G'day all,

Just a quick note of introduction. I have been lurking here since picking up my new (to me) 2000 F350 PSD a few months ago, and I figured it was about time I said hello!



The truck is replacing my 1990 F250 IDI. I would have kept the IDI going, but an accident two summers ago bent her up a little, so I decided she was due for retirement (and possible restoration, but that is a project for another day).

Now I am not a "mod" type of guy, and I had to search for months to find a truck that suited me - it had to be a 7.3, had to be an F350, had to be a Supercab, had to be SRW/4x4, and had to be any colour but white! And the last of my requirements, was it had to not have been "messed with" - no lifts, no chips, no nothing. That was a tall order!

I finally tracked such a truck down, and I am loving her so far! under 100k miles, and aside from rear-window tinting and services, the OO never modified a thing. Glorious! I have added a couple of things for the camper - Torklift frame-mount tie-downs, and Lance camper-struts. I will be putting on a bumper/winch mount at some stage, and that will be it for my mods.

Now, I am going through getting her sorted out mechanically. Generally she is in great condition, but is leaking oil in the valley. I am doing an engine clean-up now to try and track down the leak, from what I have read on here, it is probably the HPOP or lines leaking.

I take my camper *wayyyy* of road, and so my #1 requirement is reliability. I simply cannot afford to get stranded 50 miles from the blacktop. I'm a pretty good "bush mechanic", but after reading up on this HPOP thing, I am already planning on getting a couple of spare HPOP lines for my repair kit

Cheers,
Chris.

 

Welcome Chris!

 

Good to have you here. Have you gone threw the truck to be sure the usual things are in tip top shape?

 

Welcome to the 99 - 03 section. Don't be shy about asking questions. I know you're not into mods, but not all mods are bad. I'd suggest you look into the in tank mods since it's a lot easier to get rid of the problem than it is to deal with it out in the brush. Also inspect your air intake closely. If the box isn't sealing well, it's time for an upgrade.

Then you might consider adding at least a scanguage so you can monitor what how your truck is doing as well as read trouble codes and run a few tests. Maybe add a shift kit (just some springs and spacers inside the valve body) to firm up the shifts since it looks like you'll be traveling with a load. Maybe consider the cold AC mod before summer really warms up.

 

I do not think the in-tank-mod is really optional. If you do not, the question will not be if it will give trouble, but when.

 

weclome to fte. you are going to love the truck.

 

Welcome to FTE. Nice score on finding an unmolested 7.3. . They are getting harder to find for sure.

 

Nice find on the clean, low mile truck. It always makes me smile to see one of those big ol' campers on a truck, takes me back to going to Colorado with the folks and their '76
F250 with a big nasty camper on back. Welcome to the 99.5-03 section.

 

Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions. So far all I have been doing is cleaning and checking. I think new shocks are in order too, any recommendations there (given that she will be carrying the camper 90% of the time)? Rancho still a good choice?

I do have a scan gauge (and the scantools+Ford upgrade), I haven't hooked that up yet, but I will shortly.

My big problem right now is finding the time to do any major projects - work is crazy right now, but hopefully thats going to ease up soon. The "hutch mod" does sound like some pretty good preventative maintenance, so I may tackle that once I track down and fix this oil leak. Are the transmission cooler flexible lines a weak point on these trucks? Blew one on my '90, so I replaced them with fuel-injection hose. I may also do that as a preventative if its still an issue on the PSDs...

Cheers,
Chris.

 

For a dependable stock truck, I would say
Hutch mod, correct the under valve cover harness before it fails, fix fuel bowl heater issue, change fluids front to rear, check condition of coolant (kinda goes with the previous), be able to moniter trans temp and fuel pressure, have an extra cam position sensor, and of course checking for play in the frontend, ujoints, ball joints, hubs. I guess this list could get awfully long depending on how **** you were. I have a toolbox full of parts and tools on the truck. I hope to be able to make most any repairs on the side of the road if need be.

 

Welcome to the 7.3 family. I a new owner too and I must say I love it. I'll never drive another gas truck again.

 

I strongly 2nd the Hutch mod, and I'm not (or wasn't) a mod guy. Between the hutch mod, a 6637 air filter, and tightening my intercooler clamps (all of them), my power and mileage have jumped appreciably, and the clatter is down.

Doing some mods and maintenance have increased my knowledge of the truck, and that's only a good thing. I think you'll find the same. Welcome!

 

if you drive on dusty gravel back roads, you gotta do the 6637 mod...... the stock air box is NO GOOD!! im tellin ya.

 

Well if I was going to do an air-intake mod, this would be my preference:

ARB Safari Snorkel for 2001-04 Ford F250/350 Super Duty 7.3L Diesel

Anyone tried that? A pretty penny, and requires hacking a hole in the fender though. My concern with the open filter would be that it is better for flow, and perhaps better for filtration - but might increase the chances of water ingestion? That would probably only be in water deep enough to hit the bottom of the fan blades, but when that happens the engine bay can get pretty damp.

Cheers,
Chris.

 

Welcome Chris! Sounds like your getting some good advice.