New to me diesel

Rick · 06-21-2017, 08:06 PM

My father has given me his 2001 F250 Super cab diesel truck. It's a Lariat and has the 7.3L with a 3.73 rear end and 53K miles. Having only driven gas trucks prior to and this one occasionally, what do I need to know for long term? It sat mostly over the past 10 years, being driven mainly on 1 hour drives 2x/month. Replaced the tires as the old ones were from '02. It also has a trans temp and combo EGT/Boost gauges. What constitutes high EGT? I read I should let it idle after driving to cool the turbo. Plan on changing oil ASAP, filters. There's also a 2001 Quantum brake controller. Big red pushbutton on face of it to manually activate trailer brakes. Have to adjust it using a screwdriver...no adjustment on the fly for different trailer weights (empty vs full). Should I trash it and get something modern? Any insight would be welcome.

mtofell · 06-21-2017, 09:18 PM

That's a bit of a gold mine of a truck. The 7.3 is a great motor - before all the emission stuff and before all of Ford's diesel problems. That truck would fetch a pretty penny if out on the open market. If you have some skills to get it cleaned up I'd definitely lean towards keeping it.

Find a good Ford diesel forum and immerse yourself. Diesels are really not all that scary. Biggest maintenance difference is more frequent fuel filter changes. Otherwise, it's a lot like caring for a gasser.

Some of the things you hear about diesels are overblown. Yes, you should leave it running after a long pull up a steep hill to let the turbo cool down but otherwise it's fine to shut it down like any other vehicle.

scottz · 06-21-2017, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick

My father has given me his 2001 F250 Super cab diesel truck. It's a Lariat and has the 7.3L with a 3.73 rear end and 53K miles. Having only driven gas trucks prior to and this one occasionally, what do I need to know for long term? It sat mostly over the past 10 years, being driven mainly on 1 hour drives 2x/month. Replaced the tires as the old ones were from '02. It also has a trans temp and combo EGT/Boost gauges. What constitutes high EGT? I read I should let it idle after driving to cool the turbo. Plan on changing oil ASAP, filters. There's also a 2001 Quantum brake controller. Big red pushbutton on face of it to manually activate trailer brakes. Have to adjust it using a screwdriver...no adjustment on the fly for different trailer weights (empty vs full). Should I trash it and get something modern? Any insight would be welcome.

Congrats, the 7.3 is probably the best diesel Ford produced; I've owned four of them and wish I still had one. The only weak link is the transmission; but that's another story. First of all, drive it more frequently; sitting idle is hard on engines. It is good that you have an EGT gauge; try to keep your EGT's under 1200. Since it has an EGT gauge, it might have a chip; do you know? If it does not have a chip, the stock Ford programming will not let the EGT's get too high. If it does have a chip, you can easily exceed a safe temperature and blow the turbo; but all you have to do is lift your right foot a little to control the temps. Absolutely let it idle for a few minutes before shutting it down; especially after a hard pull. I installed a device that would let me turn the ignition off, take my keys and it would shut the engine down after a set time. The problem is, the turbo is cooled by engine oil. If you shut it down while it is very hot, the oil flow stops and the turbo can be damaged. Be careful and buy quality diesel from a known good source; fuel with water in it will cause a lot of problems. A lot of other things, but read and stick to the maintenance schedule in your owners manual. I would get a new brake controller if you plan to pull frequently. The new controllers have a lot of great features. I had a shelf full of the old analog controllers; tossed them in the trash.

Good luck, let me know if you have any questions.

Rick · 06-23-2017, 07:14 AM

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely read ford forums about it. I am interested in learning more about the tranny problem.
It does have a chip (I've got the programmer) and my dad said it's set for towing. Again, that's something I have to look more into. I've been careful to watch the EGT...keeping it under 1K as much as possible. He also installed that device for cooling the engine after stopping, but I don't know how that works yet. Luckily, he kept most instructions for add-ons, so it won't be too bad. Think I'll end up getting a more user friendly brake controller.

Sarvi · 06-23-2017, 08:27 AM

I had a 7.3L 2000 Excursion that I just sold this past winter. I bought it in 2009 with 196k miles on it, sold it in 2017 with 250k miles on it, and it sold for just $750 less than what I bought it for. Those kinds of engines are definitely in demand! I had people calling from all over the country asking about it, and some were willing to jump on a plane and buy it sight unseen.

scottz · 06-23-2017, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rick

Thanks for the info. I'll definitely read ford forums about it. I am interested in learning more about the tranny problem.
It does have a chip (I've got the programmer) and my dad said it's set for towing. Again, that's something I have to look more into. I've been careful to watch the EGT...keeping it under 1K as much as possible. He also installed that device for cooling the engine after stopping, but I don't know how that works yet. Luckily, he kept most instructions for add-ons, so it won't be too bad. Think I'll end up getting a more user friendly brake controller.

You can run the EGT up to 1200 without any problems. I see you are in SoCal; if you want a bullet proof rebuild of the transmission for your 7.3, contact John Wood Automotive (760) 356-1734 http://www.jwtt.com/home . He has a shop near El Centro. My last 7.3 had gone through two transmissions by the time it hit 80k miles. John rebuilt it and I never had another problem; my truck was chipped/tuned and put out a ton of power.

**chuckster57** · 06-23-2017, 01:30 PM

John wood is the go to guy out west. You can run 1300 EGT for a couple of minutes, you need to know where the probe is located. If it's in the exhaust manifold then the advise about 1200/1300 is valid. If it's in the down pipe (post turbo) then you DON'T want to see anywhere near those temps.

Pistons start to melt at @1245 degrees, but it takes time for them to "soak up" the heat created by combustion. Keep the RPM's and boost up and you'll be surprised how long you can maintain high temps. I ran 1150 for hours at a time, cool down is critical. Reason is turbo shaft spins on a thin layer of oil. If you shut it down "hot" the oil turns to tar/coke and that's not good. I idle until I see under 400 degrees.

scottz · 06-23-2017, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chuckster57

If it's in the exhaust manifold then the advise about 1200/1300 is valid. If it's in the down pipe (post turbo) then you DON'T want to see anywhere near those temps.

Good catch; I forgot about that. If he is see 1000 degrees his probe must be pre-turbo where most people put them.

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