7.3 L diesel

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viewscaping

Location
ontario
going to look at a 2001 F250 4x4 with snowplow and 80000miles and a 7.3L diesel at an auction. Anybody have any comments on this diesel? A friend says they have one at work and it is in the shop regularly and no cheap fix!!
 
There's not many trucks I'd trade mine for.

Ball Joints, Cam Sensors, UVC Harnesses, and Rusty oil pans are some of the few things.

They run forever if maintained properly with quality parts. Regularly seen them with 200+, up to 800K.
 
I'm probably the only one who took the 7.3 out and installed a 351C gas in order to insure longevity. Done before the price hikes and sold the engine for enough to profit from the deal.
 
the 351 gas gets about 8-9 miles a gallon maybe 11. the 7.3 gets about 15- 16. Gas and diesel run about the same price at the moment. That doesnt sound like a good trade oakwilt. The longevity part doesnt sound right either from everything Ive heard.
 
It's the only decent diesel engine ford ever had in their trucks. 2001 is toward the "end of the line" for the 7.3 so ford had a lot of time to work out the kinks from their earlier release.

I'd follow what Brendan said. He gave me some good insight when I was looking into diesels
 
its a great motor, works its guts out and never gives us any problems. we have a 1999. really happy with it and havent heard that many good things about the newer ford trucks. so we are just going to hold onto this one for a while
 
I bought a 2000 F350 nearly 2 years ago. It had 205k on it. I've now got 235k. The engine itself has been fine. I have had to replace the tranny and I need to replace the glow plugs.

I've got a neighbor who does OTR hauling for a living. He is semi-retired, so he uses 2 F250's that have the 7.3L engine. He has over 1.3 million miles between the both of them. He loves them!
 
IMO. do yourself a favor and buy a Duramax w/ a bulletproof Allison auto. I have had both Ford and GMC diesels, the GMC is definitely better i.e. drivability, ride,comfort,power,trans,4wd set-up and payload. they both have their share of minor problems. If you go with a Ford the 7.3 is the best motor Ford used in their trucks. (it's actually an International dt444)
 
Good engine but check the oil pan for rust. You need to pull the engine to replace the oil pan, it's a $2500 job. I own 2 7.3's and I've replaced the oil pan on both.
 
Locally - just a myriad of problems reported from friends and others on the powerplant...very expensive repairs and lengthy down-times. All were new and purchased here in Central/West Texas...maybe a manfacturing problem? I do get 8-9mpg's with the gas, but had a factory new-351 just sitting there crated in my garage...mods were easy and since my first '84 new that had the 6.9Intnl diesel...none of the 7's impressed me in the years after. I sold the engine for twice what my new 351 and install cast...profitted you could say. I have 310,000 miles on the 250...only tires and filters and serp-belt (once) and plugs (twice) the only costs and maintenance plus I power a hydropump for the dump and accessories (hook-ups for splitter and various other toys). She pulls a '04 Bandit 150xl a lot...easy but doggy.
 
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Good engine but check the oil pan for rust. You need to pull the engine to replace the oil pan, it's a $2500 job. I own 2 7.3's and I've replaced the oil pan on both.

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Yep. I've had a oil leak for about 1 year now. It is leaking where the dip stick attaches to the side of the oil pan. A friggin joke!!! So, I'm waiting to save enough money to have other stuff worked on, to fix an oil leak.
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Good engine but check the oil pan for rust. You need to pull the engine to replace the oil pan, it's a $2500 job. I own 2 7.3's and I've replaced the oil pan on both.

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My Isuzu has the Duramax with Alli tranny. I enjoy this truck. But, the dealer support in my area is 30 miles away.
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The duramax is a nice car/truck. The engine and trannys are killer, I just don't like IFS. Just doesn't seem like a TRUCK to me. But they ride awesome and tow like a .

Jamin, I believe you can fix that leaking dipstick quite easily. I'll look into it and PM you. Like they said, oil pans rust, so look at it. The person who payed $2500 to get it fixed got raped, sorry dude. I think the dealer is a $1600 job, and less than half for DIY. Auto trannys suck too for ford, your lucky to get 100k out of one that was plowed. Again, depends on the driver.

You'll find a 7.3 in ford trucks up to 2003.5

7.3's like clean oil, change regularly. Test the coolant, they require additives to prevent cavitation/cylinder wall pitting.

Lastely, Find a forum, they are your best friend.

www.thedieselgarage.com
 
7.3 is a great engine I wish I had one in my 03 instead of the 6.0 turd that's in it now. I would be worried about the snow plow on the front. Depending on how much snow they pushed you could be looking at costly front in repairs. Again looking back at my truck came with a big blizzard plow that still had the decals on it so I was thinking 4 year old truck, 50k on it with a new looking plow can't go wrong. Yeah I had 4k put into the front a year after I picked it up and all my mechanic said was you can thank that snow plow for all this.
 
That would be great Brendon. I was told the engine had to be pulled or the cab removed from the truck. So, in some of the diesel forums online I found some who had success doing this with out those extreem efforts.

I tried it once. There is a large thin hex nut like fitting on the dip stick, which attaches on the passenger side of the oil pan. I used a special thin, but wide mouthed channel lock plyer. It got between the narrow passage and I got it to tighten, but just when I thought, "Wow. I'm actually going to tighten this... She slipped!" I don't know if it was striped by me or someone else before me, but it will keep turning now...
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So, I'm wondering if I have to replace the oil pan and dip stick.

It reall sucks that I don't feel as if I could drive on some one's drive way now because of a oil leak.
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My 6.9 IDI in the F350 has more miles than you'd believe, and it's been plowed HARD. Still runs pissah. Can't speak for the automatics they threw behind them; mine is a 4 speed. Changed the clutch at 190,000.

The Duramax is a nice engine, and the Allison is sweet. But watch out for the electronics... they SUCK DOG BALLZ. I know more than a few with "random" electrical issues.
 
I had a 2000 F250 with the 7.3, I never had any problems with the truck. I did get some bad fuel in the winter and had some fuel gelling issues, other than that it was a good truck.

I have a 2003 F350 with the 6.0 135,000 and a 2004 F450 with the 6.0 with 45,000 I had several issues the the 04. The truck would run rough and smoke. It took several trips to the dealer and my refusal to accept that I would have to live with anything other than 100% correct.
 
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