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idk what mods to start with...?

2K views 13 replies 4 participants last post by  SmokeyWren 
#1 ·
i have a 2000 7.3 manual and its completely stock right now. my exhaust piping is 3 1/2 inch no cat but i have the square muffler piece.

i took it to a local muffler shop, they said they can cut that muffler piece off and replace it with a piece of 3 1/2 inch piping. Now my ? is... will this be a better option for me rather than leaving what i have on there now? will the 3 1/2 piping be OK? he told me it would be expensive to put 4 inch all the way from the front to the back.... but to take the muffler off and put a new piece up it will be $75.

What else can i do besides the muffler work to gain performance? or increase my MPG? What brand intake ?

anything i can try searching for on craiglist or amazon?

And looking at TS chips, is that the way to go? to get MPG and performance? i seen a 6 position chip but dont think i need all of those extra HP modes.
 
#2 ·
A lot of the differences between tunes is the shift strategy. Since you have a standard, you control that aspect. Therefore, one tune should be sufficient. You can get an 80 econo tune burned to your PCM for about $75 by DP Tuner. Add a ford severe duty AIS and a walker BTM muffler and you're on the road to a new truck. Do you have gauges yet?


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#3 ·
I have the exact truck you have. Do you do any pulling? I pull a camper and when I opened up exhaust and intake and put a programmer on it stock clutch started slipping pulling up hills, maybe it was worn. I also opened intake too much, I think, and started getting some flutter or surge on the turbo which is bad. If your not towing a lot the mods you mentioned seem like a good place to start. This is an excellent site with a wealth of information and good people, read read read. I would read as much as possible before you make your decisions. I would also go through all the maintainance things first. UVCH check those, Get them screens in the tank removed or cleaned, check the obvious spots for wire chaffing, get some extra sensors cps for sure. I have about 30000 miles pulling my camper and I do have to say I love the extra HP from the chip. But I wouldn't pull like that if I hadn't deleted my muffler at the least. A lot of people have gauges and thats Ideal, I haven't got mine yet but I need to. How many miles do you have? I just turned 280000 and my baby has only left me stranded once and it was the screens in the tank.
 
#4 ·
I have 318k miles. Engine sound's amazing. Runs good. I sometimes have grinding in 2nd and 3rd. Im thinking my gear oil is low.. im going to ford to buy the gear oil.

So will deleting my muffler and replacing with 3 1/2 incy pipe work better?

I dont have gauges yet. I dont pull anything but will be pulling a tiny 6 ft trailer.

Where do I go for that tuning you said? And what areas does it help? Should I tune and not get a chip?
 
#6 · (Edited)
So will deleting my muffler and replacing with 3 1/2 incy pipe work better?
The muffler is a dog. Get rid of it. But if you replace it with a straight pipe, your neighbors and most adults will frown at you because of the obnoxious racket it makes. Instead, replace the muffler with a Walker Big Truck Muffler ( BTM) #21470, also called a Walker or Dynomax RV muffler. Your 3.5" factory stainless exhaust system is as good as it gets after you get rid of the restrictive muffler, so the Walker BTM is a great mod and not very expensive. Available to order at NAPA and other auto parts stores, but the best price is Summit Racing:
http://www.summitracing.com/search?keyword=wlk-21470&dds=1

Next mod is air intake. Best is the Ford AIS (air induction system) for 7.3L diesels. You can buy it from any Ford dealer for about $300, or you can order it from our sponsoring Ford parts dealer for a lot less.
Tousley Ford Parts Depot

I dont have gauges yet.
Then DO NOT install a tune or chip or programmer that will increase horses until after you have installed at least a pyrometer and turbo boost gauge. Adding even one more horse to the engine output can result in a melted piston or blown up turbo if you don't "drive by the gauges". Never exceed 1250° pre-turbo exhaust gas temp (EGT) or 25 PSI turbo boost if you want your engine to be a happy, reliable camper.

Where do I go for that tuning you said?
A "tune" means replacing the stock tune in the engine computer (PCM) with something different. Three ways to do that. Easiest and cheapest is to simply have the tuner flash the PCM with a different computer program (tune). Most common way is to install a multi-position chip that has more than one optional tune. And another way is to use a "programmer" black box that includes a few tunes you can choose from.

Sources: Most popular for the well informed 7.3L owner is www.DP-Tuner.com. An excellent competitor is www.powerhungryperformance.com . And lots of folks in Texas prefer Tony Wildman's tunes. The following linl is weird, but it works to get to Tony's website:
<SPAN style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold; FONT-SIZE: 16pt">7.3L <I>Power Stroke</I></span>

Custom tunes come in all flavors, from a mild increase in HP and torque to wild that is suitable to win a drag race or sled pull. Any tune that produces more than about 100 HP over stock requires additional mods to take advantage of the extra fuel the tune will throw at the engine. Using DP-Tuner as the example source, he offers 80-economy that's probably his best tune for daily driving with just intake and exhaust mods and gauges. I used 60-tow to tow 8,000-pound 5er, and it was great.

And what areas does it help? Should I tune and not get a chip?
A mild tune wakes up the engine so it's fun to drive. After you drive with 80-economy or 100-performance tune for a while, you'd rather take a whooping than drive without it. For towing, the tow tune adds enough horses that the tranny doesn't have to be downshifted for every little bump in the road. Unless you are a fanatic row-your-own shifter, then you'll appreciate not having to downshift as often so the engine doesn't lug for hills or overpasses. You do know that you must NEVER allow the engine to lug, right?

You can get above the redline for EGT if you don't drive by the pyrometer, but you have to be doing something your mother would frown at before you can hit the EGT redline of 1,250° pre-turbo EGT.

With a PCM flash (reburn of the computer program in the PCM), you'll have only that one tune. With a chip properly installed, you can have more than one tune, and the capability to "shift on the fly" between tunes. With a programmer (also called a tuner) you'll have more than one tune, but it requires a coupla minutes to change from one tune to the other. Some programmers also included digital gauges and diagnostic capability, so some folks use the programmer instead of investing in gauges.

I had a programmer loaded with DP-tuner tunes, 80-economy, 60-tow, 100-performance, and the best stock tune available for the '99-up 7.3L. I almost always kept it in 60-tow. It ran about the same in 60-tow as it did in 80-economy, so not much incentive to spend the few minutes required to change tunes. 100-Performance produced a bit of black smoke with my mods, so I rarely used it. The best stock tune is needed if you need to drop off the truck at a Ford dealer for diagnostic or engine repair.
 
#5 ·
Deleting the muffler is probably the cheapest thing you can do if you don't mind it being a little louder. Your not going to be able to tell a huge difference. Certainly all of RT's suggestions are good and I would say are a little over $400 RT? You can do a programmer or a chip. I got a good deal on a programmer from a friend is why I have it and Im happy with it. My superchips states something in the order of 100 hp and you can definaly tell. I didn't get the MPG's I was hoping for with this mod but added a huge front bumber replacement at the same time so its hard to say if it helped in that area. If your not pulling or real heavy footed and on a budget I would say delete the muffler and get a chip or programmer. Then open up intake with a better filter and guys does he even need gauges if hes not pulling. I know its Ideal to have them but for $400 maybe another mod would better. As far as the grinding, you changed your clutch lately or more specificlly your pilot bearing? My bearing shelled and messed up my input shaft on my tranny and I think fifth gear or so.
 
#7 ·
I haven't changed the clutch. I got it like this. My buddy said he seen gear oil leak a little when he was changing my oil. I called ford they said I can use the automatic fluid from autozone anybody ever use mercon?

Is there a ts chip that sells on amazon where its not as much as the 6 position? And will I hhave mpg gains from the chip?

How do I go about with the open intake? Is it different from getting a k&n?

And on the clutch... is it normal to be this darn hard to press down? I was thinking its suppose to be since its a super duty but its requires lot of pressure!
 
#13 ·
And will I hhave mpg gains from the chip?
Probably not. I've run several different tunes for thousands of miles, and none resulted in enough difference in MPG over a 400-mile tankful of fuel to make a difference in my MPG calculations. The only thing that made a difference in MPG was speed, i.e., my right foot. And with the custom tune, especially at first, I couldn't resist mashing on the go pedal to feel the power of that engine, so MPG went down.
 
#8 ·
Here's the deal with the TS chip - it is a blank canvas. The programs that are written on it are what matter. TW (Tony Wildman) or PHP (Power Hungry Performance) are two of the top writers. If you get a generic TS chip, it will have generic canned tunes. That would be a mistake. DP-Tuner uses a different platform to write their tunes on. They work equally well.

Here's my point that I think didn't come across. The large difference between tow tunes and economy tunes (and race tunes) is the shift points. For example, in my repertoire of tunes, I have the 60 tow and the 60 econo tune. The tow tune shifts at higher RPM and holds the TQ locked longer on deceleration (helps with engine braking) as compared to the econo tune (which shifts earlier and coasts longer). Since you have a standard, you'd be wasting money buying a multi-position chip. You control the gears, so why pay more for tunes that the main difference is when it shifts.

Here's the direct link - PCM Flash - Tuning - 1994.5 - 2003 Powerstroke 7.3L Truck - Ford Powerstroke

The cost is $80 now. Like Smokey and I both mentioned - the 80 econo tune would be great for you. It is without a doubt the best upgrade I have ever done to my truck.

Smokey knows what he's talking about. He designed my mods for me when I bought my truck. I have been VERY pleased with everything he suggested.

As for your transmission - Mercon is the correct fluid. You could also use Mobil 1 if you wanted to do a full flush and refill.
 
#11 ·
This manual transmission uses automatic transmission fluid. So you would just go get Castrol or Penzoil or whatever brand Dexron / Mercon Automatic transmission fluid or Mobil 1 ATF. Your choice. I don't have a manual truck, but the specs say 3.4 quarts for the 5 speed and 5.8 quarts for the 6 speed.

There are two plugs on the transmission - one on the bottom (drain) and one on the side (fill). Drain from the bottom one. Fill through the top one until you get fluid up to the level of the plug.

The Walker BTM is a straight though muffler. If you look in one side, you can see out the other. The difference is the BTM has baffles that absorb some of the sound. If you straight pipe it, you will get the most annoying drone that will drive you out of your mind. Plus, if you shop around, you can get the BTM for less than what the muffler shop is going to charge you to straight pipe it. You can install it yourself...
 
#14 ·
I've never messed with a ZF row-your-own tranny, but why not drain the tranny, then refill until ATF runs out of the refill hole? Yeah, it probably requires some sort of a pump to pump the ATF from the quart bottle up into the filler hole, but if you're going to have a ZF tranny, you need to invest in one of those anyway. Here's a simple one from Wal-Mart:
Oil Change Pump Kit - Walmart.com

If your Wal-Mart doesn't have something like this, most auto parts stores will have one in stock. NAPA has one, but it's a bit more pricy:
NAPA AUTO PARTS
 
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