I have a 2001 Ford F250 4X4 crew cab with approx 105K miles on it. I purchased the truck used in 2005 and have always had the following problem:

1. Running empty (no load) on the highway I am getting about 15MPG at 70MPH turning approx 2100RPM. My uncle drives the same truck but in a dooly and gets 18MPG running a 4.10 rear axle...... Shouldn't I get better milage than his???

2. When I put my boat behind the truck (approx 5000 lbs - dual axle) I am loosing power. The truck has difficulty pulling the boat. It runs 1st gear out to around 2800 to 3000 rpm. 2nd gear feels like it is shifting early into 3rd gear (around 2300 to 2500 rpm). Then 3rd gear and OD take over like they should. It takes me at least a mile or two to get up to 60MPH, and when towing my economy craters to around 9MPG.

3 years ago I had to replace the torque converter in the tranny, and the shop put in an older model that was "stronger". I have taken the truck to a local Ford dealer who told me that I have a leak on the back side of the turbo and some valve was not functioning correctly. He told me that to replace the leaking pipe they would have to drop the transfer case to get to the pipe and that it would cost about $1200 to fix.

I took the truck to an indpendent for a second opinion and after about 6 weeks he could never really tell me what was wrong. He told me that all 7.3s have the leak on the back side of the turbo and mine was "not that bad". He though it was a CPU, which we replaced, but did not fix the problem.

Anyone have anything similar or have any thoughts as to what the problem might be?

Thanks,

Rodger

 

1. What rear end do you have? 3.73's?
2. Something sounds off. 2800-3000 RPM's in first seems high too me unless your really laying in the pedal. I think mine shifts into second around 2200-2400 when towing. If it's shifting too early out of second then does it feel bogged down in third gear?
3. Do you recall the pipe they are talking about? If it's the turbo up-pipes then that could be your issue. An exhaust leak pre-turbo will really hurt your power.

 

I am fairly certain that I have 3.73, but I will have to look. I cant remember which pipe they were talking about, but it was "behind and below the engine" which is what would have required them to remove the trasfer case to get to it.

 

Those are the up pipe gaskets just below the turbo behind the motor. A real bitc* to get at. redone1 nailed it, if those leak then you lose power.

 

Great! I am going to put together a boost leak detector and look for any leaks. Any advice before I put this together?

If I do find leaks on the back side of the turbo, the up pipes, is it possible to get to them with OUT pulling the tranny?

 

I put together my boost detector and got to looking for leaks today. I put about 15 lbs of air in the system, and could hear it coming out nearly as fast as it was going into the system.

I located two leaks in the valley of the motor. They were both after the intercooler on the "cold" side, and both were under a large piece of metal that was attached forward of and to the turbo. I am assuming that this is where the turbo is feeding the engine. The passenger side was not leaking too badly, and I think I may have fixed it by tightening up the strap around it. The driver's side, however, was leaking like a siv. Before I could get a wrench on these my boost detector blew out, and scared the crap out of me!

I plan to try again later to see if I have fixed these leaks.

My question: How hard is it to replace the rubber boots going into the Intake on the engine?

 

the rubber boots that attaches the spyder to you intake plenums is what I believe your referring too. They are not hard to replace.

Make sure you check out the intake plenums seal. They are prone to leakage too.

 

To do all of this would it be easier to remove the spyder, or can this be done with the spyder in place? Do you know of any threads that cover this or have a blow out diagram of what I am dealing with?

Thanks for the help!!

 

You'll need to remove the spyder. It's not hard at all. Just 3 clamps and the spyder is off and two more clamps to get the boots off the intake plenums.

The toughest part is getting it all back together. The getting the spyder in the new hoses and back in the turbo housing is slightly annoying. but really not hard at all...

I've not seen any pics. floating around here. I'll see if I can find one.

 

MY FATHER IN LAW HAS THE SAME EXACT TRUCK AND HE'S EXPERIANCING THE SAME EXACT ISSUES. HE JUST PUT STAGE II'S THOUGH CUZ OF PREVIOUS PROBLEMS. SO, SAME PROBLEMS, NOW HE BLOWS SO MUCH BLACK SMOKE AND IT'S DEFINIATLY NOT NATURAL. WHEN HE TOWS, HE COULDNT GET ABOVE 35 MPH ON THE HILLS GETTING ABOUT 10 MPG, UNLOADED ABOUT12-13 MPG

 

When you did yours (assuming you have had this problem), did you do plenum inserts? I am reading that the plenums bend easily, and one guy here did some inserts to keep the plenums from bending. I am also looking to find a better boot if I am going to do this, any thoughts??

 

Well I didn't have a boost detector leak made and lacked time to do so when I put the new boots on ( i could just tell the boots needed changing badly). So, I actually don't know how these plenums go back on personally. I've read the same things you have on them bending easily.

Can you put a link up to where I can read about these plenum inserts? I do plan on making a boost detector and suspect the plenums could use a little work.

 

Redone,

check out this thread:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...m-inserts.html

HDrider has a link to a set of plenum inserts.

 

They look like a nice addition rpaxton. they would definately reinforce it as the plenums are quite thin.