I'm looking at an 03 excursion with 160k miles. I'm all about the 7.3L, but I hit a lot of miles, and the 6.0 is quieter and gets better fuel economy from what I've seen. I don't do a ton of pulling, but enough light towing that it's getting to be a pita to borrow my wife's truck every time I need to pull a trailer.

I've seen threads that say you need to do head studs and egr delete, never seen a cost. What else needs to be done?

The other thing I wouldn't mind doing is keeping the minivan and buying an 87-91 F-250 ext cab 4wd with a 7.3 and a manual. I figure I can slowly fix it up, starting with putting a turbo in it, but there's not a lot of them out there that I can find.

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/general-6-0l-discussion/204386-write-up-bullet-proofing-6-0l-psd.html

Additionally, there's a early 90's F350 7.3L IDI crew cab long bed for sale near my parent's house. Interior is rough, but they are only asking $2,500. I can post the picture I took that has the number if you'd like. Its in Benbrook, TX.

Your 7.3L gets worse than 14mpg? Most Ive seen seem to do better than that.

Our 7.3 Excursion gets 16-17 when my wife drives it around, I get close to 18 when I drive it empty, I hit more highway. I have gotten 21 mpg doing 65-70 straight highway under perfect conditions.

My F-250 7.3 had lower gears and I towed with it a lot. I'd say I averaged 13 with it.

My dad had an 03 7.3 and an 03 6.0 after the first got damaged up. The 6.0 got almost 2 mpg better(his estimations are based on the computer, not actual mpg). That's why I thought the 6.0 got better mpg.

I had every bulletproofing thing done possible with all new exhaust, Sct tuner, tunes, bumper and suspension install, block painted, .... For $6500. I had found a 2005 excursion for $9200 two years ago then sunk that additional cost into it

Basic stud/HG job should run you around 3-4K with parts and labor. Alot of places try and charge 5K+ which is hard to understand when my bill was 3800 with an intake and extra labor for fuel system and other parts i brought in (not basic job)

Should be able to get it done for around $6,000. That's what it cost to do my 2007 F250. I never really had any issues with it but wanted it done for peace of mind. Navistar really made some head scratching designs with the 6.0. The cooling system is the big scary monster with the 6.0. The coolant filtration system will resolve that issue, I can’t guarantee your cooling system doesn’t already have some level of casting sand caught up in it, but do a good flush on it and then install the coolant filter and avoid any major failures down the road.

I would definitely do the EGR delete, not only is that a potential failure in the cooling system but it also pushed spent exhaust gasses and heavy soot through the intake manifold that should have nice cool CLEAN air flowing through it. It’s a horrible design by Navistar and causes nothing but issues with the way your truck operates.

When going through the 6.0 Bulletproof the EGR delete kit is a very involved installation. You have to remove everything from the top of the engine to remove the faulty EGR cooler and install the delete kit. Must replace all the factory intake gaskets as well as cleaning the intake manifold that is most definitely full of a mixture of diesel soot and oil. There’s no point in leaving all the gunk in there, the intake will flow much better once cleaned.

The regulated return kit and the FASS fuel system would be two aftermarket parts you really should also get. These two parts will aid in the life expectancy of your injectors. The regulated return system will make sure all 8 injectors receive equal and adequate fuel pressure. For the most part when I see failed injectors on a 6.0 Bulletproof it is the rear injectors because they don’t see the same amount of fuel pressure as the forward injectors which is where the fuel comes into the cylinder head. The rear injectors get starved for fuel and that fuel is the only lubrication those injectors get. You looking at about 2 solid days worth of work to get all this done. Use a good mechanic that knows how to bulletproof 6.0's.



[This message has been edited by Burnetaggie99 (edited 7/21/2014 6:28p).]

I charge $1200 labor. You can bring your own parts if you'd like (most folks do). The last one I did with parts I charged 2600. That included head studs, gaskets, oil cooler, egr delete.

^
That sounds like a deal to me. Now to see if I get it. I met the guy out there this morning and went over it a little better since I had keys and all, found several issues I would have to resolve to make it driveable, so I put in an offer.

It ran very well, but it felt less zippy than I expected. Wife's 00 7.3L 2wd Excursion with some light mods - mild programmer, 4" exhaust, intake - is a little faster than the stock 6.0. Should I be concerned?

Maybe it was the 35 second turbo lag that they possess?

Seriously, thats one thing that I have YET to get used to even 9 years later. Its really only a second or two, but when you are getting on the freeway from a dead stop and that 18 wheeler is bearing down, all you can do is pray to Jesus that SOB kicks in really soon.

Turbo is stuck. Very common problem.

Agmechanic,

Are you in BCS now? For some reason I thought you were in the Houston area, but was reading another thread that where 1Ags mentioned BCS? I still need to get my 6.0 done.

[This message has been edited by Aggiebb (edited 7/23/2014 9:08p).]

I'm in BCS now. Been here one year. Hit me up if you need anything. Username01@gmail

Email sent. Thanks AM!

+1 on Agmechanics work and detail. He just did my 6.0 a few months ago

Rule 1 compliant.

2003 Limited 4x4 6.0 psd. 167k miles. It was owned by a local bank as a voluntary something or another, basically a repo. The right side has a couple of small dents I think I can get fixed very cheap if it bothers me too much along with the mirror on that side being jacked up pretty good. The front tire and wheel were destroyed when that happened. The AC doesn't work - a hose needs replacing. The steering is looser than I'd like it to be. Otherwise it's in great shape. They had it at $7500, I ended up buying it for $6250.

I have a wheel coming from ebay for $110, a new tire is going to be $200. I'm pricing mirrors, I know I can get one off ebay for $100. I'd rather go with different tires as I haven't had good luck on wear on the bf goodrich all terrain t/a tires, but the other 3 are practically new. 265-75r16 10 ply if anyone has a slightly used one they want to sell cheap. I need to fix the AC and get the steering better, both of which I have plenty of experience doing myself.

From there, I'm planning to let the wife drive it while I get a new fender on the front of her Excursion to fix some damage from Bambi. Our guy is good and cheap, but not fast. Once I get hers back, I'll have to decide which way to go with this thing. I may keep it for me, I may keep it for my lovely bride, I may sell it. I go back and forth a lot. If I keep it, I'm planning on dropping a little change in agmechanic's pockets to get it as reliable as I'd like it to be.

Nice!

agmechanic, I just bought an 06 F350 w/6.0L and would like to discuss bullet proofing. Already had an EGR delete and a tune installed that didn't work to get rid of the CEL. Send me a note at lesho@truevine.net or give me a call at 210-413-1916 - thanks!

While you wait, head over to www.bulletproofdiesel.com and get your read on. I own a 2005 6.0 and did it but whether you do it yourself or have someone else do it I would recommend getting familiar with what's entailed.

+1 for Agmechanic, he's done many including mine 4yrs ago...came from Dallas to BCS and worth it....not a problem since

Do you still build 6.0 PS ? Agmechanic call me Fernando 832 661 5962 or fern9230@outlook.com

I was just thinking about this excursion a couple days ago. Ended up selling it a few months later for a decent profit. I really liked it tho. Sold the other excursion the next year iirc. I miss them.

Agmechanic is now Ag Land Surveyor. I stopped wrenching on trucks 5 years ago.

Frat Daddy's truck was the last one I did