eej711

I know the 7.3s are good but how we're they in this year? My dad may be trading a guy for one. It's a 03 f250 7.3l. It is tuned with a superchips tuner, straight pipes from turbo back, and lifted. What problems usually happen with this specific year truck, engine, transmission?

ford4261

These are good trucks, the last year of the 7.3 and these year trucks (1999-2003) were the inter cooked versions of the engine (vs. 1994-1997 which was not intercooled). The weak link for these trucks is the transmission, even at stock power levels. I would try to avoid any truck that has been chipped or tuned unless you are sure of the history. Depending on the miles and the type of maintenance done, the high pressure oil pump and injectors would be my biggest worry as well. The powerstroke engines with the HEUI injection system are very finicky when it comes to oil and maintenance intervals.

eej711

It has right at 93k so not a lot at all for a diesel which is good. From what I understand it hasn't been tuned for but a few years at the most. Truck was bought by an older man to tow his camper then bought by a guy who worked at a shop so he put the lift on it.

ford4261

Ya the miles are pretty low, so hopefully everything is in decent shape as long as the previous owner didn't floor it all the time. Like I said the tranny will be your weakest link so just budget for an overhaul possibly. Other than that, solid truck and enjoy!

eej711

Thanks for the information! Still looking into it but looks like a pretty clean truck

nsejda

The best year for the 7.3 for this body still would be 1999, but still these trucks are getting harder to find with low miles. If I was your dad I'd get it

Storm Trooper

i had a 2003 f-350 4x4 wth the 7.3 they are bullitproof the best diesel ford ever put in thier trucks.they are not as fast as the new diesels but they will run forever.the big thing to check on any year 7.3 is the oil pan they rust out and you have to pull the motor to fix it.the oil cooler goes bad but its not a bad fix start the engine cold and take off the oil filler cap and check for blowby turn the oil filler cap upside over the oil fill hole while the engine is running if it gets blowed off it has too much blow by