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Site and PSD Newbie

16K views 77 replies 12 participants last post by  ChrisArnold 
#1 ·
Hi guys,

I'm new to the community and have always loved and wanted a Ford PSD. I've heard so many positive stories about the old 7.3L Diesels that I had to give one a try. I picked up this 2 days ago:

2000 F250 XL 7.3L 4x2 SB SRW w/ ZF6 @ 151,000 miles for $6,500. It's a basic no-frills truck, but this one does have some minor additions from its previous owner:
- 5th Wheel in bed
- Plastic bed lining (stock?)
- Electric brakes controller
- Aftermarket head unit
- Pretty Sweet tool box

The only problem was the minor damage to the rear bumper that looks like the truck may have been backed up into something. The seller threw in an extra bumper, though. So, I feel like I really got a deal on it. This truck is CLEAN. It's from dry, warm New Mexico. No leaks, nothing more than very minor surface rust anywhere underneath. The paint is even in pretty good shape. The color had nothing to do with the purchase, but I've already warmed up to it.

Front wheel hub assemblies were replaced at 145,000. The cam position sensor was replaced at 140k according to carfax.

I think I got a smokin' deal. What do you think?

More pics to come.
 
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#7 · (Edited)
I'm going to tow a trailer that weighs up to 14k lbs. I went by a diesel performance shot and they seem like straight-shooters. They didn't try to sweet talk me into unnecessary power modifications, but said that it could probably do the job stock with the 5th wheel that the last guy installed. I asked about what the differences were in the F350 vs. this one and the guy said that the major difference was the rear spring. He said I could get that under control with air bags, and he said they hadn't done too many exhaust brakes, but it wouldn't be a bad idea in a hilly area. I think I'll let them do their bumper-to-bumper inspection and flush and replace all of my fluids so I've got a good foundation for future maintenance. I think I'll let them do the work and start looking for a nice enclosed 2 car goose neck trailer.

I also got the lifetime alignment from Firestone done and everything came out nicely. The tech had nothing but positive things to say about the truck when he was done. It was a good truck day!

On oil, I'm waffling back and forth on what to run. I'm thinking that since I intend to let it sit for long periods without running the motor, I'd probably be better off with the stability of a sythetic. That said, at 150k and a truck without leaks, I'd like to keep it that way.

Thanks guys.
 
#9 ·
Welcome. Nice truck. When you service the trans just have them drain the pan and change the filter. Don't have them do the "flush" it is best just to drain and change the filter. The flush can loosen up all the junk that has settled and happy and not moving. When it gets loosened up it causes havoc.

A lot of people use the shell Rotella T-6 oil.

I have the lifetime alignment from firestone. Its well worth the money in my opinion and they are national too which is nice if your on the road.

I have an exhaust break on mine. It is really nice to have in hilly areas. If you do it make sure you get something to lock up the torque converter. Banks make a controller for it.
 
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#10 ·
Most performance shops rip you a new one when you get parts from them.

Getting all the fluids replaced is a good idea though.

If you need advice on certain parts ask us before you get from your local shop. Chances are a forum sponsor on here can probably get it to you much cheaper.
 
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#11 ·
I appreciate the reply, guys.

Cletus, the truck has the ZF6 6-speed transmission. So, unless this manual is different than every other manual I've used, it's just a drain plug and a fill plug deal. No breaking it open or changing filters. I'm just making sure it's using a good synthetic in line with the factory specs. That also means that no mods should be needed with an exhaust brake.

Ok, thanks for the offer blue99stroker. What mods would you recommend for pulling up to 15k lbs (maximum 5th wheel hitch capacity)?

The performance shop mentioned air bags and an exhaust brake. Which brand would you go with?
 
#12 ·
Your right. I missed it was a 6 speed.
 
#14 ·
Great feedback. Thanks!

If things work out well, I'm going to buy this trailer, this weekend that seems perfect for my truck and needs. It has a GVWR of 13k lbs, and given that my truck and I weigh 6900, that keeps me under the GCWR, and it should keep me under the 8800 GVWR cap, as well. I'm only concerned that 7' wide may not be enough for my Mustang.

I'll do the airbags, the exhaust brake, a pyrometer, and maybe a mod or two to combat EGTs. I've heard that a 4" DP and a tymar intake helps. I'll only start with power-making mods if I feel like the 7.3 is dangerous pulling up Kentucky hills with 13k lbs, but somehow I doubt that'll be necessary.

I've heard to keep the EGTs under 1,250*F. Are you saying I am likely to exceed that on a stock tune pulling a load up a hill after I've installed an exhaust brake?

Thanks,

Chris
 

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#15 ·
You are correct about the 1250. Make sure you put the probe in the manifold not post turbo. You should be fine with the exhaust break if you keep an eye on it. It is possible to go over depending how you drive it. If you are pulling up a hill with a trailer and keep the RPM low and don't have it downshift you are likely to get above the 1250. If you downshift and get the RPM's up you will be fine. That is my experience at least. I was just meaning that an exhaust break will not decrease your EGT compared to some other mods (Mainly this. GARRETT 99-03 7.3L HIGH FLOW NON-EBPV EXHAUST OUTLET 451274-0005 - 99-03-TURBOS/COMPONENTS/MOUNTS - POWERSTROKE 99-03 - Products)

Aftermarket Tunes do help with towing but i think you will be ok with stock tunes and an exhaust break.
 
#17 · (Edited)
151,631 miles: Oil change to Rotella T6 5W-40 oil w/ motorcraft filter, new fuel filter, replaced ZF6 transmission fluid with Mobil 1 ATF, which is Mercon V spec. I also checked the rear diff fluid and it's in decent shape and topped off. I'll plan on 7,500 mile oil change intervals or once a year, whichever comes first.

I'll swap the diff fluid when I get to my next duty-assignment at Fort Knox. That way I can use the Auto-hobby facilities. I've also ordered:
- SP Diesel Exhaust Brake (EBPV) switch
- 17k lbs Class 5 hitch
- 10k lbs weight distributing hitch, because it was local
- Valvoline 75W-140 limited slip synthetic gear oil for the differential and a bottle of Ford Friction Modifier

All in all, I feel like the truck is in good shape to pull my 24' enclosed Wells Cargo trailer for my DITY move from Dallas, TX to Fort Knox later this month.
 
#18 · (Edited)
Sweet! I found a replacement rear chrome bumper and got it installed along with my Curt 17k Class 5 hitch/receiver (Part # 15140). The old bumper, as you can see in the pics, had a nice fender-bender dent on the passenger side. The only difference between the new bumper and the old, surprisingly, was that the tag lights had to go it backwards. The wide and narrow sides of the tag lights were reversed. Otherwise the bumper was identical. No biggie. I'm sure that the lights are cheap at a parts store or from a junkyard.

I had a guy do the hitch install for me since my tools are in storage 1.5 hours away, but he didn't use the grade 8 bolts that came with the new hitch and instead used the OEM Ford bolts. I have to say that the hitch definitely looks robust, and it lined right up. Install was a breeze, but he definitely needed me under the truck holding it up. I wouldn't want to install it without a buddy. I probably should've made him swap the bolts but the place was closing and I wanted to get the hell out of there. Next time I've got it on a lift, I'll go back through and install the bolts myself. In the meantime, I'm sure the stock stuff will be fine towing my 10k lbs trailer.

Also, I got the SP Diesel EBPV exhaust brake electronics. I'll probably swing by a shop and have that installed tomorrow. Even though these are all small and basic things, I'm making some progress improving the towing safety of my rig. I'm looking forward to the move some time next week.

Chris
 
#19 ·
Alright! The SP Diesel EBPV switch was installed today. I drove around a played with it for a bit. I like it! I'm not sure how big a difference it'll make on the down hills while pulling a heavy load yet, but it worked like a charm without a load. It's cool that you can really hear the difference when the EBPV kicks in.
 
#20 ·
It will work even better with a big load.

I'd consider a few perf mods cause 14k is heavy.

Intake exhaust, billet comp wheel and a good 25 and 40 tow tune would make a huge difference.
 
#21 · (Edited)
i highly recommend a billet wheel/possibly a ported housing....
i fought with turbo surge on mine towing approx 8000lbs

i also recommend a brake upgrade... but its a good start with the hitch upgrade, it easy to max out the stock hitch tongue weight...

thats a hair over 19k lbs


i wasen't standing on the scale when it was weighed, 19500 if you include me.

8300 for the truck and 11k for the trailer with a 2100lbs tongue weight with the weight distribution hitch.

i have the camper pack and my overloads where engaged, towed this about 80 miles to weight it, the front brake where squeaking time i got home and squeaked the next day. tells me i glazed them over. :grin:

also thats a 1400 tongue/14000 rated weight dist. hitch i have.


my opinion 16k to 17k the truck wil handle it just fine on a 2 axle trailer but 18k gcwr+ on a 2 axle trailer is pushing it without some type of brake upgrade.


also 7' wide seems small for a mustang....



thats a jetta that i had in my 8.5' wide.
 
#22 ·
Thanks for the advice and experiences towing heavy. Did you experience any surge bone stock?

As long as I can get the job done, I'm happy. If I could get it for cheap, I'd be happy to upgrade to the 2001+ OEM tune for the extra 40hp. The main thing is that I don't want to worry about driving habits, gauges, letting my mom tow her horses, a friend to tow his cars, or anything else that I might be worried about with a tune. I've spent a couple hours looking at tunes and if I ever did get the wild hair to do it, it sounds like DP-tuners is the way to go. I don't want to worry about gauges or driving habits or exceeding EGTs.
 
#23 · (Edited)
2,500 mile trip report:

I made two trips between Dallas, TX and Fort Knox, KY with a loaded trailer. The first one had a GCWR of about 19,200 lbs. The trip back to Dallas was with an unloaded albeit heavy trailer and a GCWR of about 13k lbs. The second trip was a GCWR of about 17,600 lbs. The truck did wonderfully! After the trip, I have no issues with the power capabilities of the truck. The best Fuel mileage was 13.3 mpg and the worst was 10.7. On the best mpg, I was driving around 55 mph. On the worst, I was hauling at night on open interstate at around 75-80 mpg over hilly roads downshifting out of OD often.

I've learned that my favorite speed to tow is 65-70 mph. Towing slower than 60 on long gradual hills resulted in hearing what I believe was detonation. I didn't let the sound go more than a few seconds, but it did sound a little more like a hammer with each stroke, but not bad. I suppose I was lugging the motor a bit, and after I heard and confirmed it to the best of my beliefs, I stayed away from OD at those speeds. I like 67-68 mph because it brings the tach up to just under 2k rpm, doesn't lug at full throttle in OD, and gives me a buffer to see if the motor can maintain speed or if I should downshift.

I've learned that I am perfectly happy with the stock tune on the truck. The mpg is where it should be. The power in 3rd gear, up to 60mph, was more than enough to get up the steepest hills I've encountered (off of the interstate). I could still see upgrading from the model year 2000 stock 235hp tune to the '01-'02 275hp tune if I can get it for free at a Ford dealership, but see no reason to pay for a chip. So I probably won't. I do think an EGT gauge would be nice, even with the stock tune. I'll bet that I would've seen something on the gauge when I may have lugged the motor.

Getting the trailer brakes was definitely a smart plan, and I absolutely give the SP Perfomance EBPV exhaust brake 2 thumbs-up! It was so useful in traffic and on downgrades. The way it automatically opens up when the gas pedal is touched is wonderful, and it never glitched or failed to operate in any way. With the exhaust brake, new trailer brakes, and the relatively recent truck brakes, I had plenty of stopping power for the interstate.

I have to say that I'm not the biggest fan of the Activator 2 or any time-delay based electric brake controller. The controller did its job very well, and got the trailer stopped when I needed it to, but I would much prefer a controller that applies the trailer brakes based on the pressure I apply to brake pedal instead of a timer. I found myself often softly pumping the brakes, and/or adjusting the the controller in slow traffic where I only wanted light braking and gradual speed reduction. I only needed to brake at 70-80% twice on the trip, and for those hard stops, the brake controller did just fine. I'm probably too cheap to upgrade, as I don't feel that this is a safety issue, just a minor annoyance.

Initially, the Curt Weight distribution hitch gave me some trouble as it wasn't doing a good job distributing load. However, this was not the fault of the manufacturer. I finally realized that it was sold to me as a showroom model without the bump stop needed to keep the angle of the hitch right. I also ended up upgrading from the 5-10k lbs spring bars to the 10-14k lbs spring bars. I put all of the spacers supplied with the bump-stop in and maxed out the spring bars, leaving 5 links as instructed by curt to avoid any binding. Then, I was able to get over 3800 lbs back on the front axles. This nearly leveled the truck out. It normally rides unhitched at about 3,900 lbs with me in the truck. Leveling the truck absolutely made a noticeable improvement on the feel of the truck The GVW of the truck stayed at less than the 8,800 lbs GVWR of the truck on all trips. I never came close to overloading the truck's rear axle. The trailer did weigh about 12,300 lbs on the first trip, even though its GVWR was only 10k. Still, this trailer's tongue weight was so high at ~1,700 lbs that there was only 10,600 lbs on the trailer axles, each of which was a 5,200 lbs dexter.

Other than that, the only minor issues I ran into was that the fuel filter was leaking. The mechanic who installed it put the o-ring in upside down I believe, and I noticed it because I could smell diesel at idle. It was giving me a headache, but this site helped me diagnose the issue, and I replaced the cap, o-ring, & filter with a Wix, sprayed down the engine bay at a self-service car wash, and I'm pretty sure it did the trick. Also a headlight went out, and I haven't replaced it yet. The truck's at over 155,000 miles now, and now I'm confident I didn't buy a lemon.

Overall, I am very very pleased with both my 16 y/o Ford truck and 20 y/o Wells Cargo trailer. They are still getting the job done.
 
#24 ·
Oil changed at 159,248 with Rotella T6 sythetic and motorcraft filter. About 7,600 miles. 7,500 will be my standard OCI, but I wanted to change at 5k this time due to the heavy hauling I've been doing. Unfortunately, a move, family events, etc got in the way this time. Still, almost all of these miles were highway hauling miles. Hopefully, it wasn't too hard on the truck, and the oil looked pretty dark, but fine coming out. It might be a while before the next change now that I'm settled at my new duty station. This truck is a champ!
 
#25 · (Edited)
Garfield is sitting right around 162k miles right now. There's still a few thousand miles to go before the next oil change. My use will slow down even more over the next few months. The truck will probably make it to next summer before it reaches the next OCI.

The truck rocked quite a bit when hauling the trailer over any bumps last time, and I felt an abnormal reverberation when going over bumps and railroad tracks. So, I ordered $317 worth of Bilstein shocks from Summit and installed them tonight. I went with the 4600 series because Garfield is 2WD. The part numbers I used were BSN-24-185325 for the front and BSN-24-197779 for the rears. Then, we went for a spin around the block and over some nearby train tracks and at first feel, it seems like a night and day difference! It might just be me, but I also think the turn-in and steering response has been nicely improved. Score one for Bilstein. My only gripe about them is the need to use a 6mm allen wrench on top of the front shocks to keep the lock nut from spinning the post, which prevents the use of a deep-well socket on the lock nut, but not really a big deal.

Garfield has gotten pretty killer fuel mileage for the last two tanks, at 23 and 22.5 mpg, respectively. I'd say he's in top form.

There are a few little touch ups I need to do on the truck in the near future. My registration recently expired and I need to transfer the tags from TX to KY. The last mechanic that did the oil change 2 changes back broke the plastic cover that goes over the fuel filter. I plan to super glue it back together and reinstall. The lights a pretty glazed over, and I'd like to clean them up. I know it's silly, but I noticed that the spare tires is dangling just a bit and needs to be tightened up. None of these project are particularly pressing and there's a lot on the plate. So I'll just note them for now as a reminder to jump on them in the future.
 
#26 ·
Like you, I tried to glue my fuel filter cap and found that it doesn't work too well. It was a waste of time and glue. Below is an Amazon link for a new one for less than $20. While you're at it, it would be a good idea to replace the radiator cap with a new Stant cap. They are about $5 and good insurance as these caps are notorious for not keeping proper pressure. With all the towing you are doing this is an important part and cheap to replace.

It would be wise to buy a new cam positioning sensor and keep it in the glove box. It only takes a 10mm wrench to install. Even though it was replaced recently, they are like light bulbs, they can go anytime.

I've had seven 7.3's and have learned that running over 2,000 rpms really kills fuel economy. You're off to a good start. Good luck.
Bob

https://www.amazon.com/Dorman-904-2...473766531&sr=8-1&keywords=7.3+fuel+filter+cap
https://www.amazon.com/Stant-10238-...473766531&sr=8-5&keywords=7.3+fuel+filter+cap
 
#27 ·
Wow! Hey, thank you for the thoughtful response. I've heeded the advice of many on here and purchased a CPS. It's in my tool box next to a cheap wrench/ratchet set, ready for the day it happens to me. Good idea on the radiator cap. I'll get it on order.

The fuel filter cap on the truck currently came with the Wix filter I last purchased and is in good shape. The broken piece I'm referring to bolts over the top of that. I believe it says "Powerstroke" on it, and when it's on the truck it covers the solenoids and the fuel filter cap. It looks like this:
That's what I need to glue back together.
 
#28 ·
Oh, I see. Most of those covers are long ago lost, or just left off for convenience. A truck like you have will serve you well. Dollar for dollar, you are getting to best bang for your buck. $6500 doesn't buy a decent cookie cutter econobox these days, much less a diesel tow monster with a hand shaker. Shoot, I have a friend who gave $5000 for a 7.3 engine that had 150,000 miles on it. You got the whole truck for $1500 more!
 
#29 ·
Ha! Thanks again. Garfield apparently belonged to and old man and his wife who traveled around with an RV. He obviously took good care of it. I was told that he passed and their friend was selling it for her. I was skeptical because it was such a good deal and I thought maybe too good to be true. So, I did everything I could to check records to see if it might have been stolen, but the history all came back clean and as described. I checked with the DMVs in both TX and NM, where it came from, but there was no theft report that I could find or anything. Finally, I forced the sale at a tax collector's office and DMV to ensure there was no issue with the registration. I drove it for a while before I really had confidence it was actually as good as it seemed. I guess sometimes things that are too good can be true. Thanks for the uplifting comments, man. I really love this thing.
 
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