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I bought a 2000 7.3 with 170xxx miles. Its has a sct livewire already in it with canned tunes. My question is. Should I keep the sct and use canned/custom tunes or sell it and get something else like Hydra. The truck has no rust and I'm wanting it to last me along time and be reliable and get good mpg. Im just not sure which route would be best.
Hi there, I have a 99 F250 diesel, looked at a bunch of entry level tuners and supporting mods including the SCT and standard canned tunes. Came to the conclusion (multiple sources of advice) that going beyond canned tunes should be met with upgrades to your fueling and oiling systems along with valve body upgrades to the trans as a minimum for the auto trucks.. Things are downright expensive for decent upgrades to our trucks... even more nasty on the Canadian end of things of course. Rough estimate of about 2500 US in upgrades just to be reliable with another 100 rwhp... I have friends who spend ungodly amounts of money to be temporarily happy. I kept my truck stock..... Punch line is don't skimp out on the details ! Good luck and always do your homework ! Jim 99 Superduty all OEM
I'm not looking to make big power. Im just looking for relaibitly and mpgs. I will be towing a 8000lb camper from time to time and a 3500lb boat. Im just wanting to know should I stick with the sct livewire. And if so should I used canned tunes or custom. Or would I be better off to switch to the hydra tuner. I also looked into the valve body that seems to be a good idea. I just ordered a 6.0 trans cooler last week. Thanks
The Hydra will give you more tuning flexibility for sure, but the tuning brings more heat and strain on your OEM hardware. The SCT with Canned tunes with some trans programming should be good to add about 50 to 70 whp safely above stock if all your trucks systems are healthy.. which I'd suspect they are with that low of mileage.. determine if what you have will satisfy you. Your truck should be fine to pull 8k. First and foremost ensure you have accurate guages for EGT and boost with any upgrades and consult with the retailer for the tune supplier on specific upgrades to keep your truck reliable at the desired power level you are after. I have pulled 12000 lbs behind my truck without issue... but the 4.10 gears and no overdrive meant 50 mph cruising at high rpm and lots of diesel burnt out the tail pipe.....and more power would not have eased my burden... more torque with 3.55 gears would have been the fix.... but I sold the backhoe... and saw no need to upgrade the truck. I saved 3 grand Canadian I would say.... or 5 bottles of Jack in the US. Diesel Power Magazine had an article on 7.3 power recipes with complimentary hard-parts for expected power levels, thats what I based my cost estimates from when I was looking at a simple 100 to 125 whp increase in a towing situation. Towing under increased power... fueling.... will definitely require some cash. If the canned tunes and your present set up don't cut the mustard then a full system approach will be necessary. Common rail Cummins guys brag about easy power through tuning.... but melted pistons are a common by-product of often ignored cautions.. along with failed clutches and converters/auto trans. Sorry for the long wind. In a nutshell... if you need more performance.... its gonna be more than just the hydra and a custom tune or 2. I will look to see if I still have the Diesel Power Magazine or source it online. At least you have an early 7.3 powerstroke with forged rods and thicker decked pistons.... 99-01 as they are much more forgiving under higher boost . Cheers. JIM G
Nice truck.......... The truck has no rust and I'm wanting it to last me along time and be reliable and get good mpg.
You are sort of looking at the ends of the spectrum. There are a lot of things to get done in order to make it last a long time. Probably tuning it back to factory specs while working on all of the things that need to be addressed as far as "maintenance" would be the prudent thing to do.
I didnt get the maintenence record with the truck. But what would you suggest as far as preventive maintenence to keep it going long term.
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Read up on properly maintaining the engine..... # 1 Engine oil, # 2 Cooling water additive to eliminate "cavitation"..... This will open a discussion, I'm sure... Go above and beyond on engine oil spec's, additives and filters. For cavitation prevention I run some of the Caterpillar radiator additives like CAT Purple. Read up on available products. A replacement engine at a junk yard is $2k and a rebuilt, top shelf could run as high as $7k +/- ....... By far your most costly component to replace is the engine.
As stated before, tuning shouldn’t be done until maintenance and other items are addressed. I’ve owned 3 vehicles with the 7.3 (OBS, Excursion, and my current 2000 F-250) and all needed a complete cooling system overhaul: radiator, water pump, t-stat and housing, hoses. I ran coolant filters on them all. They also all needed the screens in the fuel tank cleaned or replaced (I did the Hutch mod on all of them). If those are dirty or clogged, and you add tuning that pushes your stock fuel pump to supply more fuel, you are asking for trouble. Make sure your fuel system, oil, and cooling are up to par and then go with the Hydra, you can probably hock the SCT for a few clams to recoup some cost.
