3. Huge back seat in the Crew cabs
4. I cant think of anything else

BlackSunShyne

Tell him to run....NOW!

BigBully

I would not buy a 03 or 04 6.0. After 05 they pretty much had the bugs worked out

mmurray

Ok there is one major flaw and it's easy to spot...

Tell your friend to walk around to the front of the truck... Look for a Blue Oval...

If it's there, that truck is defective!!!

rattlerbob5.9

Head gaskets for starters and you have remove the cab to change them or the crappy injectors . Weak rods if you try to make big power, many oil leaks, cooling system problems,very poor dependability,fuel mileage,etc

Friends don't let friends drive 6-ONO'S unless he buys it really cheap and puts a 5.9 in it.

yljkt

Get an OASIS report from Ford to see what recalls have been done, and what TSB's have been addressed. HPOP, EGR cooler, and EGR valve are common problems.

rip 112

What isn't wrong with those trucks? The 6.0 just isnt the ticket for a "HEAVY DUTY" engine. If he wants a 6.0, tell him 05-06 is the ticket, but tell him he'd really be happier in an 04 Cummins over an 04 Powerstroke. JMHO

ronc

This is a company truck that he works for. He said the truck only has road miles only, has not been worked. The truck has never been modified and was serviced regularly. He can get the truck for $6000.00, would you guys still run?

rip 112

Yeah, I guess I would get it so I could run it in the ground!!! I guess if he can get it for a steal and he has driven it alot of those miles, why not?

rattlerbob5.9

Is this really an 04 6.0 powerchoke DIESEL????
If all the above is actually true it is the only one out there maybe ford should buy it for display . This is the first one i ever heard of that has not been worked on and is also one of the higher miles seems to good to be true.
For sure run the OASIS on it to at least verify the history.

johnny5.9

Personally, I'd buy it for $6000, depending on the condition of the truck. The trucks do have a nice solid interior and I've always liked the look and fitment of panels etc. The problem is, I couldn't sleep at night knowing their inexcusable history of poor reliability. And if you need a truck to earn a living it's not worth it no matter what the price. You'll be losing money if it sits in the driveway. Just because nothing has gone wrong does not mean nothing will. The later years are definitely better. If the guy is getting it for that price I would certainly save up the coin and look into swapping a cummins. This will solve issues this truck has and give you the best of both worlds. IMO, I like the ford interior more than the dodge and the back seat is actually useful. The cost of the swap will be right around the cost of pulling the cab to fix the very common head gasket failure, turbo failure, egr system failure. So bottom line, if something major went the only way I'd fix it would be with a 5.9. Putting money into a 6.0 is like putting it down the toilet. Just my .02

xraydodge

I am very suprised to see one with 158,000. It probably was a good one! Very expensive to work on. I have owned two of them. The 6.0 is a big troublesome turd. The 6.0 was one of the first diesel engines to start incorporating all the new emissions stuff. Emission requirements are the evil behind killing these diesel engines. I would not recommend buying it just for the simple fact of the cost to work on it.

96_12V

It's a deal for this, even if he has major work to do, it's still quite cheap for something like this. Even if he simply turns around and sells it - it's a deal.

cincydiesel

Agree, Sounds like a great CR conversion project.