This past weekend, I bought a truck - 2000 F-250 7.3L crew cab std bed 4x4. 207000 miles. I wanted to share a couple pics (and let's be honest, show it off a bit to people who appreciate this sort of thing ) and ask a whole bunch of questions. I have some experience with doing mechanical work - did a solid axle swap on an 89 Bronco - but this is my first diesel, so please don't worry about dumbing anything down too much, assume I'm an idiot.
Thanks to ArcticDriver for answering questions via pm and suggesting I start a thread. I'm going to number my questions since I have a bunch of them, and it makes a lot more sense to keep them in one place. A few bigger questions and a number of minor issues.
1. By far my biggest concern, the transmission has a hard shift from 2-3. 1-2 is very smooth, 3-4 is very smooth. It's a good kick but not what I've seen people describe, i.e. "Rear ended at 20 mph". If I'm very light on the pedal the kick is very minor. I've also read that it's usually a broken spring in the valve body? Where do I start with diagnosing this?
2. Where should I run my tire pressures when not loaded? The tires on it now have a max pressure of 60, the door sticker lists 55/70 cold. My understanding is those numbers are for a fully loaded truck, should I drop them down some for daily use?
3. The drivers door requires a slam to latch, can I adjust that?
4. Anyone happen to have a part number for the door trim fasteners for the rubber at the bottom of the doors?
5. The steering is rather sloppy - I suspect it's just standard older truck looseness but at what point is it an issue? I believe the ends were replaced not too far in the past. Perhaps a stabilizer would help a bit?
6. Air switches to defrost vents when I turn the 4X switch to 4-hi. I know it's a vacuum issue, I assume I just need to check the lines and if they're ok I need to do a hub repack? Probably would be a good idea regardless. Is there a kit available that has the seals and anything else I'll need?
7. The drivers seat needs a bit of repair. I assume it's probably much cheaper to get the base section recovered than any other options?
8. I want to replace the console with a center jumpseat. I found someone local selling new ones that have been removed from their fleet of work trucks. The replacement would be from a 2011-2016. Would this work?
9. Looks like I have a minor oil leak, hard to tell where it's coming from on a casual glance, but it's ending up below the steering gear box (is that the right term?) I'll need to track that down, it's making a bit of a mess on my driveway.
10. Finally, can anyone recommend a replacement rear view mirror? The stock one is way too small.
I'm sure I'll find more questions to ask, but that's a good start. It was used for its primary purpose last night, towing a Chevy. My 14 year old's new project - 1967 C20, I6 4-speed manual. Should keep him out of trouble for a while.
Welcome to the forum and congrats on the purchase. Sounds like you have a lot of the same issues I had when I first bought by truck. Mine had 137k miles and it now has 320k so I've had a lot of time to fix/replace some of those issues
1. By far my biggest concern, the transmission has a hard shift from 2-3. 1-2 is very smooth, 3-4 is very smooth. It's a good kick but not what I've seen people describe, i.e. "Rear ended at 20 mph". If I'm very light on the pedal the kick is very minor. I've also read that it's usually a broken spring in the valve body? Where do I start with diagnosing this?
I had the exact same issue. I eventually had to replace my transmission due to other issues, but I was hoping this problem would be cured, but it wasn't. I spent years dealing with it and I have FINALLY fixed it. You're gonna want to get ahold of Brian at Brian's Truck Shop. He is the Ford transmission GURU and when I mentioned the problem to him he said it was most likely due some crappy springs and valves in the valve body. I dropped $250 on a custom valve body from him and the problem went away.
2. Where should I run my tire pressures when not loaded? The tires on it now have a max pressure of 60, the door sticker lists 55/70 cold. My understanding is those numbers are for a fully loaded truck, should I drop them down some for daily use?
I've always run my tires at 60psi in the front and 50psi in the read when unloaded. I had a mechanic told me to do this one time due to uneven tire wear and I haven't had any tired wear unevenly since so I just keep going with that.
5. The steering is rather sloppy - I suspect it's just standard older truck looseness but at what point is it an issue? I believe the ends were replaced not too far in the past. Perhaps a stabilizer would help a bit?
My steering has been sloppy since day one. I've replaced front end links and components and it hasn't helped. I even added a bilstein stabalizer and I don't notice a difference. The problem lies within the steering gear box though. There is a nut on the top that can be turned to help tighten things up, but I've never messed with it because if you tighten it too much you can really eff things up. The cure is to get a new gearbox. I believe the name of the company you want to get one through is Redhead (someone correct me if I'm wrong).
6. Air switches to defrost vents when I turn the 4X switch to 4-hi. I know it's a vacuum issue, I assume I just need to check the lines and if they're ok I need to do a hub repack? Probably would be a good idea regardless. Is there a kit available that has the seals and anything else I'll need?
Definitely a vacuum problem. Although I've never had that exact issue when turning on 4WD. You're eventually going to want to upgrade to manual hubs by Warn. If your hubs aren't near impossible to turn right now, they will be eventually as they are prone to seizing up.
7. The drivers seat needs a bit of repair. I assume it's probably much cheaper to get the base section recovered than any other options?
My leather seat was trashed when I bought my truck. You can buy the upper and lower section separately from ford. I know the leather sections were around $200 each, so I assume the cloth would be significantly cheaper. Check out ebay
That's about all I can help with on this. Hope it helps.
I ran my tires at 75psi in the front and 55psi in the rear. Do a search on the front hubs. They are pretty easy to pull off and check/lube the small spindle bearing. Yellow o-ring in hub can go bad and cause vacuum leak. Most everything has a good youtube video or great write up on the forums. I replaced the center unit in mine with a same year jump seat. It was a simple bolt in, had to remove inner arm rest but holes covered by the other unit.
DENNY
I ran my tires at 75psi in the front and 55psi in the rear. Do a search on the front hubs. They are pretty easy to pull off and check/lube the small spindle bearing. Yellow o-ring in hub can go bad and cause vacuum leak. Most everything has a good youtube video or great write up on the forums. I replaced the center unit in mine with a same year jump seat. It was a simple bolt in, had to remove inner arm rest but holes covered by the other unit.
I added the jump seat last year. It took me 6 mounths to locate one on ebay just make sure you get the seat belt with it. They bolt right in after removing armrest and cutting off armrest posts. I also instaled an airbag shutoff switch for kids to ride up front.
Another question on #1, hard shift - what circumstances warrant actually replacing the valve body as opposed to just rebuilding it with a kit like this?
If you are adding jump seat for kids and do need to add airbag shutoff switch all the wiring is already their it is just plug and pay. Instead of buying new dash piece I drilled it out and turned out nice.
Took a look at the transmission pan today, I don't have time to do the valve body tonight but getting things together to do it (long story short, I bought a rebuild kit and then realized I needed to buy specialty tools as well which I will probably only use once so I returned the kit and bought a rebuilt valve body from dieselsite instead.) i'm wondering if I can get a little help identifying things – it looks like my pan is either a replacement or has been modified because it has a drain plug and an additional plug in it - is that for temperature? There's nothing hooked up to it. It's a Ford part - can anyone identify if it's the original pan or a replacement (higher capacity perhaps?) from my pic?
Craigs list for the seats, foam and new covers are pretty cheap. I have the WARN hubs yes it the way to go. Lots of different ways to go on upgrades, just depends how deep you want to go, have fun.
Does anyone know if this windshield with the Ford logo is still available? My searches found posts on TDS from 2015 and back, but when I google the part # I get nothing.
I have a small chip and crack- not in line of sight and still legal but it’s only a matter of time. Thanks
The rear door won’t open. The safety trigger seems to function normally. I’m not certain how you remove the door panel to check the linkage and/or cables.
Any insight into the issue/cure would be helpful!
I'm posting this again cause I know someone out there has knowledge as to how to solve my problem. The left rear door won't open. Both upper and lower latch cable ends are broken, fell apart. Plastic has deteriorated. The right rear lower cable has come out of the bottom latch. I found the...
02 f350 7.3 gauges are dead. Engine will turn over but no start. Blows fuse #42 when I turn key on. Radio works, interior lights, and windows all work with key in on position but dont when turned to accessory. Im at a total loss for what it can be. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
So I purchased a 2004 F350 last weekend and the dash lights, AC control lights, and the overhead fuel mileage indicator did not work. I pulled the plastic dash trim out and noticed that the dimmer switch was disconnected. I reconnected it and everything started working. I stumbled upon the...
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