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These guys have steered you right, but also, if you know ANYTHING about the 7.3, get that Archsh** out of there. This isn't a 6.0...the 7.3 depends on good oil for injector health.
I like that bumper, looks solid but not overwhelming. Where in CO are you? I'm in Colorado Springs. s
Thanks, I paid a premium for it... but it's the only one I could find that didn't have a giant brand name cut into the steel and actually had a decent approach angle. It looks smaller but still weighs about 300 LBS. (without the winch) It's solid.
These guys have steered you right, but also, if you know ANYTHING about the 7.3, get that Archsh** out of there. This isn't a 6.0...the 7.3 depends on good oil for injector health.
Is there any science to back that statement up? I noticed definitely noticed an improvement in startup and the engine was noticeably quieter right about when I started using Archoil last winter.
I can't say that wasn't due to the many other things that I had done at the time though.
Is there any science to back that statement up? I noticed definitely noticed an improvement in startup and the engine was noticeably quieter right about when I started using Archoil last winter.
I can't say that wasn't due to the many other things that I had done at the time though.
No science I know of other than real world reports of 17-20 year old trucks running on conventional lube with no additives and injectors going 300k plus miles...but if you like it, keep on keepin' on.
No science I know of other than real world reports of 17-20 year old trucks running on conventional lube with no additives and injectors going 300k plus miles...but if you like it, keep on keepin' on.
I don't doubt that the engine would be fine for 300k+ without Archoil, but it would need a competent owner who took care of it for all those miles. Mine had only 178k when I bought it... those miles were ROUGH. The previous owner of my truck was a ****ing idiot... I've spent well over $15k at this point, and about half of that was modifications I wanted, the other half was getting it running right.. mostly drivetrain stuff. $65/year for an oil additive that may or may not not do anything but makes me feel better isn't anything I am worried about.
Looking back, I should have waited longer and just spent $15-20k on a cleaner one but it's pretty hard to find an early 2000 regular cab/7.3/4x4/ZF6... let alone one for $4000.... like needle in a haystack tough. It was exactly what i was looking for... just beat.
I don't doubt that the engine would be fine for 300k+ without Archoil, but it would need a competent owner who took care of it for all those miles. Mine had only 178k when I bought it... those miles were ROUGH. The previous owner of my truck was a ****ing idiot... I've spent well over $15k at this point, and about half of that was modifications I wanted, the other half was getting it running right.. mostly drivetrain stuff. $65/year for an oil additive that may or may not not do anything but makes me feel better isn't anything I am worried about.
Looking back, I should have waited longer and just spent $15-20k on a cleaner one but it's pretty hard to find an early 2000 regular cab/7.3/4x4/ZF6... let alone one for $4000.... like needle in a haystack tough. It was exactly what i was looking for... just beat.
Wow man, your story sounds like my last OBS. I definitely feel your pain. If you get time, read my threads on "Whitey". What a sh** show!! Same scenario with lower mileage but extremely poor maintenance. I thought I could overcome the poor maintenance, but thousands of dollars later and thousands of man hours I found out I was really wrong and finally gave up. I'll buy a high mileage 7.3 that's been worked hard but extremely well maintained any day over a low mileage truck that just sat there and didn't really get any attention.
I see where your coming from. No disrespect intended bud.
Not saying that you don't have an injector issue but you didn't hedge your odds any by not using 5W-40 synthetic oil. Most in cold climates report better starting with it in the pan over 15W-40.
Not saying that you don't have an injector issue but you didn't hedge your odds any by not using 5W-40 synthetic oil. Most in cold climates report better starting with it in the pan over 15W-40.
As I understand, a motor with 15w40 in it will start just fine in cold weather, so long as the injectors don't have any issues... Or in other words, 5w40 is a cheap fix for injectors that do have issues.
Please correct me if I am wrong, but my goal is to get the truck running right, not to do hodge-podge things to trick it into running right.
I started using 15W/40 when I bought my truck with 352K on 6 of the original 8 injectors. Frustrated I changed the oil at 600 miles to 5w/40 and although it didn't make a huge difference it did help. I put new sticks in it 5 months later and it started here in Colorado last winter unplugged at -9, with 5w/40 and Archoil...no loping, chugging just started into a beautiful idle.
Cold Start up on these trucks is probably one of the hardest things on them, then add our elevation and temperature swings, I'll take any advantage I can when starting this dinosaur. I don't think running 5w/40 is hodgepodging anything it's just giving your truck a bit of an edge especially at start up. You may very well need new sticks to get the truck starting and running how you want it. Even with the new sticks personally I'd still run the 5w/40, you can have 70* in Denver, hit the mountains and suddenly be in the single digits...
As I understand, a motor with 15w40 in it will start just fine in cold weather, so long as the injectors don't have any issues... ...
Cold weather means different things to different people on the internet. If you want to know how your injectors are working at cold start, pull the valve covers and watch for oil discharge out of each injector as it's cranking and as it just starts up.
That will tell you which injectors are firing fine and which ones have issues at whatever temperature you test it at.
Yes but axle wrap is a real thing for our trucks even with stock power, especially with old leaf springs in the back (mine are 15 years old). More power = more twist. You always hear us 4R100 guys talk about beefing up the transmission with more power but all the rest of the driveline gets more stress too.
I didn't either so did not plan on cups. I'm not saying this is going to happen to you but you never know until you get in there. This is what half of my cups looked like a week after I pulled my sticks and sent them off...
Did you have fuel in your coolant before all this? That looks like an enormous crack!
I started using 15W/40 when I bought my truck with 352K on 6 of the original 8 injectors. Frustrated I changed the oil at 600 miles to 5w/40 and although it didn't make a huge difference it did help. I put new sticks in it 5 months later and it started here in Colorado last winter unplugged at -9, with 5w/40 and Archoil...no loping, chugging just started into a beautiful idle.
Cold Start up on these trucks is probably one of the hardest things on them, then add our elevation and temperature swings, I'll take any advantage I can when starting this dinosaur. I don't think running 5w/40 is hodgepodging anything it's just giving your truck a bit of an edge especially at start up. You may very well need new sticks to get the truck starting and running how you want it. Even with the new sticks personally I'd still run the 5w/40, you can have 70* in Denver, hit the mountains and suddenly be in the single digits...
Well, I put in an order a few weeks ago through Gearhead:
Stage 1.5 Unlimited Diesel injectors 160/30%
Adrenaline HPOP (I haven't actually installed this yet - lost my high pressure oil line tool) Hydra tuner with Gearhead Tunes
New OEM glow-plugs, under cover harnesses, gaskets
Got the ***** up and running last night... here are a few observations from my experience;
Removing oil from cylinders before startup
I used the "leave the glow-plug out and crank" method... it made a loud, disturbing bang at first. There is a lot of pressure inside the cylinders it turns out (duh). Blew oil all over my garage and scared the **** out of me. Be prepared for this if you try it. I had a vaccuum pump but could not get my ****ty tubing down into the hole to pump them out. I recommend using the vacuum pump method but get a long STRAIGHT 3/16" length of tubing to pump with. The flexible lines that come with the vac pump will NOT work.
Injector Cups
These appeared to be fine. I never had anything weird in my Degasse Bottle before... (except loss of coolant from a leak... which is on my list to fix...) Will keep an eye on the coolant going forward as well for fuel contamination/etc.
Hot Torquing
I read up on this quite a bit before install and tried this method. I also had my block heater connected all day through the process to speed this part up. It took 20-30 minutes to get the truck to full temp before "hot torquing" as opposed to much longer without the block heater. The block heater does an exceptional job of keeping this motor warm. With that thing plugged in it was almost too hot to touch some of the components on top of the head. The injectors that came out were hot to the touch. It was also a nice warm day outside. I ran the motor (with the VCs off) until it was to operating temp and re-torqued the bolts. This did not make a mess and was actually quite easy. Be sure to keep things out of the way of the moving parts.
Different sounds from single shots
The single shots sound a bit different than the stockers. Honestly, they seem a lot more quiet when driving it cold, this could be due to my old ones being shot. Driving around and on the highway I can't tell a difference. At a warm idle they are a bit louder and also just sound... different.
Injector Warranty/Serial Number Process
Don't forget to log all the serial numbers before installing. The injectors come soaked in oil, so frankly, this is a pain in the ***. It's difficult to do anything when you are holding an oil soaked injector dripping all over the place. Can't use a pen or type when your hands are soaked in oil... WTF are these guys thinking? The simplest thing they could do to make this process easier would be send a piece of paper with the serial numbers already on it. Unlimited Diesel I hope you're reading this... I can't imagine they don't track this stuff already.... anyway I decided to take pictures of the serial numbers once the injectors were mounted in the truck so that I could minimize oil sloppage... Well that worked great until I forgot to do it on the passenger side... now I have to pull that valve cover again if I want a warranty... yay
New Tunes from Gearhead
I had Gearhead tunes before with my stockers and really liked them. So far so good. With the new sticks this thing hauls *** compared to before. I do have considerably more smoke now. At WOT in the "all out" tune it's a black cloud until pressure builds up, even in the stock tune at WOT it puffs way more. Not a fan of the smoke, however, anyone romping around at WOT all day is a jackass anyway so might as well broadcast that visually as well as audibly. What troubles me is the smoke on the "Heavy Tow/Stock" tune. Even at partial throttle this thing puffs black. Once I run it with the new HPOP and see how things are I plan to get some changes made to the tunes.
EGTs
(with an empty truck on flat highway)
- 1100-1200 in both the heavy tow and economy tunes. I did pulls from like 40-90 and never exceeded this.
- I saw as high as 1450 briefly in the "street" and "all out" tunes in similar circumstances
- I'll be curious to see what this do with the truck partially loaded heading up a mountain pass
White Smoke
I knew that installing new sticks would cause this, at least until all the fluids were cleared of air and contamination, and it did. I took it out for 15 miles or so modestly romping on it after install. This cleared it up a bit. The next morning I started it up and expected no white smoke... but still had some. So I went for a ~40 mile drive doing many many many 40-100 pulls. The truck HAULS *** and the white smoke subsided, but I also ran it really hot. I'm hoping the white smoke is gone for good (at least until I replace the HPOP and have to start over).
Black Smoke
Way more than I had hoped for. I know this isn't going anywhere without more custom tuning and I kind of expected this based on other peoples threads.
Truck bucks and clunks way more now when shifting
- I think it's time to seriously consider traction bars, Sous!
And few questions:
Residue on old injectors
What causes this residue on old injectors? Bad O-Rings? Is this any cause for concern now that they've all been replaced?
Glow Plug Part Numbers
Does anyone know what the last 3 digits on the glow plugs mean? The ones I pulled out were marked 51Y and the new ones were marked 35A. Both are OEM Ford. The 35A's came from Riff Raff. Just curious!
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
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