I have a 1999 F-350 with the 7.3 in it. I was looking to some advice on how to get a little better gas mileage by making some modifications. I have spoken to people who have told me they get 28mpg on their 7.3's. While I'm a little skeptical about the 28mpg # any improvement would be great. If I could achieve a power boost with the same mods that would obviously be nice but its secondary to the mileage.

The other part is money. I realize that for something like $4000 i can get a banks kit that offered huge hp and torque gains. What would be the most beneficial use of about $1000 of mods?

 

Welcome to FTE. Please scroll further down the main forum listing and find the 99 - 03 7.3 diesel section. You'll find enough info there to make your head spin.

Don't waste your money on the banks stuff. Good quality, but way overpriced and it won't really give you that much power compared to a custom tuner for the same money.

The things you'll want to do is add gauges so you can monitor things. Intake and exhaust to help the engine breathe better. A good chip, most likely followed by a wicked wheel because a good chip will add enough power to cause turbo surge which banks, edge, etc. will not, then also a tranny cooler and shift kit or modified valve body to help the tranny last longer.

Might sound like a lot, but now that you've found FTE, you can do the above for less than the 4k that banks would cost, and you'll actually be able to beat a banks equipped truck on the track.

Talk to Clay about what you want (he's a site sponsor). He can help you buy the right stuff and not waste your money on the worthless stuff. He's also got better prices on many of the things you'll need than most do. Riffraff Diesel

 

1. no one is making 28 mpg in a 7.3 one guy and only one guy that shoots for nothing but MPG I believe made 26. He did alot of stuff most would not be willing to do.

2. dont get banks stuff you are over paying. Get a custom burned chip. DP-tuner, PHP, just search for custom tuners.

3. Gauges, Pyro, Trans temp and Boost.

 

Those custom tuners look awesome. Thats sweet how you can pick exactly what you want. What is the other stuff you described. If you buy a tuner and use the performance boosts will other stuff start breaking. I mean dp offers a 140hp boost. Is there any concern with other stock parts breaking from over exertion?

 

For about $1000?

Riffraff Diesel: MBRP 4" Turbo Back Aluminized $376

Riffraff Diesel: RDP 6637 Filter Kit $69

Riffraff Diesel: DP Tuner F5 Chip Module W/ switcher and 60T and 80E $310

Riffraff Diesel: RDP Triple Gauge Kit $488

$1243. All you need to get started. Don't do the chip without gauges. With those mods, in an Excursion which weighs more than your F350, I turned about 22mpg.

 

So once I have all of these gauges wired up should I be concerned as far as things overheating. I'm seeing other threads of people complaining about temperatures getting too high. I just feel like tuners and chips are like a too good to be true thing. If the pieces are designed to run at certain performance standards and then you boost the engine without reinforcing other parts wont things get out of whack? I'm no car expert so I'm not trying to second guess you. I'm just trying to be thorough.

 

No worries man. You are asking the right questions. What you need to be aware of is adding fuel (no matter what chip you run) means adding heat in the combustion chamber. Too hot and you melt things. So we monitor EGT (exhaust gas temp). Honestly, with the setup I suggested, 80E as your highest tune, you won't have much in the way of EGT issues. If you are WOT to 100+ mph you will get to temps to be concerned about. Otherwise, you should be good.

 

Haahaha the way my truck is right now i dont think it will even do over 80mph. It's only a 4 gear automatic so once you hit 70 ish the rpm just goes up and up.

Just for conversations sake dp makes a 140hp xtreme tune. what would happen if i ran something on that level. If i ordered a tuner id want a gas mileage mode, a tow mode, and a performance mode, and a high idle mode, and possibly the engine break mode.

Also they have a lope idle setting what is that?

 

Honestly, with a stock fuel system, you won't get 140 out of it. The HPOP can't keep up. The 120R or 100 performance tune would be about the max. You can get the 140 tune but you won't get much more than 100 to 120 hp out of it.

The lope idle makes your truck idle like a gasser with a big cam in it. No two trucks react the same to it.

 

Ya that's what I've been reading. I'll probably go with one of the lower performance settings. The DP tuners seem to have rave reviews. Everyone is saying to call DP and they are very helpful. So the other stuff you recommended. The exhaust and the gauges. How hard is the install on those?

 

Really easy. I did my exhaust by myself with a little bit of help from my son who was 10 at the time. If I were you, I'd call Clay at Riffraff. He can get you squared away even on the DP. Thats where I got mine.

 

I did this exact setup form RiffRaff and can only seem to get around 15mpg (hand calculated) with the overhead lie o meter reading 22mpg... is this what you are referring to or should I be getting better than 15?

 

Have you checked you Exhaust Back Pressure tube and sensor?

 

funny you mention this, I just took it off and cleaned it (yea, that was an event since I broke the plastic cleaner string inside and had to melt it out with a torch )

But it did not seem that dirty and was only about 20% restricted with soot... and the sensor looked pretty clean, Just wiped the sensor out with a q-tip.

If the tube is not blocked with soot will I see a difference with a simple cleaning?

 

You will need to use a scanner and see if your sensor is working properly as well.