So, I'm new to diesel engines and, of course, everything sounds different . First I had to get used to the rumble, and how much heavier the truck felt when excelerating (definately not quick take-off like gas truck). But I have other noises that I would like clarification on "good sound" versus "bad sound", plus a fuel tank issue. Hope you all can help.

First sound is prior to ignition, when the key is turned and the coil light goes off, there is a noise in front right engine compartment that sound like a shut down of something. Sound kind of like a thud. Normal?

Second noise is when it's really hot out, I'm pulling a horse trailer, turn the air conditioning on...when I hit 60+ mpg there's a very definate surging noise. My tranny temps and all other guages are normal, and it doesn't seem to affect the engine performance, it's just loud and worried me. Normal? If I'm just tootling along at 45-50 it doesn't do it.

Third, I had to have the fuel float and instrument cluster replaced right after I bought this truck (2003 F-250 Powerstroke 7.3 liter). Still nervous about the fuel gauge, I have never run it down past 1/4 tank till yesterday. The gauge was staying at slightly over 1/4 tank for over 40 miles and I thought hmmm? So I figured I'd better just let it go below 1/4 and see what happened. She started shaking and sputtering and had no power. After filling her up, she seems fine. So is the guage still broke?

Thanks everyone. I hope to increase my knowledge about my ride, so I can talk intelligently to the mechanics when I take it to the shop.

 

Welcome to FTE moreman! Lots of good info and advice here!
I will give ya my 2 cents,
the "thud" you hear sounds like the defrost/vent door closing when the vacuum pump creates vacuum.
Surging sounds like your cooling fan, mine does same with Supechips programmer.
Fuel gauge,,, hmmm... long ago on my 99, when I had a chip in it, the check engine light would come on, and I was told to unhook batteries and let sit for "x" amount of minutes, 10 or 20 I think, then hook-up, all good, I did this once on a slight incline, with about 1/2 tank of gas,,,, gauge went to full when I re-connected batteries, and was off until I filed tank, parked on level ground and did the battery thing again,,, not sure, but try it.

Joe