If you've been actively involved...
If you've been actively involved in the diesel scene the last 5-6 years, chances are you've seen the cab off a Super Duty, or have at least heard about it. Because of the tight engine compartment, it's much easier to unbolt the eight body mounts and disconnect all electronics from the truck and pull the cab when addressing the 6.0L's head bolt problem.
The 6.0L Ford Power Stroke engine suffers from one of the worst reputations in the diesel industry--a reputation that quite frankly we don't think it deserves, and one we're looking to improve. One of the most common questions we're asked about the 6.0L is: why didn't Ford just stick with the 7.3L Power Stroke? In hindsight Ford may wish it had, but there are many reasons why the 6.0L Power Stroke came to be.
Keep in mind that the federal government set tougher diesel emissions standards for engines built after January 1, 2003. That meant Ford and International knew they had to invest a substantial amount of money in their diesel engine--just to keep it smog-legal. It's possible they could've added an exhaust gas recirculation system (EGR), a variable-geometry turbo, and a higher-pressure injection system to the 7.3L and been emissions compliant. But a clean-burning 7.3L engine still would've been at a horsepower disadvantage to the 300hp Duramax and 305hp Cummins engines that both featured four valves per cylinder. The Duramax and Cummins engines also benefited from deep-skirt engine blocks and Bosch's latest common-rail injection, which made them quieter than the 7.3L.
So Ford and International built an all-new engine that could do four things: meet the 2003 emissions standards, make more power than the competition, improve fuel economy (thanks to its smaller size), and reduce engine noise. International utilized variable geometry turbo technology, digital fuel injection, four valves per cylinder, and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in order to get the job done. It should be stated outright that the 6.0L Power Stroke is nowhere near as bad as most people make it out to be. From a manufacturers' standpoint, the 6.0L met all emissions standards and survived all the testing performed during its research and development stages. So basically, the 6.0L shouldn't be problematic for the consumer--in stock form.
This is what happens when...
This is what happens when the torque-to-yield head bolts fail to spread the load and the head lifts off the block--coolant in the cylinders.
This brings us to the power adder aspect that we, diesel owners, usually dabble in at some point or another. Depending on the technician or mechanic you talk to, opinions on the 6.0L vary. When we spoke to the Power Stroke experts at Diesel Tech in San Jacinto, California, they told us most customers with '03 to '07 6.0L Super Dutys operating at stock power levels rarely experience major failures. This makes sense to us. After all, an engine operating within its factory-tested power range will obviously be more reliable, in theory, than one turning more rpm, fueling heavier, and creating more heat and higher cylinder pressures, right? Sure there were quirks, but what engine doesn't have its own particular set of issues?
With the help of Diesel Tech and Elite Diesel Engineering, we've gone beyond the well-known 6.0L EGR and head bolt problems and compiled a list of the '03 to '07 Power Stroke's major faults. We've even gone so far as to match each specific problem with the given model year(s) most affected by it and provided you with a reliable fix.
 Here you can see the difference...  Here you can see the difference between a factory head bolt (top) and an ARP head stud (bottom). Due to the fact that a stud can thread completely into the block, clamping force on the head is vastly increased, and the load on the head is spread much more evenly. |  Dave Briggs, a technician...  Dave Briggs, a technician at Diesel Tech, is very familiar with installing aftermarket head studs on 6.0L's. Briggs showed us this stack of 20 empty ARP head stud boxes and said we were looking at just two years' worth of installs, not to mention the customers that brought in their own head studs. "For a while I was doing one a week," he told us. Another 6.0L head stud option is offered by A1 Technologies. Its H-11 head studs are said to have even more clamping power than ARP's, but both will solve the head bolt problem. The factory 6.0L head bolts typically aren't a serious issue until the engine is modified. According to Tadd Layton at Elite Diesel Engineering, the EGR cooler is also directly linked to head gasket failure. The reason behind this is the EGR cooler's inability to keep exhaust gas temperatures down causes coolant to boil, which leads to a loss of coolant. Without an adequate amount of coolant circulating throughout the cooling system, operating temperatures skyrocket and can ultimately cause cylinder head warping and blown head gaskets. |  In this comparison you can...  In this comparison you can see the difference in EGR coolers between the '03 and '04-to-'07 model years. The circular design on the '03-style coolers (bottom) is less prone to plugging up from carbon, oil, and soot buildup than the rectangular-style '04-and-newer coolers (top). Another common failure on EGR coolers is due to the coolant core seam leaking, which allows coolant to enter the exhaust stream (up into the turbo), or into the intake when the EGR valve is open. |