Thanks Denny! I ordered a Luber Finer on Amazon just now.

Tim, I looked at the map. Looks like Lartross is the only user close to my route, and it's off a bit. Here's where I'll be driving, from A to B in a rental then driving her back.

 

Honestly I have no idea what the OEM cap looks like since as long as I have owned my truck I have had aftermarket fuel filters on it. So as Denny said that is an aftermarket filter and I had one like that on my truck when I bought it and who ever installed it really torqued it. To the point that when I went to change it I stripped the top out with my 1/2 ratchet. I ended up using a big screw driver and hammer to get it loose. So hopefully you won't need to deal with that until you get home.

Bottom line if you go to buy OEM filter buy the cap too or go to parts store and get one that has the cap & filter as one unit.
Now speaking of aftermarket parts do NOT buy a aftermarket CPS.
ONLY use a oem Ford CPS !!

 

Not too far fetched just to have a van follow you with tools.

 

I'm guessing a 12 hour journey is at least a 1000 miles. Assuming you get there and you like what you see and buy, I would plan on getting some maintenance done locally before you leave, and with two weeks you have time to pick a shop.

If you think tires are a concern, either too worn or too old, and the odds are you're getting new ones anyway, get em there.

As someone else said, oil and filter change. Look at the old oil. Look in the valley for signs of leaks (or a recent cleaning). Open the fuel filter for a look see, see if it's black, generally an injector o-ring problem. Remove the turbo intake hose and inspect the compressor wheel for damage and free play. Check the coolant tank for anything other than coolant.

If you have the VIN and a friend who can look up the Ford history on it, that could be really informative.

Someone mentioned AE, which will be a great asset in the future, but for simplicity now, Torque Pro ($5) and a bluetooth OBD-II adapter ($90) will provide real time data while you drive all the way home.

All of the above will require some research on this site, but we're here to help, and we love this stuff. My two 7.3's were 1300 & 1800 miles away from home.
Good luck!

 

I'll pick up a CPS from the dealership before I go. Thanks BadDog!



Unfortunately whitetmw, that's not an option for us. What are you doing on President's day
I'm buying the Cheeseburgers!

 

I hope u didn't pay $90 for a OBD adapter. U can get one anywhere from $9-20.

 

That is a wealth of knowledge for our AE friends. (pocketing that to my favorites)


What is your departure and pickup point.


Denny

 

oopps got it, missed a page.

 

Follow some of Rich's comments on these. A true OBD-II adapter uses an ELM-322 (322 is wrong - it's ELM327 chip), while the cheap (Chinese) ones run a ELM-320,which can cause connectivity issues and, as reported by some, shut off your truck while driving.
I happily paid just under $90 for mine.

 

Not to jack the thread.......but


I have a scanner for obd 2 and it won't read my diesel. Any intel??


Start a thread, I'll buy popcorn

 

Research some of the basic things that kill these trucks. Bad air for instance. Pull the intake and look at the turbo compressor wheel for wear. Look at the videos posted on the forum checking excessive blow-by.

With 300k you may be looking at lots of little things that haven't been done. I picked up mine with 220k and in short order put on several front end parts and minor engine parts. These engines can run forever but other parts can add up quickly.

Good luck!

 

Old cardboard to lay on. Only fluid I wood take is oil.
Throw a 4 gallon catch pan on the cardboard in the trunk. Grab Motorcraft 1995 oil filter and your favorite brand diesel rated oil.

Fuel filter. Check trans after truck is good and warm. Smell it win ya pull the stick. If it really stinks and looks like oil.

Whale that's your call to buy truck or leave it. They way I see it the Trans is always the questionable repair. 7.3 runs so long the Trans wear out first.

If the truck is in good enough shape to later invest $3-4500 for new trans then take your chance.

 

SaintITC covered it, but here's the more important reason why one would do the expensive one the first time: He won't have access to the diesel until he's getting in to drive it. If he buys one of those cheap units from exotic locals and it does what they frequently do (just stare at the ground) - he's not going to hang around waiting for Fed Ex to show up with China's next throw at the dart board. The costs for shipping and the two cheap units would make him feel sheepish for not sticking with a referred product that's not really all that expensive - considering what it does for us.

OBDLink MX Bluetooth for everything except Apple products, and OBDLink MX WiFi for simply everything. [LINK]. They are proven products with tons of support. If you can find another high-quality unit with a full website dedicated to supporting their product, including firmware updates - that will get it done as well.

Consider this into the price of whatever you buy: While I used to remember the exact price of the authentic ELM327 chip, here is the one fact I remember well - the chip alone costs more than the whole price of the clones. The legitimate product would have to be significantly more expensive than the chip to cover the per-unit cost of that, the packaging, labeling, marketing, and some profit.

If China is making a profit by selling adapters for $12 - $20 on Amazon and eBay, how far backward do you expect them to bend for product support after they have your $8 to $3 profit in their pocket? They Won't worry about word of mouth or a bad reputation - they are significantly cheaper than the $90 - $100 units, so people flock to them. How much care will they put into product quality for the $5 manufacturing cost per unit? Their famous cultural quote: "If you cheapen it, they will come".

A proper OBDII adapter with Torque Pro and some programming from this thread [LINK] is the powerhouse riding shotgun.

Since the truck is new to you and you will immediately count on it - a scan tool/gauge will definitely fall under the heading of "Insurance". Torque is already covered, but that's for an Android device. Apple has Dash Command, but it's lacking a key PID - Injection Pressure Regulator (IPR). If you have a laptop, AE is a little expensive up front - but I can promise it will pay for itself many times over. While it's not as powerful as the expensive scan tools many shops have, it steps up and gets it done for almost anything you'll run into with the truck - and it works on all the other brands of cars with additional bundles. [LINK]

I have AE for real troubleshooting, and Torque Pro for monitoring and simpler troubleshooting. Once you have your scan tool or gauge... if you run into problems on the road, log into FTE and we can help you troubleshoot it online - likely saving you time, money, and a trip to the dreaded stealership.

Ford CPS (you can get one at Riffraff Diesel) and a 10mm socket in the glovebox, plus a real LED trouble light - unless you have someone to hold the flashlight. Check your tire pressure - the front tires usually need about 65 PSI to hold that heavy engine up properly without excessive tire wear. The back tires don't need so much when empty - the door-sticker pressure should do.


Our vehicles are not OBDII compliant - you have to buy a unit that specifically says it will work on the Ford Powerstroke.

 

The only OBD2 adapter I ever seen talked about are the elm cheap ones so that's why I posted that. So the OBDLink MX is the one to get for android OS? I have no problem paying $100 for it, I just want something good that works.

 

I have used my OBDLink MX with every app and vehicle I have at my disposal - including a Gen II Prius, and it just works. I bought every "legit" app on Google Play, and while I locked in with Torque Pro - they all performed without connection issues.