General questions, First time w/ a 7.3

[DilleyMJ]

just bought it just over a week ago, got a 2000 F250 Crew cab short bed 4x4 with the 7.3 I have had two diesels before this, just not a Ford, and never had gauages before either. so just in general whats normal and whats too much.
i have a EGT gauage and Trans temp gauage, I'm in Alaska and i know i need to cover my grill because my temp are too low, the trans temp will barely read on the hwy, but in town i've got it up to 140-160, which is not big deal. the EGT's I've maybe seen as high as 600. I not pulling anything yet, but just want to know whats normal and whats too much for the trans & EGT. the rig is stock far as I can tell, no muffler and a lift is all I can tell, not even sure how much lift 4-6 maybe running 35's. just would like some input, and got just a little bit of a light blue smoke until it gets warmed up, i've done some looking, should I be worried, do i need to bring it in???

thanks for any help I can get.

[DilleyMJ]

and since i dont know whats been done to this rig, with 143,xxx miles on it what types of maintence should I do??? i plan on changing all the fuilds, and over to synthetic, both diff's, transmission & transfer. I've heard and read how great they are, and with the cold of Alaska proably not a bad idea. did the oil and fuel filter. Is 10w-30 to much for up here, i plug it in but plan to add a oil pan heater, and of course Rotella oil.

any common repairs around this mileage? or miles to come?

[zrain25]

600 egt is fine once u hit 1200 pistons and stuff start to melt, but flashes of 1200 1300 are fine for a few seconds, switch to fully synthetic rotella my truck starts fine at 0 degrees, but Alaska is colder I don't think u need a oil pan heater ur block heater should do the job once you switch the oil


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[Zaairman]

The EGTs depend on where the probe is mounted. If it's mounted in your down pipe, that's bad, m'kay. It needs to be mounted in your manifold. You're saying you've never seen temps over 600, which leads me to believe that it is mounted in your down pipe, as most people are around 600 degrees cruising on the highway. For oil, I'd go with 5w40, or if you can find it, I think Rotella makes a 0w40.

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by DilleyMJ

i have a EGT gauage and Trans temp gauage, I'm in Alaska and i know i need to cover my grill because my temp are too low, the trans temp will barely read on the hwy, but in town i've got it up to 140-160, which is not big deal. Lower is better for the trans basically. As long as the torque converter will lock up, it's warm enough. the EGT's I've maybe seen as high as 600. As long as the probe is in the manifold like stated, you don't wanna go over 1250 for very long. I not pulling anything yet, but just want to know whats normal and whats too much for the trans & EGT. the rig is stock far as I can tell, no muffler and a lift is all I can tell, not even sure how much lift 4-6 maybe running 35's. just would like some input, and got just a little bit of a light blue smoke until it gets warmed up, i've done some looking, should I be worried, do i need to bring it in??? No. Either Injector orings or glow plugs. There is a stick in the general 7.3 section on cold weather operation and checking the GPs and GPR. You should definitely do that and make sure they're working. Good working GPs, GPR, starter, good batt connections, and very high CCA batteries should start your truck down to some very cold temps.

thanks for any help I can get.

Originally Posted by DilleyMJ

and since i dont know whats been done to this rig, with 143,xxx miles on it what types of maintence should I do??? i plan on changing all the fuilds, and over to synthetic, both diff's, transmission & transfer. I've heard and read how great they are, and with the cold of Alaska proably not a bad idea. did the oil and fuel filter. Is 10w-30 to much for up here, i plug it in but plan to add a oil pan heater, and of course Rotella oil.

Like said, a 5W40 synthetic would be best for you. And of course a fuel additive to prevent gelling is always good. About 5-6k on the oil is about all you wanna do. For repairs, nothing major. Maybe some oil or fuel leaks from the orings but we've all done that.

any common repairs around this mileage? or miles to come?

replied in red

[zrain25]

I forgot about the manifold and dp, dp 600 is way to high 600 manifold is ok depending at what speed/rpm


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[SD Ford Man]

I also am a new PSD owner, i did a lot of searching on this forum and also on the internet. the best thing so far that i have found that should answer alot of your questions is going to powerstrokehelp.com this guy has a ton of videos on everything you can think of on your 7.3. take a look and let me know what you think.

[zrain25]

That guy is an idiot... Don't listen to him I'm surprised he know how change oil


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[Zaairman]

Hey, he can change the HPOP oil.

[jesilvas]

Originally Posted by Zaairman

Hey, he can change the HPOP oil.

You beat me to it
The guy is . . . ok. He documents a lot of stuff, which is helpful. But past that, don't listen to him.