I have a 03 F-250, 4x4, Crew Cab. I have had turbo problems with the truck two times. Both times I was pulling my 38 foot Montana 5th wheel. The first time (at about 6000 miles) I was about half way between Ft Stockton and Alpine TX. It popped and quit. There is nothing out there, cell phones don't even work. That was on Thursday, the day before Thanksgiving. I made into a camp ground in Alpine and had it trucked (Ford paid for it) back to Ft Stockton (eighty miles) which was the closest Ford dealer. Four hours and I was back on the road. No problem for a little over a year. This past May, 29 while on a fishing trip to Port Aransas Tx I was about 29 miles north of Corpus Cristi when it popped and looked like the whole world was on fire. Blew the inter-cooler on the turbo. A wrecker pulled me into a RV park near Mathias Tx, and pulled the truck to Corpus, eight days later I got it back. Course Ford paid for all the towing and for a rent car for me. I towed the trailer to virginia in Sept and had no problems, it has almost 20,000 since the last break down.
Talking to the service manager at the Ford dealership in Corpus I was told the trucks built between sept 02 and may 03 used an old style turbo, it was upgraded on later models and they are having no problems with them. I like the truck, good fuel economy 13.8 miles to a gallon towing, it has a good ride and is comfortable. I plan to trade for an 05 model sometime in the near future for the increased towing capability and larger brakes.
PS I did get to go fishing, caught several Yellow Fin Tuna, two Amber Jack,several good messes of Red Snapper, and several shark.
