99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke Engine and DrivetrainDiscussion of the 99 & up 7.3L Power Stroke diesel engine and drivetrain in the 1999-Up Super Duty trucks and Excursions. No gas engine discussion allowed except on transmissions and drivetrain that pertain to all models. Please confine discussion of topics in this forum to those items that are specific to the 7.3L Power Stroke engine.
I am an autobody guy. I have been teaching autobody for the last 19 years in a high school but I try to stay away from mechanical work.
My wife just bought a 2000 F450 flatbed, 7.3 turbo and automatic trans, with 300,000 miles for moving bees. She drove it from North Dakota to Texas. I had her have the oil and fuel filters changed before she left ND. They also replaced an injector. It runs and drives great.
What maintenance work should I be doing? I think one of the first is to change out the coolant. I know enough to change brakes, bearings and stuff. We don't know what has been done to take care of this truck.
Is there a good reference for this truck? I would like to service the trans, but I am afraid since I don't know if it has been taken care of before.
I already have found a lot of good information in this forum. Thank you for any advice you can give me.
It is dependent on how much of the work you are willing to do yourself. It tends to get real expensive taking it to the dealership to repair it every time it acts up. Right off the bat, keep up on the oil, fuel, and air filters. Try to find someone who can read the codes BEFORE the Service Engine light comes on. The local parts stores cannot read these diesel trucks.
If you are willing to do the work yourself, getting diagnostic software for your computer usually pays for itself with one skipped trip to the dealer. For example, AutoEnginuity software-$399 + one injector $250= $649. How much did it cost to replace your injector?
Back when I was in vocational school for autobody, the teacher would just take his car over to the auto mechanics class, and we got to fix his car. I swear that guy parked his car in the middle of a golf driving range.
__________________ Tom
99.5 PS CC 4x4 SRW ZF-6
Triple Pillar Gauges; Fuel pres, Pyro, Boost
AE, Alldatadiy, and half a clue
- AKA "The Big White Truck"
My wife just bought a 2000 F450 flatbed, 7.3 turbo and automatic trans, with 300,000 miles for moving bees.
What, don't the bees have wings down there in Texas? Or do they have too much baggage?
__________________ Tom
99.5 PS CC 4x4 SRW ZF-6
Triple Pillar Gauges; Fuel pres, Pyro, Boost
AE, Alldatadiy, and half a clue
- AKA "The Big White Truck"
Mark, thank you for the link on the transmission fluid change. I can do that. I have an ex student who has been working as a diesel mechanic for about 3 years at a Ford dealership who can help me on other things. I just want to learn how to take care of a lot of it myself. I can always pull the truck in the shop at school to do a little repair.
We can't grow the bee business if we spend all of our money on truck repairs.
Something you may or may not know,- the oil and coolant used in the truck are specific for diesels. Don't just buy the same 10w-30 you would put in a gas engine.
__________________ Tom
99.5 PS CC 4x4 SRW ZF-6
Triple Pillar Gauges; Fuel pres, Pyro, Boost
AE, Alldatadiy, and half a clue
- AKA "The Big White Truck"
Something you may or may not know,- the oil and coolant used in the truck are specific for diesels. Don't just buy the same 10w-30 you would put in a gas engine.
I knew that the coolant wasn't but didn't realize the oil wasn't. Thank you.
I am reading all of the new topics so I can learn the terminology and understand things better. Since this truck has a lot of miles on it, I want to take care of it, but I don't want to throw my money away.
How often should the oil be changed?
As far as fluids, I see Amsoil mentioned a lot. Is there a brand I should stick with? or just buy a leading brand?
Every 5000 miles is standard. Get a good 15W40 - Shell Rotella, Delo, and Motorcraft are probably the most popular brands. You can get all three at Walmart, along with a Motorcraft filter.
__________________
2003 F-250 XLT Crew Cab 7.3L, Chrome BigTex Grille Guard, Quad pillar - 3 ISSPRO gauges (trans, pyro, boost) and DP-Tuner F6; Roush fuel pressure / temperature / oil pressure gauges, Ford Severe Duty AIS, 31 row 6.0 transmission cooler, ScanGauge II, Marinco mod, Walker BTM
"IF YOU CAN'T FIX IT WITH A HAMMER, YOU’VE GOT AN ELECTRICAL PROBLEM"
As far as fluids, I see Amsoil mentioned a lot. Is there a brand I should stick with? or just buy a leading brand?
Thanks,
Amsoil will start arguments as much as asking how to make black smoke. While it may be a fine product, if you change your oil following the manufacturers recommended intervals, it's not worth the added cost in my opinion. I use Delo and the Motorcraft FL 1995 filter.
__________________
1994 F-350 7.3 IDI Turbo, crew cab, E4OD,4:10 L/S, LB, Dually Photos
ATS Turbo upgrades: 3" DP with 3" exhaust Magnaflow XL muffler: Pictures Here
2012 Copper Canyon 273 FWRET w/2 slides, Air Lift 5000 bags
Pillar pod: Autometer C2 Series gauges: pyro,trans, boost, water, oil pressure
Hypermax Cowl induction, K&N air filter, flex-a-lite 26K trans cooler with fan,Tekonsha prodigy
Train Horns: Pictures here
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