Why did they stop making the 7.3 ?

[WaterFolk]

Originally Posted by JEFFOH

In all fairness putting over $7000 in upgrades and labor my 7.3 cannot compete in speed with a 6.7. The new engines including the new Dodge are amazing. Mine can however very easily pull a combined weight over the legal limit 26500 which is what I have a truck for and as someone said I paid $7500 for my F350 diesel crew 4x4 in running condition and added those mods to get a truck that can easily do what those $60,000 trucks do for around $15000 including trans brake etc. It is not as nice, advanced etc but it IS paid for... No offense

Second this. I paid $4500 for,a '97 F-350 DRW Crew Cab w/7.3 last year to haul my 14500lb 5er. With Edge tuner on tow she'll go up any hill (almost) at 45mph, otherwise normal highway speeds. Not a race horse, but we get there. The truck has 260,000 miles and runs like a clock. Does not use a drop of oil, even after a hard 3000 mile tow. She sits 97% of the time so I couldn't stomach paying even $25k for truck. I've done about $4000 in various truck upgrades but I'm still nowhere near the cost of a new vehicle.

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by WaterFolk

The truck has 260,000 miles and runs like a clock. Does not use a drop of oil, even after a hard 3000 mile tow.

That is amazing. I've owned 4 7.3's bought new, and logged over 650K mi, and I never had one that didn't use any oil. Great engine but used about a quart between oil changes from new until sold. None of them ever went to the shop either, for any reason, other than normal wear items.

[railtim]

7.3's are good engines. I bought a 2003 f-250hd w/143,000 w/a 6.0L. Before going to Florida, a spent 5,000 for a new radiator, oil cooler, 3-noozles, egr valve, oil and filter chng. +. I now have 181,000 miles on it and just spent 2200 for a bearings on the front, lockouts(not engine related), new EGR, 1 nozzle, oil and filter change + fuel filters. Runs like a new truck. I have a afe air filter system and pull a TS 5th wheel 36 rlso with no problems.

[Fordiesel250]

I purchased a 2001 7.3 in 2003 when my 6.5 Chevy puked on us in Mobile Alabama. Wife and I rented a car and was able to tow and store the 6.5 at the impound lot in Mobile. Searched for a replacement truck in Panama City Florida and found the 7.3 with low mileage and after doing a Carfax search we bought it. We used it to tow our 6.5 Chevy home to Texas. It is may daily driver and other than normal maintenance is has been a real work horse. Great engine in a great truck.

[Jimwelch01]

Ford started making their own Diesel Engine in 2011 with the 6.7. Started with two turbos, went to one big one with exhaust brake in 2012. Continued using HP and torque. 2015 has even bigger turbo and almost 900 lbs of torque. Huge improvement over the old 7.3. (I had a 2001 F-250 with it.)

[jamesrxx951]

Originally Posted by Jimwelch01

Ford started making their own Diesel Engine in 2011 with the 6.7. Started with two turbos, went to one big one with exhaust brake in 2012. Continued using HP and torque. 2015 has even bigger turbo and almost 900 lbs of torque. Huge improvement over the old 7.3. (I had a 2001 F-250 with it.)

The Ford 6.7L has always had a single turbo since introduction in 2010 (2011 model year). It is a 2 stage style turbo but still a single turbo assembly.

[Big B]

James, I am one of the lucky/smart ones with a great 6.0L. 06 250 SC SWB & 200K on it. It will be for sale later this year, what area are you in

[Tnbkrtrash]

I just purchased a Safari pusher and traded my travel trailer. I have a 2002 F350 Lariat crew cab w/8 foot bed, mount for 5th wheel, 209,000 miles. Looking to sell it and buy a 4 wheel drive Cherokee to pull on the ground. Truck is loaded and sweet. I am going to take some pics tomorrow and put it in the classifieds. But anyone is curios feel free to PM me.

[jonbrown]

I remember seeing this thread when it was 1 or 2 pages. Just reading through it tells another story of how Ford got very lucky with the 7.3 . I think I have owned them all, I have a 1981 6.9 ford XLT suicide seats no opening rear door. With a banks turbo and a 4 speed granny stick. It is the loudest and slowest truck I have ever driven, yet it was very kool when it was new. 273,000 mi and looks like new. Then a 1989 7.3 non turbo 3/4 ton 5 spd stick, that truck was fun. 394,000 . Then a 1999 f250 with 460,000 and a 2002 f250 480,000 . both 7.3 turbo. I must say in my shop I resisted hard to try the new things. But in the 6.0 you get about a hundred more horse, smoother run and same miles. But , big but.. Keep the batteries new. I have a customer who runs 4 of the 6.0 and at 500,000 plus we havent replaced any injectors or major repairs. 6.4 I have seen only 5 or so in the years they ran. And the new 6.7 ?
I have 2 of them at my shop. If you liked or loved the 7.3 then you will adore a 6.7 .
The power reminds me of the technology chevy introduced with the 6.6 but with amazing engineering. I hate change, yet the 6.7 is where the money is , fuel and 400 hp.. oh man.. My 20,000 lb 5er pulls like a small cart. Did with the duramax too.
The 7.3 gets it done, but more power to fuel ratio ? It is out of date.

[Scottybdivin]

Originally Posted by Tnbkrtrash

I just purchased a Safari pusher and traded my travel trailer. I have a 2002 F350 Lariat crew cab w/8 foot bed, mount for 5th wheel, 209,000 miles. Looking to sell it and buy a 4 wheel drive Cherokee to pull on the ground. Truck is loaded and sweet. I am going to take some pics tomorrow and put it in the classifieds. But anyone is curios feel free to PM me.

I bet you will not have any trouble selling it for a premium. I had a 2002 Excursion 7.3L, driven by my wife. It was a Limited, had 94K, and went from our garage to her state parking garage every day. Didn't even have a door ding. I am still kicking myself for selling it.

[LaBajaBus]

Hi everyone!
Helpful thread, thought I'd bump it with comments/questions about this engine.

This is my first post on IRV2, so also- hello!

I just purchased a '97 E450 (acc to VIN lookup on Ford site) w/290K miles on a Powerstroke 7.3 turbo diesel. I did some basic research and came up with similar info that's posted here- pros/cons, vs. newer engines.

So far, in CA, '97's do NOT require smog check (but it could change...) so that's a plus. Tho it may spend much of its life south of border (I own a lot that I may park it on, while doing some construction work this summer)

It is also NOT an RV- it is a BUS. My city passed new parking regs in 2014, prohibiting long term parking of RVs/trailers or anything over 27' long AND 7' tall. So- I bought this 24' bus (over 7' tall, tho) in part to avoid those regs. We shall see...

It's a former shuttle bus w/wheelchair lift (handy for loading heavy camp gear), currently seats 9 (8 passengers/driver) to avoid need for commercial license, and otherwise is empty. I bought it for very little, so now... leap of faith to convert to travel vehicle!

The engine sounds solid in a rumbly diesel kinda way (as far as my untrained ear can tell)- ran fine on drive home, about 40 miles on freeway, at 60-65 mph easily. Decent acceleration w/overdrive switch. Looks dry underneath- no oil leaks, no rust, spent its life in SoCal. Suspension... hard to know, but feels solid, no wobbles etc.

So before I depart for Baja w/friends in a few weeks, a few q's:

1) What needs to be professionally inspected in terms of engine? What maintenance should I do to be safe (I have no maintenance records :( )
What should I definitely do before driving in MX end of March?

2) Can I run biodiesel without making big changes? I live in sunny/warm SoCal, most often drive south into sunnier Baja, rarely north. Do I really need a dual tank system (it has a 60 gal), or just gradually add biodiesel and change fuel filter as the crud loosens us (there are several professional biodiesel options near my home, from 99.9% to 20%)

I've never owned a diesel but have owned Fords, and currently drive a Mazda B-4000 w/small camper shell into Baja often. La Bus will transport friends/family/toys for longer adventures that my little .5 ton can't carry.

So... that's my story: I have a bus, not an RV, that will be used for fun adventures, and hopefully the 7.3 will give us all another 100k of miles.

Your advice/comments/helpful suggestions welcome!

[r___r]

Welcome to the forum, LaBajaBus,

A 'No Smog' 97...nice.

The 97 and 00 were the two choices I was looking at, but, I went with the 00.

No maintenance records, I'd change all, or, flush the fluids unless the previous owner told you when they've been changed.

Inspect the drivetrain, suspension, etc. really good.

If you don't do the above, have a shop do the inspection and maintenance stuff.

Safe travels to you,

Rich

[rv9apilot]

Don't know too much at all about the newer Ford diesels but I have a 2002 Ford F350 Superduty Powerstroke, bought it new in Aug of '02. It has 436,000 miles on it. I have replaced the alternator, waterpump. Had to pull the engine to fix one oil leak, (where the dipstick tube goes into the oil pan was leaking) only way to get the pan off is pull the engine. While out replaced the exhaust tube that runs the turbo. Replaced all the injectors at 396,000. Other than that just routine maintenance. Yeah it doesn't have the power my brothers '09 Dodge 3500 w/ Cummins but that's okay with me. I'm just going to run the wheels off the Ford.

[Kro1957]

My 02 F350 7.3 is my first Diesel. I am not a mechanic although took auto mechanics in as a young man when things were much different before introduction of computers. So real basic knowledge is all I have and the only thing I have done on my Diesel is replace the starter last year. I am prone to consider a 2015 for the new 6.7 and turbo for towing my 17k RV. I keep the RV at a permanent park so I only tow it once every 2-3 years. But with only 80,000 miles on it I have hardly broken it in yet!!

My question for you guys though is how do you go about finding a good mechanic or one who knows all the ins and outs of Ford Diesels and the upgrades on chips/exhaust and so on? Oh there are many out there that claim to have the knowledge but I think it is a little risky. Just curious how to discern a strong minded Ford Diesel tech/mech? Thanks Jim