03 Excursion (new to me)

[herman07]

So I've had my 03 Excursion for about five months and put maybe 9000 miles on it. It has 104,000 now. All seemed to be well, but I had an intermitant miss in really cold conditions. Cold starts seemed fine, seemed to be running fine for the most part.

I decided I wanted to do an EGR delete, so I contacted my local diesel mechanic. I decided that while it was in, I wanted him to do the following work:

1. Scan and diagnose the miss
2. EGR delete
3. New oil cooler
4. Clean turbo
5. Flush and fill with ELC coolant
6. Install coolant filter


Well, the scan turned up two bad injectors, several egr codes, and a turbo code. All of the radiator and heater hoses felt bad/mushy and needed replaced too. I spend $1200 on injectors (w/core), hoses, thermostat, and fuel pressuer regulator upgrade. Delivered to mechanic day before yesterday. Found out tonight that the turbo was coked up and siezed. Cleaning took much longer than expected.

I am getting it back tomorrow, and driving it from Kansas City to Louisville , KY. I can't imagine how well it will run with all of that stuff fixed. I thought it didn't run too bad before.

The only big thing I decided not to do was head gaskets and studs. I am hoping that the coolant and egr mods will keep me from needing that one. I do want to get an SCt LIVEWIRE with a tow and an economy tune, but mostly to use as a monitor for the EOT, ECT, EGT, and Boost.

Anything else I need to do to make it last a while without breaking the bank?

Thanks
JHR

[PGreenSVT]

Get a cheaper X3 for tuning and get an Edge Insight for Monitoring. The Livewire sucks as a monitor.

[HorseRadish]

Originally Posted by PGreenSVT

Get a cheaper X3 for tuning and get an Edge Insight for Monitoring. The Livewire sucks as a monitor.

You speaking from experience? Because the Livewire I am using was almost as exact on temps as the insight. Maybe you didn't download SCT fix for monitoring on livewire. Wish I could video it but already sold the insight because X3 and insight was would have been nearly $700 I got livewire for $420
with EGT probe and does the same thing.

[a2elvis]

Sounds crazy but what if someone made a good moniter, tuner, and code readed and clearer all in a complete package. SCT TSX is a great tool. It is an investment but it does all of those things great and is wireless to boot.

[capcalvin]

Originally Posted by herman07

So I've had my 03 Excursion for about five months and put maybe 9000 miles on it. It has 104,000 now. All seemed to be well, but I had an intermitant miss in really cold conditions. Cold starts seemed fine, seemed to be running fine for the most part.

I decided I wanted to do an EGR delete, so I contacted my local diesel mechanic. I decided that while it was in, I wanted him to do the following work:

1. Scan and diagnose the miss
2. EGR delete
3. New oil cooler
4. Clean turbo
5. Flush and fill with ELC coolant
6. Install coolant filter


Well, the scan turned up two bad injectors, several egr codes, and a turbo code. All of the radiator and heater hoses felt bad/mushy and needed replaced too. I spend $1200 on injectors (w/core), hoses, thermostat, and fuel pressuer regulator upgrade. Delivered to mechanic day before yesterday. Found out tonight that the turbo was coked up and siezed. Cleaning took much longer than expected.

I am getting it back tomorrow, and driving it from Kansas City to Louisville , KY. I can't imagine how well it will run with all of that stuff fixed. I thought it didn't run too bad before.

The only big thing I decided not to do was head gaskets and studs. I am hoping that the coolant and egr mods will keep me from needing that one. I do want to get an SCt LIVEWIRE with a tow and an economy tune, but mostly to use as a monitor for the EOT, ECT, EGT, and Boost.

Anything else I need to do to make it last a while without breaking the bank?

Thanks
JHR

Sounds like your getting it dialed in pretty good. Now enjoy! Another thing you could do if you are putting alot of miles on is an oil bypass filter and some good quality full synthetic oil.

[jeeplj8]

Hey Herman - where are you in KC? I am in Eastern Jackson Co. If you want to see an Edge CTS installed, let me know, you can look at mine.

I looked at the livewire but was not a huge fan of the rather large hunk of plastic it comes with. It is also not expandable like the Edge.

[herman07]

Well, bad news on the excursion. Mechanic called today and said he got way behind due to the radiator flush taking all day and still blowing black/grey sludge crap out. It appears that an oil cooler had blown up on the previous owner, was not flushed out very well, and they decided to unload it on unsuspecting me.

Once he got ahead of the flush, he ran another diagnostic and number 4 injector failed both tests (buzz and I forget the other). Already replaced 5 and 7.

So the trip is postponed and the cost continues to rise. At least the head gaskets are not blown. Glad I didn't wait any longer to get the work done. Mechanic said that the coolant filter is a must on my coolant system in its condition.