Since 7.3s are so reliable and I never have to work on mine or do anything with it I have forgotten lots of stuff about 7.3's. Rebuilding my 6.0 also didn't help. lol

So we got in a virgin 01 7.3 truck with 100K on the clock. All stock nothing ever done to it but change the batteries and oil.

I only got to see the truck for about an hour and drive it a short ways but here is the list of the obvious.

1 green coolant
2 leaky up pipe on the drivers side to the baby butt
3 I hear an injector clack now and then, seems to be around number 8
4 At WOT there is some black smoke, way more than my 03 but not excessive, no tuner, odd to me.
5 is a bit longer crank than normal to start, this I have to confirm yet, my father was the one who started the truck and I am not sure if he waited for the wts light or not, I just heard the cranking from outside.


Truck is rust free, trans fluid looks new, I see the cruise recall was done, haven't looked for the cps yet. Truck drives great, shifts good, has lots of power even with the leaky up pipe, and has allot of room inside even though it is a regular cab, I was surprised about that.


I am leaning towards pulling the cab to get all the work done in one shot. All new brake lines, coolant flush, brake fluid change, chassis saver everything, up pipes, and so on.

What should I test and do before tearing into the motor?

Tugly, (and others) what sort of AE tests and logs should I run before making the truck inop?
While I have had AE on the 6.0 a number of times to log and check numbers I haven't ever stuck it on any 7.3's yet

Is it worth doing a buzz test even though all the injectors are working just to hear what I can hear?

Those perdels you talked about before to track down weak injectors or whatnot, is that worth me trying to figure out and do?


We are also shooting for the best mileage possible with this truck (without a tuner).
I am looking to do turbo back 4" exhaust but really beyond that I don't know what else can be done for better mileage? We really don't want to do anything with the intake, is there much to be had there anyhow?

I'll post pics and whatnot along the way.

 

Congrats Andy !! On finding a virgin 7.3 with 100k and no rust in WI that is a real great find! That is what I wanted when I went looking for a truck but ended up with a bone cold stock E99 in central WI with 196k and ALL the rust you would expect coming from WI.

I hope this means you got rid of the 6.0 or is this just another truck in the stable ? I think you have a good game plan as far as getting it dailed in. BUT dude wanting to take the cab off to work on the engine.... I think you have spent too much time working on that 6.0. Come on now, I know you are a good wrench you won't have any problems doing what you need to that truck with the engine in or the cab on.

I have the same goals as you BEST mileage with stock tunes and be able to tow 8.k to 10k every now and then. And as you know getting everything at 100% is key. So the data logging will be key there. Starting with exhaust & intake and personally with your goals I would suggest a AIS. The AIS is nice and quiet and flows enough for stock. Then I would check the EBP tube to the exhaust manifold. Now with it being a 01' I hope the tranny has been gone though if not it will need to because some of the '01's had mechanical diode.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...l-diode-s.html
Great post by Robin. God bless ya brother you are missed.

But after that with stock tuning in mind I would say when you go to do up pipes "IH Bellowed up pipes" I would address the issue of a billet compressor wheel, rebuild kit with a 360* thrust bearing and the w.g. actuator. I myself use a Turbo Master w.g. actuator and love it. It has alot of adjustabilty and with that mod I did a 470 ohm mod and I have no codes.
http://www.dieselsite.com/19995-2003...ontroller.aspx

 

I agree with BDK on the intake. The factory one has been known to be leaky, so I would upgrade it. If you are doing exhaust to get more air out, you need more air in.

 

I'd do as little as needed and enjoy having a solid truck with a solid motor.

 

Look at the door jamb and give us the date of manufacture.

 

I will take a look on the door for date.

I cleaned the motor today and was able to see the tag on the motor says it is an 01 motor, gray tag.

Pulled out some PO wiring for telephone I assume and fixed a couple small annoyances (plastic stuff). Pulled out the cup holder out and took the three sections apart to clean out the old coffee/soda that was sticking it up.

Pulled the fuse box and got rid of the annoying dinger.

It sure is a nice driving truck. Yeah still no pics.

 

Congrats Snowseeker on the find. Looking forward to pics.

Would add an FRX to upgrade list to take care of the injectors. If your gonna pull with it a 6.0 cooler.

I think you know this already but for mileage best bet is regular maintenance stuff rather than upgrades........... no boost leaks, lube brake caliper slide pins, grease bearings, no air in the fuel system(tank mods), etc.

A billet wheel for the turbo could feed it better and may help with efficiency.

 

Congratulations on the find and good luck. I put my cupholder in the dishwasher and it worked like a charm. And lemmee tell ya it was all goobered up.

 

whats all included in the canceling of the door-ding?

 

Well, I pulled the dinger right out. There is a sequence of actions you can do to shut the dinger off for seat belt minder and all that but we don't like dingers at all. lol

I had to pull the fuse box down and out of the truck. On the back side there is a cover that holds in an electronics board which the dinger is on. Once the cover is taken off the electronic board is just pulled out of a plug receptacle. Once the board is out I just hit the two points of solder that hold the dinger in and out she fell. Then just reassemble and stick the fuse box back in the truck. Really not that much work, getting the plugs out of the fuse box in order to pull it out was the hardest thing.



Allaboutmpg: I didn't think about it much but that is a good idea about the FRx. I built one for my X, I'll have to build another for this truck. I was surprised how much injector clatter was in this truck but I have had a quiet 7.3 for so long in my X I forget what a stock 7.3 sounds like. lol

I don't think it has any boost leaks but I will be pulling all the pipes anyhow for maintenance work. The only obvious leak I see right now is the up pipes which I also know can hurt. I am also surprised at this since it only has 100K on the clock. My 180K X stock up pipes are sealed up like a nun.

One other thing weird about this truck. It is originally a cali truck but I see no cat under it and all else looks normal. What (if any) extra emissions were on cali trucks in 01? I remember something about the tune itself being different in cali trucks but this has me puzzled. When at WOT with this truck it puts out some black smoke. Like near tuner amount of smoke but no tuner. Its not heavy black smoke but about the amount I remember my buddies 7.3 would put out on a "economy" tune.

Now I have never even looked at the ecu for a 7.3 yet. Where is it? lol I remember it was mentioned to look at the contacts on the ecu board to see if they are scrapped off for a tuner. Where is that? I feel like such a noob asking.


I still have yet to hook up the AE too and see whats what.

 

PCM is in the cab just outboard of the parking brake pedal. Drivers side of the eng compartment, firewall below the master cylinder is were you'll find the connector with the bolt in the middle that has to be disconnected first.


pictures, pictures, pictures

 

Nice find Andy. Does it have a GPR or the GP module like the X has?

 

It has the module like the X has.

Thanks Allaboutmpg's, I'm going to check on it when I get the chance.

 

Seatbelt minder disable is a sequence and is in the owners manual til you power completely down. Then you have to reset it.
Just sayin

 

Are you sure that the PCM still has the original program? My truck was "chipped" by a previous owner years ago. There is no physical evidence, but it runs much different than a stock 7.3.
Larry