New/ future owner to the diesel community

[mntbiker2008]

Hello everyone. I have been lurking this site for a little bit now and decided to join. I have learned quite a bit but still have some questions that I tried searching for but wasn't able to find many good answers to.

I am getting ready to purchase a mid-late 90's 7.3 f250 4x4 with a turbo diesel and will also be purchasing a 26' travel trailer to do some touring around the states. I have gotten a good feel for what the weak parts are on this truck (biggest thing it sounds like is the transmission). Now my questions are:

How much in maintenance do you all average every 6 months or so? I have seen numbers range all over the place in this category. Assuming the truck has been taken care of and you keep up with the maintenance.

My last question deals with plugging in during the winter. At the place I work, I am not able to plug in to anything to keep the fluids warm. Is there anything I can buy to keep from putting that extra wear and tear on the engine?


Thank you ahead of time for the help. I am hoping to learn more and more info on here before I step foot in to the diesel world.

[terryknight]

maintenance depends on how much you drive it. I spend 100 bucks an oil change and change it every 6K one fuel filter and clean the air filter once a year. and then another 200 bucks or so every year on sensors, window motors, brakes, etc a year. and every couple year figure a clutch, water pump, vaccum pump something like that

as for cold starts how cold are we talking? make sure your gp system is in good shape and replace the GP relay with a stancor