Loki 5.0

Does the new LS fuel cause problems with the 7.3's? Secondly , what kind of annual maintenance cost does the diesel entail over a gasser? Never had a diesel , but am considering one now since cost per gallon is now closer to gas.

djfllmn

iTrader: (1)

wont hurt it

Loki 5.0

Do you need to use additives?

djfllmn

iTrader: (1)

only the standard cetane boost and anti gel come winter time. and the main. costs are double that of a gasser. 7.3s hold 15 qts of 15w-40, have a big *** oil filter. and the fuel filter needs replaced every other oil change IIRC

fishbones182

Be sure to only use motorcraft fuel filters they perform the best for the Ford trucks.

RLXXI

If you plan to make $$$ with it go for it, but don't buy one thinking your going to save money. I'm factory certified on the 7.3 PSD and I'm here to tell you it's a money pit which is why you need to be able to deduct costs of ownership. Really any diesel p/u but that 7.3 will suck your bank account dry in a hurry.

Loki 5.0

I bought a new 6.2 , thanks for the input though.

PerryB

I am the mechanic for our family farming operation and have owned, maintained and repaired every diesel ever produced by ford. In my experience the 7.3 is nearly bulletproof. Its biggest enemy is neglect/lack of maintenance. They need to have the coolant properly balanced(Ph) and flushed every couple years or they will develop corrosion/cavitation problems and you'll get pinholes in the cylinder walls and hydro-lock. I think a lubrication additive is a must, since diesel has lost almost all of its sulfur. It only adds a couple cents a gallon to the cost and the products with cetane boost probably recover that in fuel economy improvement. Injector pumps/ICP's/HPFP's are expensive. Lubricity improver is cheap. That having been said, I'd be more concerned with the transmission. The E4OD/4R100's are just about the worst transmissions ever built. They're great for grocery getters but soon expire when put into heavy service. The ZF-5 is a pretty good trans. coupled to a horrible dual mass clutch.
Ford had some significant technological bumps in their road during these years. My 2 cents

TRD-Toy

Low sulfur is bad on the early style fuel lines. Rubber lines to the lift pump on the pre super duties. '99 and up are ok. No rubber lines to fail. Fuel filter drain valves go bad from low sulfur. I will disagree with 7.3 being a money pit and the E4OD/4R100 being a bad transmission. Only in 2001 had pump/converter problems. I've got customers with well over 500k miles on both engine and transmissions.
I was PSD certified to 6.4l. Left ford and went independent. Now I work on Cummings and Duramax too. The Dodge's transmission are garbage like their differentials. Chevy's injectors/pumps/glow plugs are crap. Neither seem to make power like the Ford's either.
Ford also warrantied many things after actual warranty was out. I've sent numerous duramaxes in for injectors under their 200k mile extended warranty. They won't be covered. Just like their brake lines, ignition switches and unwanted ABS activation.
All I ever saw was broken Ford's for 12 years. Now I see anything but ford's broken. Still work on a few ford vehicles, but nothing like the number of Dodge and Chevy's. My $.02!