A co-worker of mine has been checking this out for me, but some of the information was wrong. So, here I am to clarify and to see if I can receive some professional responses from anyone in the field. We purchased a new F250 Powerstroke 7.3 in June.
With only 1,600 miles on the truck, we got stuck in 3-4 inches of sand pulling our 5th wheel. We called a tow truck as we knew we wouldn't make it out on our own. We were hooked up to the 5th wheel, the tow truck was hooked up to the 5th wheel tow bar, wenching us out backwards. There was not enough room where we were located to pull from the front of the truck. The truck was idling for approximately 30 minutes (No different that spending 30 minutes to 1 hour in rush hour traffic) as we were being towed out. At no time did we assist the tow truck with any RPM's. We were about 3/4 the way out and suddenly, flames erupted from under the truck. Then after my husband jumped out of the vehicle, smoke filled the cab. There was fluid everywhere. The ford dealer immediately said it was negligence and refuse to cover any cost. They say the only way this could've happened is from abuse / excessive RPM. We have 3 witnesses (including a police officer), and have contacted an attorney for assistance. We own a trucking company, and my husband drives a rig every day. At no time did the temperature gauge to the transmission increase. There was absolutely NO WARNING!!! We are thinking a faulty tranny line. Fluid igniting.
They replaced $12,000 worth the parts. Our insurance company had to pay most of it and we're out of pocket the rest. Not to mention the excessive time lost disputing this. They replaced the tranny, transfer case, both front and rear drivelines, wiper fluid resevoir, battery, wires, cables etc. We asked for the parts back, and of course, they turned the most important parts in for core. The tranny line should've been in the parts we received and is not part of a core charge, yet they cannot produce it???? I had both drivelines into a driveline shop, and have statements that there is absolutely nothing wrong with them (We supposedly torqued and twisted them by jamming between forward and reverse repeatedly while hooked up to a tow truck. Anyways, now the information we are needing help with is the transmission. FYI, this is a brand new torque transmission design with this being the 1st year it's been on the market.
Really, how do you get Ford to step up to the plate???

Even with this info, nobody wants to believe that a fluke(lemon) is possible!!!

Any suggestions or FACTS???? Please help!!!!

 

If this is a 7.3 L then the tranny is not the new TorqueShift. Somethin' smells and I think it is a faulty trans.

 

Not sure if this helps. I just bought a 2003 f250 7.3. When I had only 800 miles on it the trans cooler line came off that attaches to the bottom of the radiator. I was driving about 60mph and the trans all of a sudden just did not function. The trans temp guage was always normal. The tech. said that I blew out the trans fluid too fast for it to overheat, I checked the fluid and it did not have a burnt smell. It turned out the clamp was not put on at the factory. I have 4,500 miles on it now and no problems.

 

Hope is right, you can't have the older 7.3L engine, with the torqueshift trans. Thats on the 6L (the 7.3L's last year is 2003, and the 6.0L is in its starting phase in 2003 as well)