Differences in early 99's bad?

[cvdenson]

Originally Posted by Caramon

Thanks CVDenson. This would only be a pulling rig, I have a 2007 F150 FX4 as my daily driver, but it doesn't pull my 7,800lbs trailer very well even with a CAI, Custom Tunes and a Magnaflow Exhaust, that and I'm worried about the tranny going out prematurely on it with pulling so close to my GCVWR (14,500 Max, I'm at 14,100). Thus my reason for looking into a 3rd vehicle just to go on our vacations with.

Caramon, no problem. We're here to help. I wished I would've looked for these kinds of forums before I purchased my truck. I'd like to address what Alabama has been saying about the intakes of the early '99. They suck! He says his motor was dusted. Basically these stock intakes tend to leak past the filter allowing dust particles and what not to reach the turbo and into the combustion chamber, hence the dusted engine. You can tell if an intake has not filtered well by removing the tubes and 1) looking down them to see any dust and 2) checking the fins of the turbo. If the fins look shreaded then walk away from the truck. When I bought my truck this is how my fins looked, but I didn't know anything about diesel engines at the time, especially the 7.3. My truck ended up being dusted and I replaced the motor and turbo with a complete drop in crate engine 40,000 miles ago. I sure have learned a lot since then.

I'm not a big fan of oiled air filters either, which is why I opted for the Ford Severe Duty Intake. These are pretty stout. The filter element is made from Donaldson who makes all the air filters for the military. I need a good filter anyway since I live in Yuma, Az. The airflow is better than stock and it works well for my application. Here's a link to one at Dfuser: DFUSER Diesel Performance Products Exhaust High Performance Part Diesel Intake Diesel Power Chips. Scroll down and you'll see it.

The light duty F250s that Alabama was talking about are in the same body as the F150 and were only run in the late 90's IIRC. DP tuner will increase you're mileage. For your application since you will be using a Superduty as a towing platform, the DP 40T and/or 60T would be good along with the 80 economy tune. If you can get your wife in on all the fun with modding powerstrokes, half the battle is done, and it just takes money. Always tell your wife that "it's for better gas mileage." Works everytime.

Chris

[alabamafrog]

Only reason I mentioned the light duty F-250 is because if you get any parts some parts places will get them confused if you don't stress it is a superduty.

The air filter I use does NOT require cleaning or oiling, after a few years (depending on driving conditions) you just replace it with another one. I’ll include a pic at the bottom so you can see what I got on mine. Cost $40 and it will filter and flow way better than stock.

If it were me and I bought the early 99 for towing and didn’t plan to really go wild with mods here is what I would do in this order;
1. DIY intake $40
2. Gauges $300
3. Straight pipe the exhaust $75
4. Trucool 40K tranny cooler $120
5. BTS tranny valve body $250
6. Fuel tank, prepump filter and FPR mods $35
7. Good flip chip from DP or TW $400

So for about $1300 I’d have it like Ford should have built it.
Of course I’d do all the maintenance and change ALL the fluids right after I bought it.

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Last edited by alabamafrog : 04-25-2008 at 05:38 PM.

[greenie]

[quote=alabamafrog;560513]Only bad flaw with the early 99 is the same flaw most PSDs have, but it’s worse on the early 99 so look carefully before buying, the factory air box and intake can leak dust into the turbo and engine. Mine was this way when I bought it with 130k on it. I wasn’t as smart as you and I didn’t research before buying so I didn’t know to look. I wound up having to replace the turbo and rebuild the engine.

Wow ,what happened that you needed a rebuild?

[alabamafrog]

Originally Posted by greenie

Wow ,what happened that you needed a rebuild?

Dust getting by the factory air intake ruined the turbo and the engine compression. Compression was down to 200-300 psi. Also the vales were worn out and sharp on the edges. Dust kills a PSD, cost me $4000 in parts and machine work to rebuild mine doing it myself. Got quotes from $7000 to $12,000 for a new engine. When buying a PSD definitely check the air intake for signs of dust and put a good filtration system on it like the DIY setup.

[greenie]

Im curious because I bought this 99 from a person who lived on dirt roads.I pressure washed it all day to get the layers of Arkansas dirt off the under side. The truck runs ok,but I noticed a crack in the filter housing.This guy broke every snap in the truck.Even the pin on the steering column.Im cleaning everything up.All the filters & fluids ,bearings,and brakes.Even the emergency brakes & cables.Shocks were broke ,steering was out,i-beam was toast.One thing though,there's soot around the tubes of the inter cooler.I cleaned them up and tighten them down. I know if I look,Im gone take things apart.
This is my first diesel,is this how they effect every one.

[greenie]

Originally Posted by alabamafrog

Dust getting by the factory air intake ruined the turbo and the engine compression. Compression was down to 200-300 psi. Also the vales were worn out and sharp on the edges. Dust kills a PSD, cost me $4000 in parts and machine work to rebuild mine doing it myself. Got quotes from $7000 to $12,000 for a new engine. When buying a PSD definitely check the air intake for signs of dust and put a good filtration system on it like the DIY setup.

On the gassers I stuck a fitting in the spark plug hole to test for compression and would of like to seen 200-300 psi.Were /how do I test for compression and what should I be seeing?

[alabamafrog]

I had to remove the glow plugs and rent a gauge and adapter from a local diesel shop then I did it just like on a gasser. Do not put any oil or anything in the chamber to do a “wet” test, there aint enough clearance and bad things can happen. Should be around 400 psi, some say 350 is okay, if mine had of stayed above 300 I would have been happy. You’ll also need a good battery charger on it for all the cranking required and let the starter cool good between cylinders. My starter died a week after I got the engine back together, may have been coincidence.

[Caramon]

Wow, thanks fellas, that's a bunch of great info to go on.

[alabamafrog]

Ask and ye shall receive

[greenie]

Wow,thats a lot of work to just dive in like that.So what made you check?