1st time diesel owner, need lots of advice on mods and tune-ups

[websthes]

Last winter I did the glow plugs, relay, new fuel and air filters, batteries. Now I'm working on getting the engine out. Oil pan's rusted. And there's a lot of oil leaking down the back of the engine. Can't really tell from where, it's all so dirty and rusty. I'll be doing all the o'rings, rebuilding turbo, oil cooler, and finding out where all that oil is coming from. What I really need is a to-do list for when I get the motor out. Never owned a diesel before. Neighbour drove trucks his whole life, says they can never get enough maintenance.

Also want to know what mods would increase the reliability of the engine? I'm not looking for horsepower or extra performance. I'm thinking more like the stancor gp relay I put in this winter, changing the transmission cooler, and some guages to keep an eye on exhaust temps. It's an f-450 with an 18 foot dry box and has about 145,000 miles.

It's big and heavy, and I'll be loading to the 9's on moving jobs and deliveries. All local. On a busy day, I might have 5 or 6 jobs. Traffic's heavy, always stop and go. And we have cold winters. I plug it in at night, but I need to be able to park it for 3-4 hours on a cold day while we load up someone's house, and not have to worry about it not starting.

[96F350KID]

It could be your head plugs or turbo pedestal o-rings or hpop. Theres a hole for the valley to let oil & water & fuel to drain out of. you can throw a dp on it to help with exhaust temps as well as an intake to help wit exhaust temps and MPG. up-pipe gaskets are a MUST they suck to do with the tranny in.

[ridiculously_necessary]

i would bet its your turbo pedistal o-ring.

1. oil cooler rebuild (dieselorings.com)
2. up pipes
3. new freeze/pipe plugs if the current ones are corroded (the two holding coolant in the block)
4. examine the trubo incase it needs a rebuild. i think beans has a kit
5. refill with EC1 rated coolant. i used CAT ELC.
6. water pump

do you need an EGT gauge? perhaps a tranny gauge? its also a good time to do the injector o-rings, but to go that far...

what does everyone think about a fresh IPR?

other than that, intake, exhaust, lerger tranny cooler.

[Demo250]

This has nothing to do with the engine being out, but since you are looking for mods to help reliability and make it run better, I would think about doing the "hutch" mod.
Welcome to guzzle's In-tank Hutch Mod Web Page

Everyone I have ever heard talk about it has good things to say. It is supposed to really smooth the engine out. Here is a link where you can read a few testimonials.
Hutch mod testimonials? Harpoon mod?

[websthes]

Originally Posted by ridiculously_necessary

do you need an EGT gauge?

I don't know. For sure I want a real oil pressure guage, and engine temp. I don't like the stock guages. Dont' know what more I need. I'm not going to put in a chip or anything like that. Just like knowing everything is ok, especially when the truck is carrying a heavy load.

Originally Posted by ridiculously_necessary

up pipes

I don't know if my truck had this boost leak problem or not. But just looking at the pipes, they've definitely seen better days.

What's your opinion on a good replacement for a work truck? IH, or something fancier porcelaine coated or whatever.

[ridiculously_necessary]

if your pulling heavy then absolutely get a pyro. (EGT gauge). If its an auto definitly get a tranny temp gauge. boost is a good idea.

if your particular enough to want to know what your truck is doing:

1. EGT
2. Tranny
3. Boost
4. Optional: HPOP pressure, fuel pressure, coolant temp, oil temp

our trucks very rearely overheat. they run pretty cool. most dont get the gauges on number 4 unless they have had previous issues or they run perforamnce.

waht kind of weight are you talking about? the tranny has a rep for overheating more than anything else.

up-pipes - since the turbo is out and they look old, definitly do them. you have two options. reseal the, with the brass crush o-rings (i think beans has them) or get bellowed pipes - $$$. as long as they arent rusted out i would just reseal them.

most favored gauges seem to be ISSPro and Autometer. Least preferred seem to be Glowshift.

[websthes]

Originally Posted by ridiculously_necessary

if your pulling heavy then absolutely get a pyro. (EGT gauge). If its an auto definitly get a tranny temp gauge. boost is a good idea.

I won't be towing anything. But it's an 18 foot dry box truck, like you rent from U-haul so it's pretty heavy, with a gvwr of 15,000. I think it belonged to Frito-Lay (potato chips), and has only around 145,000 miles. Tranny feels all right. I haven't done the fluid yet but it will get done before this truck goes to work.

Originally Posted by ridiculously_necessary

up-pipes - since the turbo is out and they look old, definitly do them. you have two options. reseal the, with the brass crush o-rings (i think beans has them) or get bellowed pipes - $$$. as long as they arent rusted out i would just reseal them.

I was reading about the up-pipes, and the consensus seems to be that the stock pipe design is flawed, the seals don't last. That would be my only reason for spending the money on bellowed pipes. If the brass crush o-rings do a decent job then I'll go with that.. depending on condition of pipes of course. Just got the turbo off, and what I see now doesn't look so bad. Will post some pics

4. examine the trubo incase it needs a rebuild. i think beans has a kit

I took the aluminum cover off and took some pictures, will post them later. Don't feel any whobble in the little "fan" thing.

p.s. who is beans. I've been making a shopping list at dieselorings.com... will be putting in an order soon.

[average]

Originally Posted by websthes

p.s. who is beans. I've been making a shopping list at dieselorings.com... will be putting in an order soon.

Beans Diesel Performance, not sure a link is allowed to it here...

[slamma2556]

Im about to purchanse a 2001 7.3L powerstroke from a buddy. Its in great condition but has 200,000 miles on it. I need some suggestion on what modifications to get to be around 400-450rwhp. Im not trying to go overboard. I have been looking at tdp and dp six position tuning chips. The truck already has a superchip in it but i believe those are ok. It also has a cold air intake. But need some advice on mods including transmission wise. I heard BTS was great.

[websthes]

This is my truck. 2001 f-450 dry box truck. GVWR is 15,000, hence my concerns about the transmission over-heating.



This is what the turbo looked like when I removed the cover. I cleaned the cover , but the fan didn't have any play in the end, and spins freely, so except for wiping off the oil, I left that part alone. Does it need to be rebuilt?







The headers have seen better days, I'll be replacing them for sure. What can you guys tell me about the up-pipes? Are these the stock original? They look like they should last another few years and I don't really want to spend $500 on new uppipes. I'd like to do the "brass crush o-rings" to avoid any boost leak problems, and make do with these pipes.








The truck was painted, but there's quite a bit of rust on the frame, and all the fuel,powersteering,tranny lines in and around the engine. I have to take this truck in for a safety inspection and rust is one of the things they look for so I'd like to remove as much of the rust as possible and paint over it with some good rust paint. Can anyone recommend a good product for this job?