Help me out

[Blown284]

Hi folks. I joined not too long ago and just recently (saturday) purchased my '00 F350. Anyway, couple of questions that I have since I'm a newbie at the diesels:

* Since these are lower rpm engines, when towing up steep grades, is there a certain rpm where I should start getting concerned? I see it maxes out around 3700rpm? Ok to do constant pull up a very steep grade at 3k rpm? Thoughts?

* Was my truck supposed to come with a remote door unlocker? I believe so since I'm a ford guy and didn't get one with this deal, therefore, where can I go to get one (other than ford!). Hard to program? Any help with this would be great.

* What mods should I do first? I'm leaning towards a CAI and tuner (still haven't made my mind up on the tuner yet... looking at SCT since I've used them with my whipple terminator, etc). Thoughts? dp-tuner? Any others?

Thanks in advance!
Tim

[BennyLumpkin]

Welcome to the Org! Sounds like a good truck to start with. CAI are a good idea but avoid K&N at all costs. Tuner wise, for a 7.3 there are only 2 to deal with in my opinion. They are either DP Tuner, or Tunes from Tony Wildman and there are vendors here who can help get you fixed up with them. If you're going to run tunes, GET GAUGES! You need to be able to moniter EGT's, Boost and if its auto, your trans temp as a minimum of things to monitor. My last truck was a 97 7.3 and on a steep grade with a decent load it would run up around 3k rpm and run right along but you just need to watch temps. I'm sure some other guys will comment soon. Good luck with the truck!

[Blown284]

Originally Posted by BennyLumpkin

Welcome to the Org! Sounds like a good truck to start with. CAI are a good idea but avoid K&N at all costs. Tuner wise, for a 7.3 there are only 2 to deal with in my opinion. They are either DP Tuner, or Tunes from Tony Wildman and there are vendors here who can help get you fixed up with them. If you're going to run tunes, GET GAUGES! You need to be able to moniter EGT's, Boost and if its auto, your trans temp as a minimum of things to monitor. My last truck was a 97 7.3 and on a steep grade with a decent load it would run up around 3k rpm and run right along but you just need to watch temps. I'm sure some other guys will comment soon. Good luck with the truck!

Ok sounds good. thank you for those suggestions.

[Blown284]

I drove the truck today after messing around with the inner fender (have some tire rubbing from these huge 355/65/18's LOL).

Anyway, is there anyway for me to find out if my truck has a tune in it? Is it normal for a bone stock truck to blow black smoke when hitting the throttle hard from slower speed to approx 3k'ish rpm? Remember I'm still learning these diesels......

[late_99_PSD]

How much smoke? You can take it to ford and have them re-flash it to stock but other than that I don't think so.

Is your truck a manual? If its not then the trans shouldn't let it over rev.

[Schnot]

If you're blowing that much smoke from a 7.3 you either have a hot tune or something is wrong. Intake, exhaust, and gauges should be first. Save money and do the DIY intake and spend the extra on a good tunable chip. Ts, dp, php, or tw are all good reputable ones.

Troll the forums and learn all you can! And welcome to the diesel brotherhood!


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app

[Blown284]

Originally Posted by late_99_PSD

How much smoke? You can take it to ford and have them re-flash it to stock but other than that I don't think so.

Is your truck a manual? If its not then the trans shouldn't let it over rev.

Not a LOT but just enough that I could see just a little bit of it My truck is an auto.

[Dietoremain]

PHP tunes get my vote, phoenix chip is $295, not gonna find that price anywhere else online..



Welcome! And these motors can run near redline all day long, they are made to run hard.

Btw make sure you have gauges and the supporting mods BEFORE getting tunes...

[ToMang07]

Intake/Exhaust, Gauges, THEN Custom Tunes.

And PHP gets my vote, as well!

Check your PCM and see if it has a chip in it. (Under Dash Beside the E-Brake.) Does it feel under-powered at all? Stock it shouldn't smoke much, if at all. Could be a bad boost leak or up-pipe leak.

[Blown284]

Originally Posted by ToMang07

Intake/Exhaust, Gauges, THEN Custom Tunes.

And PHP gets my vote, as well!

Check your PCM and see if it has a chip in it. (Under Dash Beside the E-Brake.) Does it feel under-powered at all? Stock it shouldn't smoke much, if at all. Could be a bad boost leak or up-pipe leak.

Thanks! It's hard for me to say if it feels underpowered at all since I have nothing to compare it to. Again, the only time I've seen any type of smoke was when I went from low speed and smashed the gas pedal to gain speed real quick. The truck was not sluggish at all and actually surprised me for such a huge truck it really moved out.......