Just picked up a 97' f350 powerstroke...

[tugboater@mac.com]

Hey there...found the deal I was looking for. My first diesel. This truck is an ex north slope rig (Alaska). With high high hours but low low miles. Common in these parts. I've heard horror stories about rigs coming off the slope, but this was a hard deal to pass up. About 8000 hours, most of which was idle time. Right now the odometer reads about 88,000 miles. The body has some dings but it's straight underneath and drives that way...and seems to run great. I changed oil/filter, fuel filter, greased all zerks, and air filter. What should I do next? I do plan to throw a few mods on it as money permits....probably the more practical ones...ie...for better fuel economy. I heard that the catalytic converter may plug up after lots of idle time...any way of diagnosing this without replacing? Also, how do I tell which rear end I have on the truck? Anyway, looking forward to reading all these cool posts.

Eric from AK

[angst]

Transmissions in the Powerstroke are not the most reliable ever. Changing the fluid will help keep the odds in your favor. Change via the more involved thorough method of dropping and cleaning the pan and also flushing the cooler. There is a link around here somewhere with a step by step on that.
Transfer case is a frequently forgotten fluid and would be good to change.
Most here use synthetic rear differential fluid to help efficiency.

I wouldn't worry about any exhaust mods just yet unless you just want to for fun. A bigger downpipe is usually the first place people start with that.
There is a back pressure valve just past the turbo that can be gutted for better efficiency. It is only a couple hour job. Do a search for "EBPV" to read up on that.

Since you are in Alaska a conversion to an electric fan might be the most logical first place to start with mods.

To tell what rear end you have there is a stamp on it somewhere with some codes that can be deciphered but I have never found them. An easier method is to just tell us what your RPM's are when doing 70mph.

[julyer]

most muffler shops can test your cat....do you know one you can trust?
63 mph @ 2000 rpm...my truck with 410's.

[tugboater@mac.com]

Thanks for the info! I believe that at 70 mph hour my rpms are in the vicinity of 2400, but I'll have to check.

[angst]

that is probably a 4:10 rear end.
3:80 rear end is roughly 2000 @ 70mph.
Also verify your speed with a gps as tire size and wear will change the speedometer speed by a couple mph.
I have the stock tire size but have an speed and odo error of 1.6 mph at 70. This odo. error is also important if you are checking your fuel mileage.
Fuel mileage varys greatly on these trucks, but if it is decent this would confirm that your cat is not something you need to worry about right now.
Cold morning starts with these trucks on the other hand...