Last week I made a deal for and ust brought home a 4x4 03 F250 with a 6.0L and auto trans.
It was stored in someone's house, heated, and air conditioned the whole time and only started once or twice each year to exercise the engine and trans.

So far I've changed everything but the coolant, and put roughly 400 miles on it.
I have two questions, first, which coolant should I be putting in this truck? Its got its original yellow coolant now.

Second, after spending a day driving it, I was wondering how the transmission shift on one of these should compare to that of a car or gas truck?
What I notice is that when it comes to a stop, I can feel it making one last downshift at or very close to a complete stop. The up shifts are firm, and very well timed.
Its probably the first vehicle I've ever owned with an automatic that seems to be always in the right gear.
I don't have another like it to compare to other than driving a higher mileage truck at a used car lot that shifted pretty much the same as mine.
Under harder acceleration its great, but it feels a bit harsh under normal or light acceleration such as stop and go through town.
It sort of reminds me of driving an old school bus with an automatic years ago. I had a Bronco years ago with an E4OD years ago and it didn't shift like this.

 

Nice find.

Change to red EC-1 rated ELC coolant - Shell Rotella is a common brand. It will require quite a bit of distilled water flushing as the entire system holds about 7 gallons and you can only get half that out each time you drain it. You definitely don't want to be putting minerals into it from regular hose water (or worse - well water).

Keep the voltage up to protect the FICM (Fuel Injection Control Module). Better yet - just send the FICM out to be upgraded by FICMrepair.com AND keep the voltages up. Do that and you won't ever have a FICM issue!

Look at installing a fuel pressure gauge. Ford discovered that fuel pressure under 45 psig damages the expensive injectors. Lots of things can cause low fuel pressure, so it is best to monitor it.

Oh - use only OEM filters. Change oil every 5k miles and both fuel filters every 10k miles. The external transmission filter needs to be changed every 30k miles and you should do a series of 3-4 drain and fills of the transmission pan every 30k miles (with 10-15 miles of driving in between the drain/fill events to allow the new fluid to mix w/ the old. The air filter has a filter minder on it to tell you when to change it, but it can easily go 70k miles or more under normal driving.

Oil - I like the synthetic 5W40 oils. The early injectors seem to frequently experience "stiction" w/ 15W40 oil in the winter months. Good 10W30 oils seem to do well also.

Common transmission fluid choices are Mercon SP, Mercon LV, or Valvoline MaxLife.

Drain the water out of the fuel/water (WIF) separator every time you change the oil. The steel drain plug (in the primary fuel filter housing, under the drivers side door - down by the frame rail) should be upgraded to a brass one that has a knurled **** for hand tightening and removing. It is MUCH better than the plug that has the 6mm hex head that frequently strips (and corrodes).

 

And if you haven’t changed tires, 16 year old tires can be a safety hazard.

 

Also - read up on ICP sensor and pigtail failures. It is the biggest issue w/ the 03 engines (and early 04 engine) IMO.

The sensor placement is behind the turbo and it is hard to get to! It measures the high pressure oil pressure that is used to actuate the injectors. It is in a location that is fairly high heat. The sensor frequently fails and frequently leaks oil and ruins the pigtail.

It might be best to just proactively replace that sensor now because I believe they have upgraded it. You can use the ICP sensor that is designated for the 04.5 and up model years. Hopefully it will keep the pigtail from failing.

The 04.5 and up sensor part number is
4C3Z-9F838-A

You can buy OEM parts very inexpensively on line from:
Auto Nation White Bear Lake
FICMRepair.com

https://parts.autonationfordwhitebearlake.com/
FICMRepair.com - FORD Powerstroke 6.0 FICM Repair, PHP Tuning and Truck Parts

If you ever have any problems, invest in downloading ForScan Lite to your SmartPhone ($6) and buying an ELM327 OBDII adapter (I like BAFX brand). The adapter is about $35 or so. It is a GREAT code reader and you can also read most engine parameters!

 

Welcome and sweet find!

I would add a coolant filter after you do your flush of the system. Lots of good info and people here to keep er like new. Enjoy!

 

I ordered a coolant filter kit for it, but it doesn't look like most coolant kits do very much? They appear to only scavenge and filter some of the coolant flow?

Is there a problem withe gold coolant it came with?
I'll be changing it but I haven't yet. I figure I'll deal with that when I get the coolant filter kit.
Apparently they still use it in new models according to the dealer.

I don't have a smart phone, but do have an OTC scan tool.
I read up a bit on the ICP sensor, maybe I'll just order a spare or two to have on hand, but for now all of that seems fine.

I already replaced the tires, (Cooper AT3's), and I've changed the ATF, engine oil, and siphoned off as much of the brake fluid from the resovoir and replaced it. I'll do the brake fluid a few times to try an get it all without breaking open the system.
I put two new Walmart Everstart Maxx batteries in it, (850CCA/1000A), and checked all the other fluids.
I didn't bother changing the ATF filter with the thought that its only got 2000 miles on it right now, maybe I'll do another fluid change early at 15k or so with a new filter.
I replaced the fuel filter under the hood, where's the second one?
The air filter looked new, so I left it alone.
The brakes, hoses, and everything else looked fine and it runs perfect.
I have a few questions about how the transmission shifts and feels in this truck, its very abrupt and I can feel it downshift as I come to a stop.
I did stop at a used car dealer and I test drove a similar truck with 42k on it and it shifted the same way. Not at all like the trans in my car.
Its more noticeable when driving slow, light to light then under acceleration.
Under hard acceleration, it shifts hard, hard enough to bark the tires on each shift.
It also seems to have a lower 1st gear ratio when its cold vs when its hot?
I've driven it for about 80 miles so far over the weekend. I had filled it up before I left to the point of overflow, when I got back it took 3.65 gallons, that's just over 21 mpg.
Most of my driving was along back roads through PA, a lot of stop and go and two lane streets through small towns and only about 10 miles of highway driving.
I checked all the fluids afterwards and crawled all over it to check for leaks and everything seems fine so far.
One of the biggest surprises with this thing is how strong the brakes are, it stops better than any truck, or car I've owned before.
It does make a lot of brake dust through, after 80 miles, there's a definite coating of brake dust on all four wheels, which were just polished before I left.

 

It’s a commercial grade diesel truck rated to basically 10k GVW derated by springs and tires. Jump in a UPS truck, about the same.

It ain’t a Buick, or even an F150.

Brake dust can be an indication of dragging brakes, or just wearing in of new, but NOS pads. They’ve never seen work.

 

The gold coolant degrades and forms gel or solids and plugs the oil cooler. The EGR cooler gets its coolant from the oil cooler, so the EGR cooler gets starved for coolant when the oil cooler plugs. A coolant filter helps some, but does NOT eliminate the problems caused by the Gold coolant.

All this can be avoided w/ CAT EC-1 rated ELC coolant.

The idea about changing the ICP sensor early is so that you won't have to ALSO replace the connector and wiring (pigtail) when the sensor fails. It is bad enough to replace the sensor, but getting in there to splice wires isn't exactly fun.

Don't forget the fuel pressure sensor. MANY, MANY 6.0L engines had fuel injector problems because of below spec fuel pressure. Ford improved the 6.0L injectors SEVERAL times over the years. You probably don't have any of the upgrades. Best to treat what you have as well as you can - all 8 of them are expensive.

 

This truck will only be used to pull a camper and a boat a couple times a year, and for a monthly trip to the dump.

The camper has a GVW of 9,680. The boat is 1,500lbs tops.

I found the ICP sensor, I can reach it from the top if I move a few hoses and the ECM.

Where is the f/p sensor located?

 

There is no fuel pressure sensor. That's a gauge that you NEED to add on. Fuel pressure is critical to injector health and a gauge is CHEAP insurance compared to a set of injectors

 

Just an FYI, it is probably the FICM you are seeing that needs to be removed, not the ECM.

The ECM and TCM are combined in a PCM which is on the drivers side fender well - beside the battery.

 

I go in from the bottom to get the ICP on the 03, much easier for me than removing everything up top. If you change it you might think about using the later one, it has lasted longer than the 03 style.

 

I got the ICP sensor yesterday, it took less than 20 minutes to install. I removed the air filter assembly, loosened the coolant tank, removed a couple of air tubes and removed the module or ecu from the left valve cover. I was able to reach back and unplug the ICP and I used a swivel socket and extension to break it free and retorqued the new one.
I bought two new one's, I put a spare in the glove box and put the custom swivel socket and extension under the back seat.

Where would the new f/p gauge go?
I do notice it lacks a voltmeter or ammeter too.

 

I am not sure what module you removed from the left (Driver's side) valve cover, but to get to the ICP, removing your Fuel Injection Control Module (FICM) is a big help.

You install the sensor for fuel pressure in the test port that is in the lower portion of your secondary fuel filter.

The threads are M12x1.5, so most people get a fitting that converts that to 1/8" NPT fitting.

The Tech Folder has a lot of great threads to learn from!

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...ch-folder.html

 

Ford premium gold is a one size fits all coolant that Ford introduced late 2001 for the 2002+ MY. It works well in a gas vehicle as it doesn't see the heat that these trucks produce. It's a cross between the silicate filled green stuff you find at autoparts stores and the EC-1 rated coolant that OTR trucks run. This is why most folks go to the red stuff. No silicate drop out to clog the oil cooler and it does a much better job of keeping the engine cool without breaking down so easily.

I recommend the Dieselsite coolant filter if you're going to buy one. It's a much better quality kit as opposed to the sinister diesel kit that has hoses that break in short order. (Ask me know I know...)

IPR makes one that filters 100% of the coolant and while you'll spend a little more money, it's worth it.

If you haven't already, consider looking into an oil bypass for your truck. Since it's relatively new you could keep your truck running forever with an oil bypass. Some folks agree with it and some folks don't, but clean oil keeps these engines happy and trouble free. I'm rebuilding my engine and am getting an oil bypass for it to keep the oil clean and soot free. It'll reduce the amount of soot related wear and keep the oil cleaner.

This is because you have an early 2003 flash on your truck. The early PCM, TCM, and FICM flashes were the best for power and fuel economy. Some of them had issues with how the truck ran and a few other nit picky things, but if most of the original 2003 owners like Jack had to do it all over again, they would've never taken the dealer up on the "Free Oil Change". Dealers lured people in to flash their trucks to the latest calibrations and while some folks didn't have a problem, they would come in with the truck that gave 21 mpg and leave with one that gave 13-16 mpg. Yours is one of the ones that has an early flash with the good tow haul program and shift strategy. My advice to you: don't modify that truck aside from deleting the EGR cooler. You may or may not get a check engine light from the lack of EGR flow, but it's worth it to keep the intake manifold clean and the truck running at it's best. You're also eliminating an Achilles heel with these engines too.

That's how I usually get to the ICP on an '03 truck.

Unless you have a manual truck, you won't have a volt meter. Instead of a volt meter, you have a dummy trans temp gauge that has 3 settings: "cold", "hot", and "too late". Ford introduced this gauge in 2002 because in 2001 when chevrolet released their new line up for 3/4 ton and 1 ton trucks, they all had a working trans temp gauge. Ford's gauge on the dash doesn't do an accurate job of reporting the actual trans temp, so alot of people just monitor it via torque pro.