Ford F250 Turbo Diesel

Tony Falotico

Member
Messages
519
Location
Lake City, Florida
Hey all, I've not posted for a while, but I do lurk almost daily......... Anyway, I'm looking (very seriously) at a 2005 F250 turbo diesel, V8 6L in very good shape. 51500 miles, 1450 hrs. I am totally new to diesels. It makes a lot of noises I'm not used to, especially the whining of the turbo. Also the previous owner put some sort of tip on the exhaust that makes it sound like a jet.

My question: is there any reason I need to walk away from this, or is it a solid engine? I'll have my mechanic look at it tomorrow, but any advise, wisdom, warnings will be appreciated.

BTW, I really like it, when you hit gas, that thing takes off!!

Thanks, Tony
 
my son in law has a turbo diesel and it sounds like a freight train on steroids. probably pretty much like yours sounds. he has a pretty big camper so thats why he bought a diesel. he gets great gas mileage but the fuel is about 35 cents more per gallon :eek:

Are you going to be pulling something heavy often :dunno:
 
I've got a 2000 F350 Diesel. Love it. Pulls like a train. Lots of weird noises...

Different engine than yours, so can't really comment. Only problem I've had with mine is a crankshaft position sensor went out once and the rats that nested in the engine bay...
 
Just checked in over at a few diesel forums. They say the 6 liter runs like a scalded cat. If it's been taken good care of, nothing there to worry about...

Well, Except you may go through an adjustment period where you have to really think about reaching for the green pump handle...
 
As discussed in this thread http://familywoodworking.org/forums/showthread.php?26513-A-Little-Mechanical-Diversion
we have an F350, same year, same engine. It first belonged to a young buck out in Fort Mac who rode it hard and put it up wet, so it came with some issues, which we've addressed. Even so, it's like driving a locomotive. I'm sure it would climb right up the side of the barn.
We haul a 22,000 lb gooseneck trailer with it and the rpms never change, uphill or down.
The thing that surprised me the most was the fuel economy, compared to our other pick-up, a very thirsty old 96 F150. The 350 will get about 24+ mpg (US) if you keep it under 100 kph.
A Florida truck that's never seen road salt and not abused, you should have no problem.
Enjoy!
 
Thanks all, I briefly checked a couple forums earlier, they talked about issues with the earlier 6L's, but all the owners love them.
I have a 21 ft Bay boat I pull with my F150 5.4L, hoping this will help reduce my gas bill when hauling.

Well I better get some sleep, because tomorrow -- the negotiations begin!

Thanks, Tony
 
My dad just traded off his 2005. It only ever needed the high pressure oil pump, other than that it ran like a champ. I think it cost him about $800 for the replacement of the pump by the dealer, could have had it rebuilt by a local shop for a few hundred, but since they travel so much, he wanted the ford warranty to turn in where ever they are. I also just looked at several 2003-2005's, found a lot that had the ball joints worn out on them with all that weight up front, so have your mechanic inspect those.
 
My mechanic told me to take it back ............ :( Oh well, seems like the 6L has a bad history. He recommended I stay away from it.

The dealer said he would look into an extended warranty, and called me back, $1200 for one year or $2500 for 3 years. Dropped the price another $1000 if I decide to take it. He's $8K below KBB.
Last time I bought a car against recommendations (VW 411 wagon) it cost me a fortune until it finally caught fire and was totaled, so my gut feeling is to follow my mechanic's advise.

Poo!

Thanks for the responses, guess I'll keep looking.
Tony
 
Yes the ford 6 liter diesels do have a bad history. The oil cooler will start to fail which in turn causes the egr cooler to fail. This failure causes steam to build up around the cylinder heads which can cause the torque to yield head bolts to fail causing a blown head gasket. Had a friend just go thru this on a f450 super duty he bought used. Some also had fuel injector problems on a cold start the spool valve in the injector would stick until the oil temp got up to about 155 degrees. This issue would show up with the ambient air temp being around 65 degrees.
 
Toni thats the same engine as in my Jeep Commander i aint seen and huge difference on the gas consumption with the steady state 4 cyclinder concept. Not convinced its not just marketing gimmics again.
Btw did you know these engines have 16 spark plugs (eeek).

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk
 
Hey Rob, the 4 cylinder feature wasn't a selling point for me, the fact that the hemi is tried and true technology was. I could have done better on gas mileage, but it's a solid and proven truck, and the deal being a left over 2011 was very good.

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk
 
Some of the parents I know that have the newer hemi's that drop to four cylinders are easily cracking 22 mpg on highway. Wouldn't see that on my brother's hemi that is an '03. In fact, after only 7 miles of errrrr driving yeah, that's what it is called, driving, I had his 10 mpg to 0!!!!!!!!!!!!! Put wings on that truck and it might fly!
 
Heck what you need is a 1953 Willies Aero Ace 6 cylinder 25-28 MPG. My Dad had one back in the 50's & got this MPG with 4 adults & luggage going to & from Canada. It had what they called a F-head 6 cyl. 1/2 the valves in the head the other 1/2 in the block.

I still think the car & truck manufactures are pulling our chain.
 
Top