<HR style="COLOR: #666666" SIZE=1>Diesel Newbee here



Looking to buy a 2001-2002 ford 250-350 with a 7.3L

I'm going to pull a jeep on a trailer total weight of around 7,000 lbs. How many miles can I expect to get from this motor if it is well taken care of?

Would buying one with 120,00 miles be ok

What kind of MPG can I expect?

Is there anything I should look for or stay away from?

Thanks for the help in advance

 

as far as milage on a psd I have herd of more than 500,000 miles and i'am not kiding.Miles per galon depends on gearing automatic or manual trasmision and a number of other things but you can expect about 15 -20 miles per gallon or so.I do not know for sure but some people say 2003 had some troubles and i think this was the year of the 6.0 L but from what I have herd from the older psd's they are almost bullet proof.I hope this is of some help to you.

 

I'm on my second PSD - both 7.3's. My first was a '95 supercab 4X4 and I got about 18 mpg with it - sold it at about 250K miles; engine was still strong but the tranny was about to go. The one I drive now is an '03 Crew Cab 4X4 and it gets 15 mpg regularly and 16 mpg on a good day of pure highway. Quite frankly, I've been dissapointed with the mileage on my "new" truck. All I can say is that $1.69 for diesel vs $1.85 for regular gas around here makes it easier to swallow and my next truck will be a diesel too (just wish that you could still get a 7.3 instead of the new 6.0).

I know of several Ford diesels that buddies have or have had that saw 400K+ miles on them. It all boils down to how well you care for them just like anything else.

Hope this helps

 

250K is a conservative number. A lot will depend on how you drive and maintain it. I read a story quite a while back of a guy with over 1M miles on his PSD. Only major engine maintenance was a new water pump. Of course this guy tows for a living and puts a lot of miles on his truck weekly, almost all highway.

120K is nothing on a diesel. 250K is comperable to about 100K on a gas engine.

A lot depends on truck configuration. Obviously the heavier the truck, the lower the mileage. A 4x4 will also generally get worse mileage than a 4x2. Some folks with 4x2 have seen well over 20 MPG. I generally average about 17 MPG with the truck in my sig.

I would remove the air intake and check for signs of dust. Ford is notorious for building bad airboxes. Also, every PSD 2001 and before requires the use of coolant additive to help prevent cavitation. Some of the 2002 trucks still require this additive. The easiest way to tell is with the color of the coolant. If it is green, you need the additive, if it is gold, you do not. If you buy a truck that requires the coolant additive I would recommend that you buy some test strips to check for the SCA level. I would also recommend that you NOT tell the person/dealer selling the vehicle that you plan to test for this until you are ready to do so. If they haven't thought to add the additive before, they won't think about it unless you tip them off. You don't want them to scew the results by adding it right before you get there.

 

johnsdiesel- what is different about the 2002-2003 7.3 that eliminates the need for the SCA?

Smokeeater-
I bought my truck on the advice of my friend who has about 350K HARD miles on his 97 PSD. Stock engine, tranny, transfer case and axles. Mine ended up neede a new tranny about three weeks after I bought it (E4OD) but I would still do it again, just look for a reputable seller that told me up front that there was a problem. I always feel more secure buying somthing used with verty little or no mods. Good luck.

 

The gold coolant comes with the right level of anti-cavitation additive in it already. From what I understand, it is an organic substance and is not the same as the coolant additive used with the green coolant. The gold stuff is supposed to be good for 100K miles. Using the test strips for the green stuff on the gold won't tell you anything.

 

Thanks! It's all starting to come together now.

 

Johnsdiesel- whats different with California models? Should I steer away from them? Thanks. Charlie.

 

I'm not sure what the differences are. Prior to moving to Texas last August I hadn't been much farther west than the Mississippi so I'm not too familiar with the differences.

There is one difference that I know of for sure with the early PSDs. The fuel regulator is set to a higher PSI, but this is a good thing. A lot of us early 7.3 PSD owners have shimmed our FPR in order to raise the pressure.

 

Wow. Ok I see. One more ? for you. You said you live in Texas. A buddy of mine is looking to buy one from Texas. Why I don't know, but he wants to find one that has little to know rust. Are there any areas of Texas that he should steer away from. I know that it snows in Northern Texas by Witchita Falls, but thats all I know. Charlie.

 

I live in Denton which is about 1/2 hour north of Dallas. This past winter it snowed once and there was only a dusting which lasted a few hours. From my brief experience there are no road crews here to clear the roads so there is no salt or sand used on the roads. Texas is such a large state that it's hard to make generalizations.

 

Thanks John. I'll let him know. I was looking at your gallery and you made a upgrade to you injectors. What and how hard was it to do that?

 

Thank you guys for all the advice and answers!


I found a truck in Houston
2001 F-250 2 wheel drive, 7.3L supercab, long bed with hard cover,
31,000 miles.
Great shape!

I paid $17,500 nada trade-in was 25,700 so I thought I did pretty good.


Thanks again for all your help.
I will be back asking all kinds of questions once I get it LOL

 

You must be thinking of someone else, I have 163K on my original injectors. I believe FarmerPhilCo has DT466 injectors on his truck.