Hi everyone, I just looked at a 99 f450 with an auto trans. and 7.3 in it. It has 285km on it. I am thinking of buying it because it is in decent shape for $5000 certified and e tested. My question(s): It ran rough on start up jiggling the cab type of deal. I couldn't take it for a good test drive because it has a full load of untied branches. I took it down a dead end street and it seemed really sluggish and lazy. I know this could be regular maintenance and stuff so I thought I would see if there are any red flag items I should know about. I just went through a bunch of crap with a dodge diesel and don't want to get stung again. Anything I should know about these 7.3 motors? I am told they are really reliable. Anything I need to know about the tranny? The guy will get rid of the branches in the next week so I can try it out. The sales guy bought it at an auction and it used to be a service truck. It has a small boom crane (3000# maybe) so I am thinking it may have been a tire truck or something. Thats about all I know about it, and I do plan to search for the answers, just no time right now. Just hoping someone can educate me before I spend the time,

 

WELCOME TO FTE!!!!!

Please see the articles tab at the top for more information on your truck and the legendary 7.3L powerstroke.


IMHO, You need to drive it more. it takes some driving to get the engine and turbo up to temp and operating at full efficiency. Until it warms up, it may seem a little sluggish. My 2000 7.3 with 243K does this, but after it warms up, smooth as silk from stoplights and pulls hard all the way.

You mentioned a rough idle, is the CEL lit on the dash? if so, needs to have the codes read... I would be more worried about the trans than the engine.....

 

No lights were on so thats probably a good thing. I will definitely let it get warmed up when the test drive comes. The tranny seemed good and strong also. Any idea what replacements cost and is there a certain type that I should look for as far as durability?

 

Welcome to FTE

I think that all of the 'issues' with the truck that you are looking at are easily fixable and will not cost you very much to fix at all. The starting up and 'jiggle' thing (I think) may be related to the exhaust back flow sensor and is easily fixed at no cost.

The first thing for you to do is move over to the (99-03) 7.3 desiel thread and post your questions and concerns. These 7.3s are tough and you will love it. The guys in the 7.3 thread will more than welcome you and help you with any issue that comes up.

As for the tranny issue. I rode mine hard (80mph for thousands of miles pulling a 30ft trailer) and when I fried it I bought a BTS trans with a Life time gaurrenty. The tranny on these trucks are good , but some..some do have issues that can be worked out. one of the posters in the 7.3 thread is a former Ford trans engineer.

there are some '99 posters and they are fanatics about their trucks. Speaking for myself and not knowing any more than I do about what you are looking at, the price seems very good..... These engines should get 300,000 to 600,000miles easy. I have driven 7.3 deseil vans that had over 500,000 on them and they were purring strong.

 

Welcome to the forum. I drive Early 99 F450.
The early models were manufactured in 98 and have different turbos than newer models. Not a big deal.
I think you might have 2 issues with the truck.
1. automatic transmission is really lowering the performance of the engine
2. those engines have a flapper that close the exhaust on cold engine to speed up the warm up. If you drove with cold engine it can be really annoying before the flapper opens on warm engine.
To my knowledge the only weak link in the set you are trying to buy is the automatic transmission.

 

Stoneguy, where are you physically at? If your not in a cold climate, disregard the statements about the 'flapper'. it will only engage when the engine is really cold ( sub 40 degrees. It was 55 degrees this morning in IL, mine did not come on.

 

This might be your sluggish problem. It could be several other things that need to be checked out, clogged filters, ect.

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