Hey guys,I recently purchased a 93 F250 extended cab,long bed with the 7.3 auto.w/o.d.,4.11 rear and have a few questions that i am sure ya'll have answered many times. This is my first diesel and i was apprehensive before purchasing it due to my lack of knowledge on diesels.While i consider myself a fairly good mechanic on traditional gasoline engines i have never wrenched on any diesels. Heres my questions: 1) My truck has 179,000 miles on it,if it was well maintained over the years past,which i suspect it was,roughly what would be the expected life expectancy of the 7.3? 2) Is the oil in these engines normally pretty black even shortly after a recent oil change? 3) can i use the longer powerstroke filter and add an extra qt to bring it up to 11 total next time around? I assume that the more oil capacity the better? 4) I have driven the truck approx.2000 miles and while i hav'nt calculated the M.P.G.it seems to be getting exceptional mileage for such a heavy truck.what M.P.G. should i expect? 5) On the exhaust side do they make headers? and would it be beneficial to run them or just put duals from the factory manifolds back? I heard some people not even running a muffler,how much louder would it be? I was wanting a little performance gain and not so loud as to have to yell to talk to someone in the cab while going down the interstate.6) it has Pirelli scorpion tires in the stock size on it.these tires are supposed to be fairly good tires are they not? 7) how do the overdrive trannies hold up if not abused and serviced regularly ? and lastly for now when it comes time for a engine rebuild are they a lot more difficult than gasoline motor rebuilds? sorry for bombarding ya'll with so many questions at once but i do appreciate in advance any replies and advise.

 

Hi Bubba, welcome to the IDI world.

#1 Some IDIs when properly maintained will go in excess of 300K
#2Yes the oil will be black
#3Yes on some, no on others(I've had 3 and it fit on 2 of them, hit the frame on other)
#4I've gotten 12 with a F450/5:13 gears and as much as 18 with a F250/3:55s
#5Exhaust mods will help it breathe and straights will be extremely loud
#6No idea on the tires
#7Trannies hold up well when serviced regular, the more abuse the more wear
#8 Diesel engines are no different to rebuild than gassers, just heavier and more expensive.
Jeff

 

Bigbubba,
-stans headers [google it] or some one will along with a link
-dual exhaust witha free flowing muffler...leave the straight pipes for the kids
-powerstroke filter fits on my 84 IDI 4x4....your try & see
-preventive maintenance is never a bad idea
-OD auto...no clue
-7.3 are not a good canidates for rebuilds....go with the 6.9

You have lucked into a great site...tons of knowledge and experience, do your self a favour and take some time to read thru some threads. A lot of your answers are in here for the reading....some one had mentioned the search option isn't working??? Try it and see, lol

 

bigbubba63,
Welcome to FTE and the IDI diesel forum.


Search is dependant on server load.
The new server should be online next week and all will be back to normal only better.

 

Many many thanks to all who replied,I started to read through the old posts and found many answers i was searching for. I look forward to being a member of this site. I have about 5 of the 87 - 93 fox body mustangs to include an original 1989 ex TX DPS that i am restoring and belong to the Special Service Mustang Owner's Association,www.sspmustang.org,and a few members there highly recommended this site for 7.3 owners.Thanks again!