Evening,

I just bought my first Ford truck, a 2003 F250 Super Duty 4x4 diesel and auto. It was an expensive repair for a '96 Dodge Ram transmission and surging problem, but it fixed it!! Anyway, are there any major problems or issues I need to be concered with? I'm a contractor and a volunteer firefighter, so my trucks get a lot of hard use. Thanks in advance for you input!!!!

 

7.3 or 6.0?

7.3 was still available in early 03 MY...

 

6.0

 

Well,, the first question would be how many miles on the clock?

The early 6.0's were known to be the most problematic, but I have owned both a 'early' 03 and my current 05.. 'Both' with no running issues and a pleasure to drive.. But, the 6.0 has been an 'engine in the making', and has had a lot of engineering/design changes over the years and have problems that can surface on occasion.. Some owners have none or at least very few.. You can have your local Ford dealer run an Oasis Report that will give a 'work performed' history of warranty repairs done, as well as programming changes or any upgrades/recalls ect.. The things that really seem to plague the 6.0 is oil leaks, rear main seals, sensors, bed plate, glow harness's and so on.. Mostly just annoying minor leaks.. The early 6.0 had C94 injectors that had some failures, and the later engine builds had C95's that had less problems but not a perfect record... Some had engine harness problems for 'chaffing' and engine stalls ect.. Head gaskets on ocassion as well even to date,, Most of the problems that the early builds had, like turbo drone/moan (my 03 had it bad and was corrected) now have fixes, as well as oil leak issues in most cases.. Look to see what the trucks build date is on the door jamb sticker, and the engines build on the left/drivers valve cover (back close to the master cylinder behind the FICM module) S/B on a white tag.. The engines build 'usually' only preceeds the trucks by a month or so..

Chances are that yours has had none or few of these issues, and a report will give you a better idea of its service life and any corrections made...

Congrats on the new rig...

 

Thanks for the info, I'm going back to the dealer today to retreive all of my junk from the other truck, I'll have him pull that report.