7.3 or 6.0

[!!!PainTrain!!!]

I'm a diesel mechanic and trust me go with the 7.3. I've had mine for 5 years and the only problem that i had was the tranny and the cam sensor, the tranny problem was due to the power that it is making and towing. i got a turbonetics ball buster turbo, 120hp chip, exhaust, cold air intake, 8" lift w/ 38" tires on 20" rims. i did upgrade the tranny though, tripple disc billet converter, redline clutches, transgo tugger valve body kit. oh yeah, and there a hell of alot easier to work on. If you do get one and your going to tow with it, i highly recommend getting a good converter from BD, or ATS. hope this helps.

I would suggest a TC as well as a valve body. PM Lord Tauk, he has a TC and vb on his 7.3.

 

[STG]

a guy a works with clams to know a lot about the new diesels and saying the 6.0's have a habit of blowing head gaskets when you turn up the boost. any truth to that?

The engine's rated at 325hp/560 lb.ft.from Ford. The most HP you could buy from International/Navistar in a 6.0 was 275. In other words, the 6.0 came hot-rodded from Ford.

Turning up the boost on one is stupid.

I've had no problems with mine except a leaking crank position sensor.:dancenana:

 

[quick26]

i had the OBS 7.3, dad has the 7.3 excursion and i have a 03 6.0. i was weary about the 6.0 at first because dad bought one in his first excursion and ford bought it back. its hit or miss with the 6.0. you get a good one or you get a terrible one. i have a 140k+ miles on mine and so far i have ate up one turbo, but i think that was due to an undetected boost leak. i have a sct cutom tuned on it, mbrp turbo back, egr cooler block off plate and the egr valve is turned off. i also have a k&n intake on it. pulling wise, it will pull just as fast as you are willing to go. i pull a 28' enclosed trailer through the hills with no problems. if you get a 6.0, get an OASIS report run on the vin first and that will give you some indication as to it being a problematic truck or not. the only issue with the 7.3 is the transmission. however, if you drive it like you have some sense you will not have any issues with that till a ways down the road. as far as the head studs go, most of the time you can get the dealer to install the studs when they do the head gaskets if you should need them done. when my turbo let loose, it went into an over boost condition burrying the boost guage at 40lbs and mine is still fine. i was nervious though lol.

 

[wicked90lx]

6.0.......90% of problems with 6.0 is poor maintance..............change fuel filter everytime u change oil filter, solves the injector problem.add water wetter, drops pressure in cooling system. pressure bluiding up oil cooler is causing the egr cooler to go bad which is what is causing oil cooler to go bad. only 3 problems the 6.0 has fixed. If you r looking for a 6.0 u must be spending a lil money so go with a 05-06 give or take 50k miles. and you still have a warrenty! 6.0 will out run out pull the 7.3 (stock for stock) 5r120 is stronger then the 4r100 also

 

[95'lightning]

I have had three 7.3 trucks, still wish I had my second one. I think I will always have a 7.3 because of what has already been said, saying that, I am looking for a cummins right now. I love my truck, just want to try out a dodge.

 

[venmos1]

i have been looking into getting into a diesel. ive read tons of the "which diesel to get" threads. model specific forums are going to tend to be biased. one thing ive been wondering lately is motors of the big 3 (ford, chevy, dodge). ford has changed its motors 3 times (7.3 to 6.0 to 6.4). doesnt show me alot of success and confidence. i find it odd that a newer motor or newer design isnt better than the last. look at all the replies on here. most say go with the 7.3. the whole point of going with a newer truck is to get a better truck. granted maintenance is key with any automobile.
sure gm hasnt been making the duramax as long, but each model/design is better than the last. the issues seem to be known and info is out there in the many forums for diesels. the history of the cummins is known very well. they have arguably the best diesel engine created. cant go wrong with a cummins engine. the truck dodge puts it in is another issue. the new dodges seem to have a better trans but the older autos are pretty bad. stock for stock you should be fine. up the power with a lead foot and you will lead to tranny problems in any truck.
i am very new to diesels and still have tons to learn. there is alot of great info out there.

 

[skyhighsd]

i have been looking into getting into a diesel. ive read tons of the "which diesel to get" threads. model specific forums are going to tend to be biased. one thing ive been wondering lately is motors of the big 3 (ford, chevy, dodge). ford has changed its motors 3 times (7.3 to 6.0 to 6.4). doesnt show me alot of success and confidence. i find it odd that a newer motor or newer design isnt better than the last. look at all the replies on here. most say go with the 7.3. the whole point of going with a newer truck is to get a better truck. granted maintenance is key with any automobile.

To answer a few things that you pointed out. First yes I own a 7.3 but a very long time friend of mine is a eng. for Navistar and my info comes first hand and he does work on the design of these motors, just so you understand it is not me being biased.

The 7.3 was around for a long while and it is a "truck" motor design to last a very long time. The 6.0 was Ford strong arming navistar to use there vendors for parts that navistar didnt want to use but did. Then you come back to the 6.4 which navistar than went to tell ford that it was there build or nothing. Ford agreed and the end result is a great motor that stock for stock runs circles around dodge and chevy.

Just wait and see what Ford can build on there own since there will be another motor change soon and it will be a Ford motor since the relantionship with navistar is gone. Ford doesnt like loosing lawsuits against there vendors.

 

[2_wacko]

Here where I live we had more oil field work then anywhere in Texas. Just about all the oilfield crew workers used the late 90 and early 2000 model's with the 7.3. At work we have a 2002 7.3 with 190,000 plus miles and still going strong every day.

 

[SID297]

The best thing the 6.0 has over the 7.3 is the tranny behind it.

 

[SNCBOOM]

7.3. My dad has a 2000 F-250 XL LWB auto and he's approaching 450k miles with no major issues. He's still tranny issue free. He has several trailers and routinely tows his bulldozer, skid steers, and different cars/trucks. It has certainly paid for itself many times over.

 

[SILVER-BULLET]

The engine's rated at 325hp/560 lb.ft.from Ford. The most HP you could buy from International/Navistar in a 6.0 was 275. In other words, the 6.0 came hot-rodded from Ford.

Turning up the boost on one is stupid.

I've had no problems with mine except a leaking crank position sensor.:dancenana:

You read my mind.


123k here (2005 6.0 Crew 4x4)---never been to the dealer for anything but maintenance work.

 

[qachargh]

7.3 by far. Just make sure you carry a few cam position sensors and a 10mm wrench in the glove box. Other than that you will have the pleasure of a massive turbo and belching clouds of black smoke for hundreds of thousands of trouble free miles. And personally, I prefer the 7.3 trucks because you could still get a fairly high trim model with the 6-speed stick.

 

[bullitt1289]

im not sure what i am going to end up with. im heading home here any day now. gonna pay off the wifes car and look for a truck. dont want to spend over 18k and try to get something with 100k or less miles on it. found a couple close to home. will have to do some shopping around when i get back

 

[S197man]

7.3 FTW. Dad had one with 560k miles on it

 

[qachargh]

The great thing about the 7.3 is you do not have to picky about the mileage. 10,000 and 200,000 will run the exact same if they were regularly maintained.

 

[farmerhurd]

i have driven my brother in laws 7.3 with the full banks kit, i have a 6.0 sct , filter and exhaust, i can walk all over his 7.3 . wouldnt trade my 6.0 for a 7.3 period.
however i have heard many nightmare stories about the 6.0 they are hit or miss. headstuds are a must although i have yet to install them in mine. you cant beat the turbo whine of the 03 6.0 ! my advice try them both and try to find someone who has mods and try that, bottom line buy what you like best not what someone else likes best afterall you will be driving it! that said i vote 6.0! just my .02

 

[Ben99GT]

Ford had there hands into the 6.0 too much unlike the 7.3 which was all designed by Navistar(international).

Navistar was the problem here.

 

[skyhighsd]

Navistar was the problem here.

Try again that was ford pushing there parts on them.

 

[Ben99GT]

You're wrong. Navistar built a glass jaw engine, plain and simple. Navistar went against Ford's recommendations numerous times, even for the supplier of the injectors, IIRC. It's not Ford's fault warranty costs were through the roof. It's not Ford's fault Navistar didn't honor the warranty agreements. Ever wonder why the VT365 has almost as many problems as the SDs? One word: Navistar. Yea, I know a local Blue Bell fleet manager that has a fleet of International delivery trucks. The 6.0 is a problematic p.o.s. no matter whose name is on the grille. In this fleet the 7.3s were going 300K before major problems started creeping up, the good 6.0s go 150K before major problems, the bad ones are problematic from very, very low miles. International had as many PCM reflashes as Ford did.

That 6.4 you praise as being mostly "Navistar" is also turning out to be quite the pile as well. I'm friends with a bunch of techs from Butch Oustalet Ford here in MS, and they've swapped close to 20 engine assemblies out due to COMPLETE engine failures. One was a 500 mile '08 KR 4x4, and near $60K truck! This is not particularly large dealership either. Ever seen a 6.4 on an engine stand? I have. It's like the Navistar engineers conspired to make the most unserviceable engine as humanly possible. Unreliable AND hard to work, what a concept!

Navistar made a an excellent engine in the 7.3, beefy basic architecture, simple, reliable. But once they started playing the emissions game with the 6.0 it went all to hell.

If Ford was really the problem here, do you think they would have SUED THEIR WAY OUT OF THEIR ENGINE CONTRACT WITH NAVISTAR? No, they would have fixed the problems on their end and gone on their merry way. Problem is, the phrase "can't polish a turd" applies here.

Here's Ford response to Navistar: Spied! New Ford Scorpion Diesel Underhood Photos - PickupTrucks.com News

Ford's big F.U. to the company who can't build a reliable and modern diesel engine.
Wanna bet this all Ford diesel engine is 10x the engine the p.o.s. 6.0/6.4 is?

 

[skyhighsd]

LOL you must work for Ford, a very good friend of mine was a engineer on that poject and tells a hole different first hand story of that motor. Believe what you want.