Looking at F250 with 7.3 powerstroke- Advice

[preppypyro]

Op your truck is super nice! I noticed it looks like in your pics you still have the non elc coolant in it. I have an 03 7.3 liter truck and I finally got around (last night actually) to swapping the coolant out to extended life coolant, and would suggest you look into doing the same. Flush the old stuff out with distilled water and add the new stuff in (make sure its heavy duty diesel rated coolant.


I Love these trucks, so far I have just about 330,000 kms on mine, and I have only replaced the idler pulley, and have done the 50 cent mod to the engine (besides regular maintenance), they are tough trucks! My automatic tranny has had upgrades done to it and has been rock solid reliable so far as well.

My only fear is when the time comes to replace the truck, which I need to start looking at.

A guy can get a 6.0 truck pretty cheap now, been pondering one of those and doing a cummins swap myself.

[dave186]

The ELC coolant isnt neccesary. Maintenance of the green stuff is. Keeping proper SCA levels in the regular green coolant is all it takes. If the original owner was a diesel mechanic he probably was doing this. There are simple little test strips to check it. Best solution is to add a coolant filter. The SCAs prevent cavitation, not for the waterpumps sake but the cylinder wall. The cylinder pressures in a diesel are so high that the walls flex a very small amount. The rapid pulsation can cause the cavitation which would eventually lead to small pinholes in the cylinder wall.

This isnt a huge issue. I have personally never seen a diesel pickup have a problem from it but I have seen several big trucks have it happen, usually with close to 1,000,000 miles.

FWIW I have a 95 F350 with a 7.3 and it has 345,000 miles. I bought it with 297 and it was a bone stock turd that was used to haul cattle its entire life. You would never know that now. It makes an honest 400hp on the dyno and I still get an average of 15mpg. Ive got a lot of money into it to get there.

I would never even consider a cummins swap into my Ford! I just picked up a core 7.3 engine that I plan to build over the winter to hit the 500hp mark.

[Myfuture_yourdebt]

Originally Posted by _cy_

as good 7.3 engines are... Cummins 12v are better.

Cummins to Ford conversions are the reason there's a baseline price for any Cummins 12v motor of about $2,000. so the junkiest 12v truck has a baseline value of the Cummins motor.

main disadvantage of 12v Cummins trucks ... interiors are getting dated and not many pristine low miles examples left.

That's why I hopped on my opportunity to purchase a '91 D350 with only 117k original miles. Of course, the interior looks like the truck was made in the 70s and had since been sitting behind someone's barn year round.

[_cy_]

Originally Posted by dave186

FWIW I have a 95 F350 with a 7.3 and it has 345,000 miles. I bought it with 297 and it was a bone stock turd that was used to haul cattle its entire life. You would never know that now. It makes an honest 400hp on the dyno and I still get an average of 15mpg. Ive got a lot of money into it to get there.

I would never even consider a cummins swap into my Ford! I just picked up a core 7.3 engine that I plan to build over the winter to hit the 500hp mark.

of course not ... why would anyone swap out a 7.3 motor?
swapping out a motor is a major PITA job that one would need a really good reason to do... like a dead 6.0

another trend for 12v Cummins swaps is taking super clean 1/2 ton gas trucks with low miles. end result is 28+ mpg dead nuts reliable truck that hauls ass with a huge jump in value $$.

[RalphyDo]

The 7.3l will run forever if you change the oil every 10k or so and clean/change the air filter at the same time, same with fuel filters. I bought my 97 F350 single wheel, regular cab XLT new in Nov 96 with 3 miles on it. It now has 353k on the clock. It has gone thru 3 transmissions(auto) a vacuum pump, water pump, lift pump and a few sets of glow plugs and front wheel bearings. I have been running 285/75-16 tires on 10"wide wheels and I get 40k+ miles while only rotating them front to back once in their lifetime. The body has has zero issues except for the screws rattling out of the door panels every 10k or so. Drive train is without issues, axles are damn near unbreakable on the 350's(dana 60 front, sterling 10.25 rear, 10.50" on the SD) Of course the 250's had the dana 50 or 55(?) TTB fronts that were ok but not great.

Everything on my truck that has been replaced has been normal service items with the acception of the trans. Keep the tanks off empty, change/clean filters and oil, drive it and be merry!

And on milage, alot of people do over-estimate their milage to sounds more badder-asser but in reality the old and new 7.3's get around 15 on a normal basis. That would be average. On back roads under 55mph, I get upwards of 21-22. Down the freeway at 75+ I get 17 empty and 14 loaded, 12 if there are alot of hills to pull. That 12mph figure is with my old race trailer and car(28' enclosed 10,500lbs loaded) It depends on how you drive it, Stay off the boost as much as possible and milage goes way up. That's the nature of the beast.

Hope your truck treats you well!!!

[RalphyDo]

Besides, if you were going to go through all the trouble to swap a 12v, swap it into the right truck.

[stevepsd]

DaFoole - nice truck!

I myself have a 2000 F-350 Crew Cab, DRW 4x4 7.3L Auto XLT-Lariet, always garage kept. Bought new, special ordered with all the goodies. Only 44,000 miles on mine. Great truck. I get 14-16 MPG towing my 5th wheel.

Sold my 5th wheel after buying our Oregon place as the wife said she was done camping. Thinking about selling her. Sounds like the 7.3's are very desirable.

[xscoobysnack]

I love my '02 F250. Nothing major has gone wrong in over 5 years of ownership, much of it towing a 30' trailer. I opened up the exhaust, did the 6637 filter mod on the intake, and use a custom set of tunes from DP Tuner ran through an Edge Evolution module. The truck is over 7000lbs and can run a 6.5 second 0 to 60. Not bad for about $800. The transmission has held up so far but I don't really abuse it. Keep a cam position sensor in the truck somewhere!

[sunset_ryder]

Originally Posted by stevepsd

DaFoole - nice truck!

I myself have a 2000 F-350 Crew Cab, DRW 4x4 7.3L Auto XLT-Lariet, always garage kept. Bought new, special ordered with all the goodies. Only 44,000 miles on mine. Great truck. I get 14-16 MPG towing my 5th wheel.

Sold my 5th wheel after buying our Oregon place as the wife said she was done camping. Thinking about selling her. Sounds like the 7.3's are very desirable.

I had a 2000 7.3, I loved that truck so much! It would take me anywhere I wanted to go, as fast as I wanted to go. Never had a truck pull like that one, and I have had lots of trucks. If you get ready to sell that one, please pm me

[_cy_]

Originally Posted by stevepsd

DaFoole - nice truck!

I myself have a 2000 F-350 Crew Cab, DRW 4x4 7.3L Auto XLT-Lariet, always garage kept. Bought new, special ordered with all the goodies. Only 44,000 miles on mine. Great truck. I get 14-16 MPG towing my 5th wheel.

Sold my 5th wheel after buying our Oregon place as the wife said she was done camping. Thinking about selling her. Sounds like the 7.3's are very desirable.

prices have been going through the roof on freakish low mile 94-98 12v and 7.3 with late body. wouldn't be surprised if you got $18k+ in a hurry. most desirable combo is 3/4 ton 4x4 extra cab with stick for either 12v or 7.3. under 50k miles is considered freakishly low and commands a premium price.

[RalphyDo]

Originally Posted by _cy_

prices have been going through the roof on freakish low mile 94-98 12v and 7.3 with late body. wouldn't be surprised if you got $18k+ in a hurry. most desirable combo is 3/4 ton 4x4 extra cab with stick for either 12v or 7.3. under 50k miles is considered freakishly low and commands a premium price.

Hell, trucks with under 100k are going for over 12k for the older body style. A friend of mine had a 93 12v extra cab w350 converted to single wheel that he sold for 16k!! it only had 88k on it. BUT it was very nicely done with new paint and alot of other nice parts. Not bad since he traded a 99 Dodge 3/4ton gasser for the original farm truck(the w350)

[Jailor8]

My son who just turned 16 is ate up by the Diesel 4x4 bug, but I just finished a divorce so I said you got to find a cheap one we can fix up... He did, 1700 miles away in Montana!!! 95 F250 XLT ext cab 5 speed 4x4 190k miles no rust. Was missing on 2 cylinders and that was fixed with a new valve cover gasket and needed rear brakes and batteries.

Biggest issue now is sun cracked plastics and 2 cracks in the bed rail under the tool box. Otherwise a super tough first truck for my son.

J8

[DaFoole]

Originally Posted by stevepsd

DaFoole - nice truck!

I myself have a 2000 F-350 Crew Cab, DRW 4x4 7.3L Auto XLT-Lariet, always garage kept. Bought new, special ordered with all the goodies. Only 44,000 miles on mine. Great truck. I get 14-16 MPG towing my 5th wheel.

Sold my 5th wheel after buying our Oregon place as the wife said she was done camping. Thinking about selling her. Sounds like the 7.3's are very desirable.

NOW you tell me....

[DaFoole]

Originally Posted by dave186

The ELC coolant isnt neccesary. Maintenance of the green stuff is. Keeping proper SCA levels in the regular green coolant is all it takes. If the original owner was a diesel mechanic he probably was doing this. There are simple little test strips to check it.

Coolant was swapped less than 10k ago and I checked it with the strips....all is good.

[DaFoole]

Originally Posted by preppypyro

I Love these trucks, so far I have just about 330,000 kms on mine, and I have only replaced the idler pulley, and have done the 50 cent mod to the engine (besides regular maintenance), they are tough trucks! My automatic tranny has had upgrades done to it and has been rock solid reliable so far as well.