Finally bought a truck!

[Grimreefer]

Wow,

After lots of searching, researching etc. I bought one. It's an '03, I know it's not the best year to buy, but it already had an egr delete and 4" exhaust, fairly low milage for the year and a good price.

I noticed tonight the headlights seem to surge in intensity. Hmm... Am I looking at an alternator already? Maybe just changing the voltage regulator in the alternator? There is not a voltmeter on the instrument cluster so I'm clueless.

Is it normal for this thing to wander around the road when driving at hiway speed? I finally drove it on the hiway and it was all over the lane, kept me busy. Passing a semi with the wind was a real hinney pucker!

How accurate is the milage indicator? It was showing 11.5 mpg on the hiway! I figured it would be higher, is this normal? I'm working on how much fuel to actual miles, but it's going to be a while as it will only be driven a couple miles a week. Supposidly was not chipped, is there anyway to verify if chipped or not?

I do know it does not like to start when the engine is warm. Usually on the 4th crank it starts. Is that normal? I'm sorta used to turning the key and the engine starts.

Other than a few head scratchers, I really like the truck. Wish I would have bought a diesel earlier. The power is amazing, I think I could pull my house off the foundation. Better than my Chevy 1500!

It has a really nice turbo whine and exhaust sound. The turbo seems to boost almost constantly, and a lot until at cruising speed. Normal? I don't accelerate hard at all. Many, many years ago I had a Thunderbird turbo coupe and the turbo rarely kicked in unless accelerating heavily, this one goes all the time.

Any tips appreciated,

Grim

[PGreenSVT]

Originally Posted by Grimreefer

Wow,

After lots of searching, researching etc. I bought one. It's an '03, I know it's not the best year to buy, but it already had an egr delete and 4" exhaust, fairly low milage for the year and a good price.

I noticed tonight the headlights seem to surge in intensity. Hmm... Am I looking at an alternator already? Maybe just changing the voltage regulator in the alternator? There is not a voltmeter on the instrument cluster so I'm clueless. You need to check the batteries, alternator and wiring. An Intermittent short somewhere could do that and it wouldn't have to be in the lights to show up like that.

Is it normal for this thing to wander around the road when driving at hiway speed? I finally drove it on the hiway and it was all over the lane, kept me busy. Passing a semi with the wind was a real hinney pucker! Is it lifted? Even if not it would wander if the tie rods are bad, the track arm is bad, the ball joints are bad, etc.

How accurate is the milage indicator? It was showing 11.5 mpg on the hiway! I figured it would be higher, is this normal? I'm working on how much fuel to actual miles, but it's going to be a while as it will only be driven a couple miles a week. Supposidly was not chipped, is there anyway to verify if chipped or not?The mileage indicator will only be right if your speedometer/odometer are correct. Most are off by some percentage. You need to figure out how much it is off and then calculate your mileage by hand.

I do know it does not like to start when the engine is warm. Usually on the 4th crank it starts. Is that normal? I'm sorta used to turning the key and the engine starts. Hot start problems are usually indicative of a High Pressure Oil System problem. Perhaps the orings on the dummy plugs or stand pipes to the branch tubes are leaking. Not sure if the STC fitting is an issue for this year or not but another source for HPO leaks.

Other than a few head scratchers, I really like the truck. Wish I would have bought a diesel earlier. The power is amazing, I think I could pull my house off the foundation. Better than my Chevy 1500!

It has a really nice turbo whine and exhaust sound. The turbo seems to boost almost constantly, and a lot until at cruising speed. Normal? I don't accelerate hard at all. Many, many years ago I had a Thunderbird turbo coupe and the turbo rarely kicked in unless accelerating heavily, this one goes all the time. Yup the turbo works and you need to give it a good workout with these trucks to keep it healthy.

Any tips appreciated,

Grim

Answers above in red.

[Ironmover]

Absolutely check your charging system asap! Because my original alternator just went out, it wound up costing me batteries, itself and killed my FICM. Which became costly quick on top of my truck being studded and the whole ten yards but also stuck me with different programming that I'm dissatisfied with and have to sort out now.

Congratulations on your purchase, just take care of her and like PGreenSVT mentioned, stomp on her regularly to keep it healthy. There's many many different recommendations you'll hear about but the list can be quite long sometimes but you'll find everything you need here on this site.

[Grimreefer]

Thanks guys. So far I really like the truck, glitches and all. Just need to put a little work into it. Just like about any used vehicle.