Welcome to the Diesel side of the Fordce!

Short answer; no. Most a tune can really add to stock sticks is about 60hp. Ford/IH left some power on the bench to make the engine bullet-proof, but not a lot. My DP tuner claims up to 120hp on the race tune but my butt-dyno says otherwise. Chips and tunes are a giant subject, you can research for days. For your stated goals I'd go traditional with a DP F5 if you want switch on the fly. Not the newest platform but gets you a handful of tunes for power, but more importantly transmission tuning. That plays a big role in the performance of the rig. Other options are a Hydra, DP F6 or Infinity, or a basic TS chip. Any tune adding power should be accompanied by some gauges like EGT. Or maybe just send the PCM to DP or whoever and have a solid tow tune flashed on there and never worry about it again.

Check for a sticker on the underside of the hood, it will declare if the truck came with a cat originally. IIRC vans did not have cats, but I'm no expert there. For more turbo whine I'd suggest a 6637 intake but kinda doubt it will fit on a van. Maybe a modern billet turbo wheel, that should give quicker spool and power with the perk of whine.

Early vs late 99 is a truck only conundrum, I think the vans are all the same in that regard.

 

Skip anything DP tuner. They play a nickle and dime game.

Get the Hydra and try the free server tunes first then if you want to try other tune writers you can.

 

Yes, they can add upwards of 100 RWHP. It's a hot, smoky 100 HP but is IS entirely possible. Just watch one on a dyno sometime and you'll see how 100 RWHP is made.

60-ish horsepower is about the limit for constant-duty power that doesn't cause injection pressure to suffer in most instances but on a non-intercooled van I would certainly watch EGT.

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No cats on diesels. Beginning In 2008-2010 time frame you might have a Diesel Particle Filter(DPF and you don't want it)

 

I can feel the +50. I can even feel there is a bit more with the +75 on my dash mounted switch. The +100 does not seem to make any difference compared to the +75. High idle also works on the switch, but my truck would not start on the "stock" tune position the last time I tried it.

4" exhaust, S&B intake, some turbo upgrade, and the 6-position chip. With the exhaust and intake, I think +80 is possible, but the +50 is obvious.

 

Diesel pickups have had catalytic converters for a long time. Although there was very little rhyme or reason, many had them (from all three manufacturers) so making a blanket statement about "no cats on diesels" is incorrect.

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Interesting, I have always been taught that diesels clog up catalytic converters making them a pricey restriction.

​​​​​​​Thanks for correcting me.

 

To my knowledge, anything built for The Peoples Republik of California had Cats on them, the Expeditions in Particular, and probably all Vans and Short Buses. and Cleatus is on point about tuners, All of them....You're only gonna get 60 HP tops out of a stocker. And a lot of smoke.... Oh, and 175,000Mi is nowhere close to being a "High Mileage Engine"....It's just getting broke in.

 

No.
My Excursion is a Ca. vehicle and non-catalyst. I recently shopped short busses and they were non-catalyst. We had a bunch of 95, and a few '96 7.3s at a place I worked and none had cats that I know of. My friend's '00 F-250 is Ca. emissions and non-cat. From what I've read, only a small number of Ca. 7.3 trucks had a cat, but don't recall what year(s) they did it.

 

I don't know how much a tuner can add, but they do wake the 7.3 up really well. I'm currently playing with an old Superchips 1705 I borrowed, what I like most is the quick response when getting onto the throttle and the short shifts.

 

 

a tuner or chip CAN add 100+ hp, but not without other modifications. by itself, they are only good for about 60 HP.
but add a different turbo and different injectors, larger exhaust and more intake air and 100+ HP is easily added.

 

Basic inexpensive (under $1000 each) mods are available to really light the 7.3L up, but collectively - they are a hit to the wallet.

• 4" exhaust all day long, many of them let the turbo whistle out.
• Red line mod is completely free and takes 10 seconds - search that one, but it works better with an upgraded intake.
• The stock intake is a Ford faux pas. AIS intake is a Motorcraft product and a profound upgrade for stock injectors and turbo. I think it fits in a van - but I'm unsure. 6637 intake makes the cab whistle like a sumbich, but turbo whistle is not unlike the results of eating a Costco sausage dog. I want it to make its presence known out the back - not in my face.
• Hydra allows you to try out a plethora of different tune providers if you don't like what's there (it happens), DP has maybe a handful... maybe. Many of us have traded to the Hydra away from DP and are happy with the results, but I don't know anybody who went the other way.
• I'm partial to the ISSPRO EV2 gauge sets, and I strongly endorse Riffraff Diesel as a vendor for this and many other 7.3L upgrades. Clay is the guy - and you too can sing the praises of yellow tape. We have no fuel pressure sensor as well, and that is a very useful gauge to have. I have dual EGTs (left and right) and fuel pressure. They sensor works best on the elbow of the exhaust manifold, and there is plenty of material there to drill and tap.
• For the rest of the gauges, I'm all OBDII ported up.

 

Your E99 should have had a cat, originally.

Easy to assume, but that's not actually the case.

This.

The 7.3L Excursions didn't have cats. The gassers and the 6.0L powered Excursions however did come with a cat.

I believe all E99 trucks came with cats too, and most hand-shakers from the L99 and up rigs will have cats too. Can't remember the rhyme and reason for it, but they did.

Stewart