Awesome sight you all have here. Today I bought a 00 Excursion limited with 44000 miles on it. My question is how would the experts here prioritize upgrades and enhancements? Related to
Handling
Maintance
Power upgrades and what fisrt?
Gauges like egt temp and tranny temp
Also are there any particular things I should look out for on the 2000 and or problems I might avoid. Thanks for any info. [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] Bob Bostrom Elk River MN
As far as prioritizing your upgrades, it depends on how you desire power vs. handling. I added a chip first then upgraded shocks and added a rear anti-sway bar. The average chip runs in the $500 range, with that will require gauges. Doing the shocks and sway bar upgrades will be the cheapest way to go.
erlong, Thanks for the welcome. How is the heat in your 00? My buddy has a 97 cc and that thing is either to hot or to cold.
I think handling first, as I try to get up to speed on ownign a diesel. All I tow is 4 place snowmobile trailer. I would also like to maximize fuel economy as my wife will be driving it about 50 miles a day.
<blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr>Originally posted by Boss: erlong, Thanks for the welcome. How is the heat in your 00? My buddy has a 97 cc and that thing is either to hot or to cold.
I think handling first, as I try to get up to speed on ownign a diesel. All I tow is 4 place snowmobile trailer. I would also like to maximize fuel economy as my wife will be driving it about 50 miles a day.<hr></blockquote>
Never noticed it being too hot or too cold, I'm always able to get the temp at just the right setting. It definitely will warm up faster than your buddy's '97 CC, particularly if it's warming up on a cold morning just by idling in the driveway. I had a '97 F250 Powerstroke that barely blew warm air by the time I made my 15 mile trip to work each morning. The Excursion has no problem heating up right away once I start driving...the heated seats are nice, too! [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]
A couple maintenance items come to mind. Get some fleetgaurd strips, and test the coolant for SCA's. The characteristic engine knock of a diesel has a mechanical/hydrodynamic effect in the cooling passages called cavitation. Basicly, a layer of very small water vapor bubbles form between the cylinder walls and the liquid coolant. In really bad cases, this can cause individual cylinders to overheat, and seize up. This is the exception however. What usually happens is the bubbles collapse violently, and erode the iron block (block worm). After some time, it erodes through to the cylinders, and you get catastrophic block failure.
The solution is SCA's, or supplimental coolant additives. These are sacrificial chemicals that coat the block walls with a hard layer that then erodes, saving the block. Since SCA's are sacrificial, they need to be maintained and boosted at regular intervals. Too much will coat the pump and the thermostat, and generally gum up the works. Fleetgaurd strips are used to test the SCA level, and it's kind of like testing pool chemistry. Ford's SCA is called FW-16. Other people here seem to like something called DCA. Dealers will test SCA levels every 15,000 mines and adjust as needed. Since you have 44,000 miles, I thought I'd point it out. Most other mechanics (speedy/jiffy/whatever Lube), likely won't know anything about it, and sell you the "coolant flush of death". [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]
The other maintenance item is oil changes. I know... I know... That's obvious. But you did say this is your first PSD. The oil filter in your PSD holds two quarts. When the oil is changed, you or your lube shop need to pre-fill the filter with oil before starting the engine. Do not use "car" oil in your PSD. It needs heavy duty (SF/CD I think) oil with yet more sacrificial chemicals in it. These are anti-foaming agents. The fuel injectors are actuated by the computer using engine oil. This has a tendancy to foam the oil, which is countered by additives in the oil. It's not something you need to test for, just use the right oil and change it regularly. It's a noticeable difference, a PSD with new oil purrs, 5000 miles later it rattles. I change mine every 3000. The two popular oils used by people here are Shell Rotella, and Chevron Delo.
Keep on top of these two items, and you'll have a happy 200,000 mile plus PSD. Now... Let the chip wars begin...
Very informative info, that is just the type of stuff I need to learn as I hope to put 150,000 miles on this truck. Thanks. Tommorow I am ordering X springs, rear sway bar and rancho's I'm not sure which Rancho's to use with the x springs. Then a set of tires but am not sure if I can swing rims at this time so I have not made a tire selection yet. And then a chip. so which one, there are way more of them than I thought.
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