Considering a 7.3 Diesel Listed For Sale - Yes or No
 

The other week I stumbled upon a local Craigslist ad for a one owner 2001 7.3L Diesel Excursion with 178K miles at a more reasonable price. Typical ad with almost no information and crappy pictures. I called the guy and asked the standard set of questions, which includes "Does everything work?" and "Does it have any rust?". Answer back was yes, everything works and no rust. Great. Trust but verify, because no rust after 20 years in the mid-west is almost impossible. I asked for pictures of the rocker panels and door bottoms. I got them and they look good (at first sight). I decide to look at it in person.

In person I roll my creeper under the Ex and find that it is NOT rust free. The bottoms of the rockers are starting to go. The drivers side rear door dog-leg is rusted through. There is surface rust on the frame rails. Some of the underside body 'webbing' looks nasty. The only paint remaining on most of the oil pan is near the drain where the drained oil protected it.

I hate rust. HATE it. I have certainly seen a lot worse rust. In my mind, this is in the 'it definitely will be annoying, but could possibly become a major PITA' category level of rust mitigation needed. Pictures posted below.

Any advice from experienced with rust FTE'ers on how bad this really is and if its worth tackling? ...and at what price?

Other facts on this EX:
- Completely stock, no modifications, upgrades, etc., no accidents, paint and body good shape
- Only serviced at Ford dealership for everything
- Cold started easily
- No blow-by as tested with the oil filler cap test
- No puddles, no leaks that I could see, but some wetness when looking up from underneath (picture included and picture of Ford dealership comment about "fluids coming down from the engine valley" from last service in March)
- Oil and coolant didn't smell like diesel
- A/C works great, but will need a new condenser since most of the fins are flattened
- Power steering pump cooler fins are flattened as well
- Needs leaf springs
- Tires are nearly new
- 4x4 does NOT work, couldn't turn the auto hubs manually, so probably typical ESOF issue
- Torn seat, one window gets power but will only wiggle, one lock actuator not working
- Drives surprisingly good with tight steering and no wander (shocked on that one)
- Transmission shifts smoothly through all gears even when hard accelerating
- Brakes work great
- Service Engine Soon (SES) light is ON. I tried to FORScan it, but there is no power to OBDII port (told owner to check 20 amp fuse #3 and get back to me with codes)

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...ef7ba8e665.jpg
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that is a lot of new York state rust I am seeing,
for me, keep looking

and that list of stuff that needs fixing?
will cost you the price of the truck and then some.

I am totally fine fixing all of those myself. Although, that type of work is much more annoying when dealing with a layer of rust.

My main concern is how much effort and cost is involved in removing existing rust, stopping it correctly, fixing/replacing what needs to be corrected (like the dog leg). I have no experience with these things. My one data point was @unleashd paying $2K to replace and paint all of his rockers and doglegs. Obviously, if the frame is shot, then I'm not interested.

From my experience people who live in rusty car world will call anything zero rust as long as it doesn't turn into a banana under throttle or parts arent actively falling off driving down tbe road. They're very funny people but very difficult to talk to about cars for sale.

The amount of rust and scales built on the chassis and underbody would deter me from proceeding further. Rockers are much more easier to fix as there are replacement panels readily available. This looks like a complete body off restoration IMO. If you have place, time, tools, and expertise, then I'd say buy it for atleast 5-6k less than the asking price. FWIW, it cost me 2K to replace 4 "outer" rocker panels along with paint recently here in NoVA where labor cost is high as we are in the DC suburbs.

I am talking specifically about these parts.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.for...bc3065ee09.jpg
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To be fair, I'm NOT looking for a showcar or family heirloom. My objective is to have a reliable/dependable heavy tow vehicle...that gets better fuel economy and tows better in hills/mountains than my current V10 gasser. I don't love Excursions, I use them as a tool.

How long have you been looking? I'd pass on that one. At the premium you will pay, it should be what you want. Dont settle.

points to consider. I bought a 2000 X in Connecticut with worse rust than you showed. anytime I worked on her, I counted on every bolt breaking and requiring replacement. The salt and beet juice is insidious. I remember taking a ball peen hammer and a chisel to clean rust chunks. I was literally wailing on the front axle to clean it up. Same thing on my 1995 F250 up there. I've sworn to never buy a rusty rig ever again. Hours upon hours cursing and sweating, know everything I touched was going to break.

1. Body work is body work. those rockers are starting to go bad and will only get worse. They actually aren't that bad right now. This was probably a southern rig that recently came north. You can treat the developing issue now with a wire wheel and oil film. But if she's going to stay in a salty area...it'll only get worse. Which honestly would make me actually consider this rig. The body isn't structurally affected. it's just visually ugly. and not that terrible either. If you live somewhere that doesn't typically see rust, avoid this rig.
2. Frame rust. Can't determine that state of things. It looks bad at first glance. But keep in mind that corrosion/rust can actually protect metal underneath from further degradation. I'd have to see more of the frame with the top layer shown knocked off. it looks unsightly of course. I almost want to say it had an undercoating. That crap makes things worse (more than it helps). But some areas look good. Like the body mount and the leaf spring shackles. The thinner metals aren't compromised. Again, really need to get the frame to bare metal in spots and see how much metal is actually missing vice just a corrosive layer.
3. soft and hard brake lines - this would be my biggest concern. My hard brakelines had some serious rust and I replaced to be safe. My soft lines visually looked fine. but the internal steel failed due to salt and ended up killing calipers. I ended up nearly replacing my entire brake system including all calipers/rotors/dust shields to make her safe and roadworthy.
4. hubs are salt frozen. it's an easy fix. but many don't know that. good bargaining tool to knock the price down. my hubs ended up failing completely for "auto". But the manual over-ride always worked. I did have to tear them apart and clean/grease a couple times a winter season. I couldn't keep the salt out of them. beet juice helped it wick into everything.


really depends on the sale price. I'd buy without any major worries provided the frame looked decent after cleaning to bare metal in spots. If you're towing, check the hitch bolts. She'll likely have the lower capacity bolts installed (there was a TSB to update them) and I'd bet they and hitch are crusty. FWIW I only got $4k for my 2000 V-10 XLT with 91,000 miles. Comparable body rust, worse frame rust, lifted, and in much better overall shape than what you showed. With what you've shown, mileage, and overall condition described...I'd be max of $8k to purchase. Would be shooting for $6k knowing she needs a full suspension/axle overhaul (easy $2k in parts) to make an everyday driver. I'd bet money you'll need to replace the hitch. The rust destroys any value the 7.3 had "added" to the rig.

Yeah, I ended up passing on that one. Everybody has a different level of tolerance when it comes to rust. Mine is pretty low. Its hard and costly to repair, once its started it seems to be hard to stop, and it makes otherwise easy repairs hard to do. I did do the seller a favor and assisted him out a lot on a few things to help him get it sold, including the easy fix for the 4x4 not working by switching to manual hubs, how to read OBDII codes, etc. He was considering getting it Ziebarted as well, which would only make things worse by covering it. I talked him off that ledge at least. its a nice Ex for somebody and better than most rust buckets out there, just not the right one for me.

Probably for the best. Down here in GA I wouldn’t touch that thing. If I were still in CT, it would be sitting in my driveway already provided the 7.3 tax wasn’t that bad

i wish the undercoating wasn’t so prevalent. It really escalates the rust issues IMO

I looked for an excursion for 3 or 4 years before I found one that was rust free and didn't disappear before I got a chance to look at it.