New Truck to me

I finally sold my truck a few weeks ago. I'm buying a 1999 Ford, F350, CC, Long Bed, Lariat, 67k on it. Who has the 7.3? What do I need to watch for with it?

I work at a Ford dealership and the 7.3 is probably the best engine they've ever made

stay away from any diesel with a power chip in it from what I've seen around here Programmers = Good Chips = Bad

don't have to watch for anything -- only problem they ever gave was high psi oil pump that fires the injectors, glow plugs and block cavitation (only on extremely high mileage units-when hte coolant was never changed and dcs levels deteriorated)

very nice truck and a work horse -- you'll love it -- congrats...

What price range are those trucks in?

I got this one for 17,750. Most are going for about 20 to 21k.

you stole it at that -- especially w/ the miles ----

I have a 1999 7.3L with a 14" lift and 40's. These trucks are great. I would recommend a deep tranny pan to keep the tranny cold. I have 143k on the stock tranny with a tranny cooler and deep pan. My truck is chiped, banks turbo, intercooler, water/methanol injection, propane injection, power elbow, 4" exhaust w/ no cat and no muffler and it's still runnin like a champ!

This truck is bone stock.

J Montgomery
what are you saying?
I run the superchips programmer in my 06 F250

I use it on the economy mode

have you seen these mess trucks up?


thanks

Did you read my post ? From what I've seen from all the 7.3s coming through our shop programmers wont screw them up but chips will

Programmers plug in and reprogram the PCM and then you unplug them chips plug in and stay in

J Montgomery is correct. Plug and play is the only way to go if you want it idiot-proof...

I personally run Bullydog. But the best programmer on the market is the EDGE....

The problems w/ chips is making hte perfect connection. Several people tend to go w/ chips over programmers due to cost...

(Message edited by showtime on September 20, 2007)

How do chips hurt the truck?

Edge is the only thing we'll sell anymore they make a great product and besides chips void your powertrain warranty. If you use a programmer and ever have a problem with your truck all you have to do is plug in the programmer and set it back to stock and Ford warranty will never know the difference and you can use a programmer as a diagnostic tool and that really comes in handy if you're a Do it yourselfer

T-Bag for example we just had a 7.3 come in with a blown engine and what happened was the chip they had installed had the crankshaft spinning at the wrong speed and everything else was correct and it pretty much demolished the internals on the engine because it threw everything out of whack and warranty refused to have any part of it

Chips normally have 1 or 2 presets and programmers let you tweak things differently or you can use the 3-4 presets

(Message edited by lovin_the_wake on September 20, 2007)

J, that doesn't make sense. The crank and camshafts are connected via a mechanical device so how would a chip cause a catastrophic failure? Chips etc, control fuel curve, timing advance, turbo boost, shift points, shift firmness, etc. Your statement does not make sense as to a chip being the cause of such a situation.

I'm not saying a chip will hurt it by any means all I'm saying is there's more of a chance of a chip hurting your engine and definitely voiding your warranty

T-bag, i believe i answered your question.. It's all about the install.. There is not necessarilly anything wrong w/ the chip itself as long as it is "burnt" specifically for your vehicle. The problem comes in when the installer cleans the male connections on the factory EECU. It is imperative that all are cleaned and not damaged. For example, the factory board has 7-16 leads, if a couple of them are not cleaned properly during the install, the multiplexing, etc etc.. may not be in sync.

(Message edited by showtime on September 20, 2007)

I'm going by what our Technicians said and what Ford warranty said when they came out to inspect the engine now Ford will do anything they can not to warranty something but they're usually pretty good about standing behind they're diesels

I completely agree that a tuner is by far the better product as it offers a more customized install and adjustability. But they certianly cost alot more. Another case of you get what you pay for!

very true

Watch your fuel injection system--if the injector harness burns out, replace the outer valve cover harness at the same time--it will go right after. Also, watch the ball joints, and the front brake rotors--prone to warping and the ball joints will probably need replacing before 80K. I loved my 2000 Excursion when I had it and I had the Superchips programmer with no related issues from running any of the programs even with heavy towing.

you got a life time rig my buddy has the same truck and we have beat the hell out of it over the last 7 years no problems. make sure you only use diesel oil!!!!!!!!!!