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First post, bought an Excursion, need some pointers.
Officially a Ford family.
Good morning everyone, been lurking a fair bit before buying. I picked up a 2000 Excursion with the 7.3 with only a mere 400 000km on it. Drove 3 hours to go get it and then 3 hours home. On the drive home and test drive I noticed some issues, the forum already has pointed me on the right way but could use some personal experiences.
1. Key out of ignition and windows still work, door chimes as of key is in etc etc. Forums say likely part of the ignition cylinder not working correctly. Will attempt lube and inspection.
2. By far the most annoying. As soon it's put into a drive hear the radio goes dead, forum says likely the neutral safety switch? Thoughts on this one?
3. The speedo started acting erratic on about 1.5 hours into the drive. OD off light began flashing. Pulled the code, came up with VSS issue. Going to remove from diff and inspect. Hopefully either just the sensor going bad or maybe it's dirty.
4. So this is my first diesel and first solid front axle truck. This truck has a fair bit of slop in the steering takes an effort to drive. Going to attempt to tighten the steering box abit and see if it helps.
5. PO said he thinks it has some sort of tuner or programmer on it, if I pull the PCM will it be obvious or what/ my best course of action. In the near future I plan on getting a hydra, with tunes from SDK.
6. Overall it Goes good. Seems to make good power shifts good, good on fuel, got over 20 mpg/ 11L/100km on its journey home.
I had the same issue with the key chime, there is a plastic piece attached to the lock cylinder, it cracks over time and no longer grounds out to the cylinder. Having the cylinder out for another reason, I needed a quick fix, I simply ran a tiny zip tie around the plastic key chime unit to keep it touching the cylinder. That was 2 years ago. Last I knew the part was still avail, possibly with a whole cylinder though. Here is a forum member showing how to disable the chime altogether.
If you have the lock cylinder out to check/repair your door chime issue, taking the top cover off the column is trivial and the fix is usually fairly easy.
If the PCM has been loaded with a tune and the programmer removed you will not be able to tell, It may have a chip on it that you will be able to see when you remove the PCM. Hopefully you see something, cause I think only the programmer or the dealer can put it back at stock.
Will look into the pcm tomorrow. Today I didn't have much time but looked at a few things.
First of all weird electrical gremlins. Key now works normal no chime out of place. Radio works in gear. Now the main blower won't come on? What the heck. It was raining yesterday and very hot dry today. Might have a GEM issue? Do these symptoms sound like that?
Awesome thanks for pointing me in a direction. I did manage to tighten the steering box, pull the VSS to inspect and clean and pull the PCM.
VSS had some grime around it but nothing on the head. Cleaned and reinstalled.
Pull the computer and found the chip. Looks like and Xpower? Never heard of it.
I think it is really just a re-branded Super Chips gold...probably the same canned tunes, but I could be wrong. That is good news though. When you pull it you are back to factory and can install anything you want.
Reminds me of back in the day when you had to go to a diesel shop to get your chip burned
which speaking of back when.... I think my truck was maybe 3 months old when it got its first chip, some of those first gen programs did some funky stuff. Mine would kill the motor if I was turning hard right from a stop. Weird.
I think there are some strict warnings about removing and installing anything into that programming port on the OE PCM, to make sure your key is "out" of the ignition before doing so.
Pulled the fuse block and GEM on the underside of the dash. The connector to the fuseblock was wet. Has the typical water entry issue. Cleaned everything as much as I could without completely dismantling the fuse block guts. No issues since but no rain yet, windshield is on the list for replacement.
Blower not working ended up being a connection issue at the plug for the blower. Jimmy rigged it and it works for now, its on the list.
Just starting ordering some goodies today. Lights and what not to replace the very faded stockers.
I would get the windshield replaced ASAFP. If that junction box continues to get wet, you could have serious issues. I also might take the JB out and let it sit in a bucket of rice for a few days to dry it out. There may be other methods but thats the first that comes to mind.
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