Best route for 185k mile 6.0

JD3020

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Even though we have a couple 6.0's in the family i'm not real familiar with them outside of regular maintenance. Good friend of mine bought a 05 KR DRW out of Texas back in January. Truck was obviously used to tow, but is bone stock and runs/drives great. Currently sitting around 185k miles, and he noticed this fall when working it hard hauling hay and grain it was loosing coolant. I was never around it when it did it, but he made it sound like it was puking. We've done some hard runs empty and haven't really noticed anything, but i haven't done any diagnostic work on it.

Anyways he's wanting to go ahead and do some preventative maintenance/repairs this winter so he doesn't have to worry about it. He was originally going to pay $3k-3500 for a shop to do the HG's, but i think i've talked him into popping the engine out and doing it ourselves. Biggest hang up is on the heads, he wants to do it in a weekend so we don't have time to send his heads out. But it looks like reman heads are more $$$$$ than he wants to spend. Definitely don't want to do all the work and throw a bad set of heads on it. Heres my current list after doing some research, open to any input.


ARP head studs
RCD platinum gaskets
Ford oil cooler
EGR deleet and up-pipe
4" exhaust
OEM water pump and t-stat
Coolant filter
STC upgrade and standpipes
Full coolant flush and refill with ELC
GH tow tune and monitor
Blue spring kit
Service both diffs, trans, t-case, and power steering
 

sootie

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stick with OEM gaskets imo. You wont want to trust even reman heads, even ones from Ford needs to be sent out and double checked for flatness. x2 on doing the lifters. Also if any of the pistons have valve stamps on them, make sure those valves are replaced. Pull the turbo apart and clean the unison ring and apply anti seize while your there. Monitor ficm voltage and icp voltage prior to disassembling the truck to see if there are any underlying issues that need to be addressed while it is apart. Have a good listen to it on a cold start and see if injector work is required.



Face it, if he sent the truck to a shop he wouldnt be able to mandate having the truck done over a weekend so why is he saying you need to have it done?! Do it right, once.
 
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DEEZUZ

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My guys once again on track...

Don't even bother doing anything if you aren't doing lifters. And don't try to plan ahead, get it all apart and take your time with it.

When I used to do over night stud jobs, I had the customer buy heads and have them there ready to go. Usually from UCF.
 

JD3020

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The reason for wanting to get it done in a weekend is we'd be working in his neighbors shop, and don't really want to tie it up for days or weeks waiting on heads to get machined. But if thats what it takes then so be it. Original plan after the local 6.0 shop kept blowing him off for months was to do it in his shop as he's buying a farm with a large heated shop, but the closing date keeps getting pushed back. Was originally early this month but now looking mid-January so he wants to get it done before then so its one less thing to worry about.

Whats the average price to just have heads checked and decked assuming theres no cracks/valve issues? Gonna try to make some calls and see if we can't find a machine shop locally that could do it, but want an idea of what a fair price is. I see UCF and Elite are around $1k shipped per head for everything.


Lifters definitely make sense to replace and look fairly cheap, but would it be wise to replace the LPOP/front cover or just let it roll?
 

Connor M

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Sorta off track, but how do you account for the thickness lost if you have to deck the heads and/or block? Thicker head gasket? Or are they usually removing so little it's not an issue?
 

6.0 Tech

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The reason for wanting to get it done in a weekend is we'd be working in his neighbors shop, and don't really want to tie it up for days or weeks waiting on heads to get machined. But if thats what it takes then so be it. Original plan after the local 6.0 shop kept blowing him off for months was to do it in his shop as he's buying a farm with a large heated shop, but the closing date keeps getting pushed back. Was originally early this month but now looking mid-January so he wants to get it done before then so its one less thing to worry about.

Whats the average price to just have heads checked and decked assuming theres no cracks/valve issues? Gonna try to make some calls and see if we can't find a machine shop locally that could do it, but want an idea of what a fair price is. I see UCF and Elite are around $1k shipped per head for everything.


Lifters definitely make sense to replace and look fairly cheap, but would it be wise to replace the LPOP/front cover or just let it roll?

I would pull the lpop and check for any scoring while youre doimg the work. If you find any you can feel with your fingernail, replace the front cover and oil pump. Also, pop the water pump and look for cavitation. Its not as common as 6.4s, but i have seen a couple eat thru.
 

JD3020

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IF the front cover is fine should we replace the LPOP or just leave it? Looks like a new OEM pump is only $80, so wouldn't be a big deal to add it on the list.
 

turboTwang6

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Regulated return is also money well spent. I noticed a solid difference going from the blue spring mod to a reg return. I never checked the LPOP when I had my engine out. Then again my truck was always taken good care of for the most part so I did not have any concerns about it. And take your time. I think start to finish when doing mine was about a month, working on it after work some days and then some time on the weekends.

Both my heads planed, magnafluxed, inj cups checked for cracks, and heavier valve springs put in totaled less than $600 at a back-woods located word-of-mouth only but very reputable machine shop.

Other little things you can do while your in there like replace HPOP screen, Cam/Crank position sensor o-rings, glow plugs and harnesses, etc.

There's a guy down south of Indianapolis whos a reputable machine shop and who did a bunch of machine work for the 7.3 in the double overtime pulling truck. I forget the name of the guy, I'll have to look for it, but I'm sure he'd do a good job on those heads. I think hes down outside of bloomfield. PM NYCowboy87 on here, he will know. The guy is well known in the alcohol engine world.
 

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