John, there were some problems with the very early engines in the 2003 models. The percentage of problem engines was far less than it seems to be according to the number of posts about it but there were problems just like there were in the early Duramax (lots of GM buybacks on those, too) and the early Cummins for the Dodges. The problems, however, were fixed in 2003 and the engines have been no more problem prone than any other brand.
John, one of the early problems was some of the 6.0's would blow off the turbo hose. The symptoms are exactly what your friend experienced. There was a dealer fix for this but I don't recall what it was. Your friend may actually have a blown turbo but maybe it was just the hose blowing off, too. Either way, he's stuck on the side of the road and that's not good. From what I've heard, once they get the problems fixed in his early model he should be fine. Let's hope, anyhow.
We had the early 2003. We never had that particular problem. Ours had the occasional stalling problem. They finally got that fixed. It turned out to be a bad batch of electronics on the fuel pump. It would burp somehow and figure the key had been turned off and shut down the engine. I don't fully understand it but replacing the pump finally fixed it. We now have the 2005 and couldn't be happier. We'll turn 23,000 miles this week, in just over 7 months.
|