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2001 F350 7.3 what to look for when buying used?
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Hmm. where to start...
Coolant- Make sure there is no ring atop the coolant. this most of the time is fuel. In this case it should create a ring on the bottle itself. This means the injector cups are cracked, in worst case, heads. Usual places for coolant leakage is at the t-stat housing. follow the top rad hose tot he block. Make sure all three bolts are factory. If not, than someone snapped one off a long time ago and they had to drill and tap it to a bigger bolt. that area usually leaks also.
Oil- the lifeblood of the HEUI Powerstrokes. Most important thing. Most likely will be black, no big deal. You want to hold it up to light, check for sparkles. When I bought my truck and when i look at them for others, I literally cut the oil filter open on site. These engines not prone to lower end failure, it does happen. the oil cooler is located on the driver side of block. best to check her for oil leaks, that means the gaskets are worn out. Its a PITA job, but it can be done at home. the opposite side you'll find the dipstick where it goes into the pan... Make sure its not gobbered in RTV. It leaks really bad and only way to change it is to drop pan. Most people gob it in RTV since it actually works, very low pressure, but it still leaks. Front main seal ofcourse along with rear will seap.
fuel. the second most important thing. Remove the fuel filter, its in the valley of the engine. Either a 1/2 drive or the special tool is needed. there will **** fuel so make sure its ok with dealer. upon pulling out filter, make sure the element isnt all wavy and dark. Wavy means water is present. Look down into the filter bowl and make sure the heater isnt all rusted out. If you see rust, dont completely freak out, but aton of rust is a no-no. It will cause issues later. your looking for a ton of debris at the bottom of this filter base. Now you may be saying well duh, thats where the water gets trapped and so does debris. YES, you are correct, but 99% of people dont know how to change fuel filters in diesels and when changing, they wont properly drain the base and just slap new filter in dirty diesel fuel. there for sending debris straight to injectors. So having a clean base is key here, remember the injectors are about $350 each and there are 8 of them....
Hopefully the engine is cold when you get there, maybe request to not have it started for quite sometime. Let the glow plugs do their job and turn her over. IF you get a romp sound and a rough idle at first, usually you have a weak injector. As the oil warms up it flow better and the injector will operate better. have someone watch for smoke at the tail pipe. white is a sign of a glow plug not working or weak injector.
exhaust leaks. the up pipe that feed the turbo are notorious for leaking. you can usually look at the heat shield on the firewall and see black patches. those are the gaskets that are blown out. usually you have to replace the pipes also. Around $400 in parts.
turbo. take the inlet off, you will find oil from the crank case vent, which you will delete later, dont mind it. but spin the compressor with your wheel your finger should be smooth and spins a few times after you let off. look at the blade for chips and such. chips at the blades means dusting, means poor filtration. than move the compressor up and down, shouldnt be much play at all. no worries, new upgraded turbos are only $1300.
while driving pay attention to noise from the turbo. get on it, make sure there is no turbo flutter with a load on it.
bad turbo compressor wheel
fuel filter base i removed to clean it.. full of debris
Heres when my turbo took a dump. remember put a load on it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw_NT4VdOyk&list=UUIsMfpEt6IGOpQ9lE7iDfXA&index=12&feature=plcp
IF they are a ford dealer, or have IDS, they can do a buzz test on the injectors. should sound like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk0dpGy0jI8&feature=autoplay&list=UUIsMfpEt6IGOpQ9lE7iDfXA&playnext=1
and the most important part, if you ever need any work done. PM me
Coolant- Make sure there is no ring atop the coolant. this most of the time is fuel. In this case it should create a ring on the bottle itself. This means the injector cups are cracked, in worst case, heads. Usual places for coolant leakage is at the t-stat housing. follow the top rad hose tot he block. Make sure all three bolts are factory. If not, than someone snapped one off a long time ago and they had to drill and tap it to a bigger bolt. that area usually leaks also.
Oil- the lifeblood of the HEUI Powerstrokes. Most important thing. Most likely will be black, no big deal. You want to hold it up to light, check for sparkles. When I bought my truck and when i look at them for others, I literally cut the oil filter open on site. These engines not prone to lower end failure, it does happen. the oil cooler is located on the driver side of block. best to check her for oil leaks, that means the gaskets are worn out. Its a PITA job, but it can be done at home. the opposite side you'll find the dipstick where it goes into the pan... Make sure its not gobbered in RTV. It leaks really bad and only way to change it is to drop pan. Most people gob it in RTV since it actually works, very low pressure, but it still leaks. Front main seal ofcourse along with rear will seap.
fuel. the second most important thing. Remove the fuel filter, its in the valley of the engine. Either a 1/2 drive or the special tool is needed. there will **** fuel so make sure its ok with dealer. upon pulling out filter, make sure the element isnt all wavy and dark. Wavy means water is present. Look down into the filter bowl and make sure the heater isnt all rusted out. If you see rust, dont completely freak out, but aton of rust is a no-no. It will cause issues later. your looking for a ton of debris at the bottom of this filter base. Now you may be saying well duh, thats where the water gets trapped and so does debris. YES, you are correct, but 99% of people dont know how to change fuel filters in diesels and when changing, they wont properly drain the base and just slap new filter in dirty diesel fuel. there for sending debris straight to injectors. So having a clean base is key here, remember the injectors are about $350 each and there are 8 of them....
Hopefully the engine is cold when you get there, maybe request to not have it started for quite sometime. Let the glow plugs do their job and turn her over. IF you get a romp sound and a rough idle at first, usually you have a weak injector. As the oil warms up it flow better and the injector will operate better. have someone watch for smoke at the tail pipe. white is a sign of a glow plug not working or weak injector.
exhaust leaks. the up pipe that feed the turbo are notorious for leaking. you can usually look at the heat shield on the firewall and see black patches. those are the gaskets that are blown out. usually you have to replace the pipes also. Around $400 in parts.
turbo. take the inlet off, you will find oil from the crank case vent, which you will delete later, dont mind it. but spin the compressor with your wheel your finger should be smooth and spins a few times after you let off. look at the blade for chips and such. chips at the blades means dusting, means poor filtration. than move the compressor up and down, shouldnt be much play at all. no worries, new upgraded turbos are only $1300.
while driving pay attention to noise from the turbo. get on it, make sure there is no turbo flutter with a load on it.
bad turbo compressor wheel
fuel filter base i removed to clean it.. full of debris
Heres when my turbo took a dump. remember put a load on it
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zw_NT4VdOyk&list=UUIsMfpEt6IGOpQ9lE7iDfXA&index=12&feature=plcp
IF they are a ford dealer, or have IDS, they can do a buzz test on the injectors. should sound like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk0dpGy0jI8&feature=autoplay&list=UUIsMfpEt6IGOpQ9lE7iDfXA&playnext=1
and the most important part, if you ever need any work done. PM me
Last edited:
The fuel filter base advice, how do you properly clean the base? I'm in a diesel service tech class so soon I'll be able to do all types of stuff to the truck (if dad gets it). No mods however. The only real problem I can see with the 2001 models is for about 4 months they had a "mechanical transmission diode" that had a high failure rate...supposedly. I've only read one person online with that problem.
He most likely won't be able to check the fuel filter on the lot. The turbo I know can have a teeny bit of up and down play in the compressor, but no in and out play.
P.S. Since I'm still sorta a diesel n00b, what's RTV?
He most likely won't be able to check the fuel filter on the lot. The turbo I know can have a teeny bit of up and down play in the compressor, but no in and out play.
P.S. Since I'm still sorta a diesel n00b, what's RTV?
Remove the base and strip it down. They sell a complete gasket and o-ring kit for it.
RTV is silicone... stand for Room Temperature Vulcunizer(sp?)
the 4R100 is a weak trans in itself. Its BEST to install a aftermarket torque converter and a valvebody from BTS(Brians Truck Shop) as soon as possible.
6 postion chips are also the best things for these trucks. You can have high idle, towing tunes, milege tunes, daily driver, performance, etc.
RTV is silicone... stand for Room Temperature Vulcunizer(sp?)
the 4R100 is a weak trans in itself. Its BEST to install a aftermarket torque converter and a valvebody from BTS(Brians Truck Shop) as soon as possible.
6 postion chips are also the best things for these trucks. You can have high idle, towing tunes, milege tunes, daily driver, performance, etc.
He probably won't do anything to it until he starts to have problems with it first. I talked to him about chips but I think all my diesel talk has stunned him.
He kinda liked the 6.0 on the lot but I didn't for VERY obvious reasons.They are powerful, but dad isn't one to have much backup cash for repairs. With the likelihood of some sort of failure on the 6.0 being higher vs. the 7.3 I didn't want to persuade him into something he'd hate. EGR failures, oil cooler failures, all types of things that start to add up. The 7.3 seems to have less things that could go wrong with them.
Sounds like CTCBB4Z knows about diesels he's talking the talk,i have a 02 myself and love the7.3 if has been taken care of it should be good i would look for service records if they have any.It's like anything, sometimes thing just go bad like c.p.s they have problems with them.A good fourm to check out thedieselstop.com lots of info. there.
Former 7.3 owner, great truck and great engine. A few other things that might be worth a quick look - not necessarily deal breakers, but at least you'll know up front.
Check the oil pan for rust. Mine was showing signs of moderate rust, and I know of two others that had to replace the oil pan - which from what I read requires pulling the engine, or some trickery to get the oil pan off past the crossmember.
Check the cross members that run laterally under the bed. Not really 7.3 related, but that era heavy duty Ford related. Mine were rotted out, I pulled the bed and replaced them with 2" tube steel. I know another owner that has had his disintegrate also, and have looked under plenty of others that looked in pretty rough shape.
I'll second a custom tuner - I was very happy with Power Hungry Performance, but there a number of tuners for the 7.3 with a lot of happy customers. I wasn't interested in racing or anything, just the increased response and better day to day driveability was excellent.
Check the oil pan for rust. Mine was showing signs of moderate rust, and I know of two others that had to replace the oil pan - which from what I read requires pulling the engine, or some trickery to get the oil pan off past the crossmember.
Check the cross members that run laterally under the bed. Not really 7.3 related, but that era heavy duty Ford related. Mine were rotted out, I pulled the bed and replaced them with 2" tube steel. I know another owner that has had his disintegrate also, and have looked under plenty of others that looked in pretty rough shape.
I'll second a custom tuner - I was very happy with Power Hungry Performance, but there a number of tuners for the 7.3 with a lot of happy customers. I wasn't interested in racing or anything, just the increased response and better day to day driveability was excellent.
I run Beans tunes. Their hot tune trips my tires into 3rd gear, all stock besides GTP-38R turbo...
Only downside on later model engines is the PMR, powdered metal rods.. they dont hold up good after 400 HP...
but thats why I got a spare forged rod motor...
Only downside on later model engines is the PMR, powdered metal rods.. they dont hold up good after 400 HP...
but thats why I got a spare forged rod motor...
Wow man, is that a black beauty?That is what my truck is looks a lot like yours,wish i could figure out how to get pictures posted.And i hear you on those powdered rods,i just try to not think about it because i have so much stuff on mine that i have been told to be very carefull.I have a TS 6pos it goes up to 140hp tried a few times and thats it,should send it back and have the 140 removed.Like your truckI run Beans tunes. Their hot tune trips my tires into 3rd gear, all stock besides GTP-38R turbo...
Only downside on later model engines is the PMR, powdered metal rods.. they dont hold up good after 400 HP...
but thats why I got a spare forged rod motor...
I have a 2000 7.3 F350 Crew Cab single wheel 4X4 and love it.
I do not know much about diesels, but I can tell when something is wrong. Like mentioned before, make sure to start when cold and get it warmed up. Listen for transmission issues too.
Check out the brakes too. I just replaced everything on all four corners and the parts at NAPA were $1100.00, just for parts. Of course I bought the best they had, you do not want the cheep stuff on a 1-ton when pulling a 16000lb fifth wheel.
You will most likely not find much wrong with the drivetrain though they do tend to drip oil here and there. The Fords issue is rust. Inside the doors and rear wheel wells. If rust does not bother you, great, but drivers side doors can be hard to find rust free, and expensive when they are.
I use mine for transporting RV's for my dealership and it works perfect.
I do not know much about diesels, but I can tell when something is wrong. Like mentioned before, make sure to start when cold and get it warmed up. Listen for transmission issues too.
Check out the brakes too. I just replaced everything on all four corners and the parts at NAPA were $1100.00, just for parts. Of course I bought the best they had, you do not want the cheep stuff on a 1-ton when pulling a 16000lb fifth wheel.
You will most likely not find much wrong with the drivetrain though they do tend to drip oil here and there. The Fords issue is rust. Inside the doors and rear wheel wells. If rust does not bother you, great, but drivers side doors can be hard to find rust free, and expensive when they are.
I use mine for transporting RV's for my dealership and it works perfect.
femurphy77
Grandmaster
If you drive it and hear a clunking noise in the front end over bumps you'll need to replace the swaybar endlinks. They'll look good but trust me they are bad. Also a squeeking noise from the front springs is caused by bad or missing isolator pads. Easy fix, relatively inexpensive.
Ignore the troll....she is just jealous of us 7.3 driving, P30L toting owners....lol
I would type up what to check, but honestly im not in the mood.. had a very brain racking day at work today.... gotta find out whats wrong with this one...
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2TtjSj87s&list=UUIsMfpEt6IGOpQ9lE7iDfXA&index=1&feature=plcp[/ame]
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA2TtjSj87s&list=UUIsMfpEt6IGOpQ9lE7iDfXA&index=1&feature=plcp[/ame]
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