Hello FTE, This might be a long one, please feel free to skip to the bottom if you don't want my life story!

First off, I would like to thank the members here for unknowingly helping me decide on upgrades, general maintenance items and more over the past few years. All without even being a member myself. Hopefully I can give some back now.

My name is Tyler, I live in Western Maryland (Hagerstown specifically), about 50 miles west of Baltimore. I'm 22 years old.
I've been raised in a majorly Ford-based family, with a major emphasis on Ford diesel. Currently, between my father's business' company vehicles and our personal vehicles, we own (9) 7.3's, (1) 6.4, and (4) 6.7s.
The 7.3's have over 2.6 million miles shared between the lot of them, including a '97 F250 Ex. Cab w/ 420K and a '00 Excursion XLT with just under 450K. All without any major maintenance (apart from a turbo or transmission here and there).
So needless to say, I love the 7.3! So much in fact, that about 2 months ago I bought my first one. A 2003 F350 CCLB, Lariat. A very well maintained, woman-owned, clean truck. I've since been busy adding the performance mods in my sig.
It's been a very bittersweet process. I've been torn between adding these mods and leaving it stock (as we've had so much luck with these motors left stock, obviously). But so far, the truck seems to be running very well.

Except, I'm having one or two small issues.
1- This only happens first thing in the morning, or after the truck has been left to completely cool down. I turn the key, cycle the glow plugs until the light goes out, and start it up.
The RPMs will go up to normal idle (~700, I believe?), then drop down, almost to the point of the truck stalling out, then rise to normal idle again. At this point the oil pressure gauge rises to normal. All of this in about 5 seconds time. Is this a LPOP issue?

A little more background: The truck has 191,000 miles on it. Dealer documentation retained by the original owner (whom I purchased it from), shows a new HPOP was installed @ 127,000. The truck had a full service 1,000 miles (2 weeks) ago by me, at which point I switched from 15w-40 to Rotella T6 (5w40 synthetic). I'm using a Fleetguard LF3974 (w/ Stratapore) for an oil filter.

It was doing this before the last service, and before any of the mods ( I added all mods except the F6 at the time of the service). I chalked it up to possibly being a dirty fuel filter, went ahead a did the service, and it seemed to correct itself. That lasted about a week, and now its back. I rarely run a tune, but if I do, it's on 60e 90% of the time, 80e 8% and 100p 2%. I always start the truck in stock tune.

Temps have not dropped below 55* at night here in MD, its been quite a mild August.

Sorry if some of this info is irrelevant. I just don't like the idea of the engine starting and running without picking up oil.

The truck runs very well otherwise. No other engine problems to mention.

One last question- I'm still on the stock tranny. Once it warms up fully, I'm seeing temps of about 180*-185* unloaded @ 70mph on the highway. Will a 6.0 tranny cooler correct this? I'm just worried that if the temp is that high unloaded, what will it be when I need to move our 12,000lb Cat skid steer loader?

Thanks very much again FTE. I am very much looking forward to finally contributing to this forum.

 

Congrats on your first post. Hope to see many many more.

As far as trans temps, 170 is the ideal temp. That's what it was designed to operate at. As a general rule of thumb, it should run 70-80 degrees above ambient of the cooler is working adequately. If its 100 degrees and you're pushing 180, I wouldn't worry. The 6.0 cooler will bring the temps down. Here in Texas with it in the upper 90s to low 100s, I see 150 with the 6.0 cooler.

Some argue that the 6.0 cooler keeps the temps too cool, which is not warm enough to force out any moisture that gets into the system. Some have installed a thermostat, so you can look into that as well.

Personally, I would do a proper flush and get some good high quality fluid in there (MerconV). That may actually bring the temps down. If not, then consider the upgrade.

 

My trans runs right at 190 pulling roughly 7k lbs in the Texas heat. I was told that wasnt a problem but should worry if it gets up around the 220 mark for extended periods. Other than what I have read here, I have no input.

Congrats on the purchase, and everyone here likes pictures to.

 

Pin, you are correct. 200 is when I start watching closely. 220 is considered max by most here. My concern with Tyler is that he's seeing 180-185 unloaded in Maryland. That seems higher than normal even for the stock cooler.

 

True for where he is at. Unloaded here for me not towing with a aftermarket trans cooler (not 6.0) I run about 170-180 depending on how nice im being.

 

Are you running a trucool?

 

Running a Hayden Rapid-Cool. Its the plate and fin design instead of the tube and fin design. I got the recommendation from a few Dodge guys and it works pretty good I guess. And also moved it from the location the previous owner had his mounted to being straight up front to be in direct air path.

 

I appreciate the input so far guys. Peak temps here in Western MD have been around 90-95 consistently, but I've seen 180+ on the gauge even in the evening when ambient temps are around 80-85.

I will be taking your advice about flushing the tranny. The previous owners started doing their own services @ 150K, so the last documented tranny flush was @ 140K. Probably overdue. Maybe I'll stick a 6.0 cooler on then.

Any ideas on the startup issue? Or am I just being paranoid?

Ill see if I can get some pics together!

 

I'm at a loss on the startup. New fuel filter seemed to help it out, so I'd start with the hutch mod. You'll need to do that before long anyway. Look at the in tank fuel mod in the guzzle link in my sig.

 

with those temps in your area you should not even need the help of the glow plugs now.
but since you mentioned that you wait for the gp light to go out before trying to start it i thought i would let you know that the light dont mean nothing anyway. the glow plugs can stay on for a full 2 min. at the first start of the day. you could try to wait longer after the light goes out to allow more heat to build up and see if that help with your start ups.

 

Thanks Jeff, I'll definitely look into that.

Chris, I do know there's no way glow plugs should be necessary in 80+ degree weather, I've just always let them "cycle" anyway. Not sure why. I'm about to start the truck for the first time today, I'll try waiting longer. Thanks

 

Take a video...

 

I'll see if I can get that video first thing tomorrow morning.

Jeff, I'll probably do a coolant flush as well, and I see you're running Cat ELC. Any particular reason? I tend to trust Caterpillar product, just curious.

 

I wanted to run an OAT extended life coolant because it is maintenance free. The green and gold coolant has to be tested and have additive put into it. I ran rotella ELC from January until now, but had to replace my radiator and flush again last week. I went with CAT because I didn't have to go looking for it, it was right down the road.

Here is a link to the coolant flush info, and there is a ton of coolant info in there for the various coolants. Pay attention to what Stewart says, and I know it's a long read (14pages) but you'll learn all about coolant. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...mation-14.html

 

That's great information, thanks Jeff. I'm more than happy to take any and all advice I can get about these trucks. I'd like mine to last a very very long time, obviously. And I know there's PLENTY out there I don't know.

By the way, here is the video (hopefully). Sorry for the delay. This is @ 5:30am this morning, and this is as bad as I've seen it so far I believe. After work at 4:30pm I let the glow plugs run about x2 as normal and it fired up completely normal. Not sure if there's a connection.