At present I own a 05 F-150 with the 5.4. It has 202,000 miles on it and it is the XL with 7 bolt wheels. The truck has served me well and still in great condition. I am retired and next year my wife retires so I want to move up to a full F-250 with the Diesel. I am not wanting to dump a fortune in a truck so I am just looking at a year or two newer. I have read a bunch of stuff on the 6.0 and that is what I would get if I was to keep in my price range. If I got one with around 150 to 175 thousand miles on it and just used it on the highway pulling at most a small camper. Would it serve me well without putting a fortune in it or would I expect to do all the upgrades. This will be the last vehicle that I will ever own so I don't want to morgage my house to keep it running. What do I look for when shopping? Thanks for your replies and advice. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
Welcome greenb69. Sorry I haven't replied sooner. Honestly, after the 6.0, 6.4 and early 6.7 woes everyone went through before the "bulletproofing" was made out necessity, you still can't beat the reliability of a low mileage 7.3 Anything 2015 or up has improved but is DEF and diesel particulate filter and has regeneration of the catalyst on the 7 foot long combo pipe of all these elements. Granted in non-emissions areas one can delete the DEF and catalyst regen particulate filter. Pray you don't forget to fill the DEF and run out on the highway forcing the truck into "limp" mode of 35 mph. (Happened to my friend in his F350 6.7) Especially not until any powertrain warranty has expired. I've seen interior redos of the older 7.3s with newer dashes and seats but not sure how new ($$$) people have gone.
I have seen several of the 7.3s in my area and in pretty nice condition. Most have from 170 to 236,000 miles on them and run the same price as a 2006 or newer with less miles. I agree that the 7.3 is the best and I have no problem with an older truck. Reliability is my greatest concert with any of them. As far as bullet proofing I would be looking at ARP head studs, new gaskets, high pressure oil pump, egr and oil cooler change.If the heads are ok, correct. Are they any more reliable than? What would be low mileage on a 7.3? I drove Semi trucks and half million miles before an in-frame was normal. I don't expect anything like that out of these though. Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk
I have 169K on mine and have still been seeing them show up with less than 100K every now and then under $16K. Mind you these aren't Lariats or crew cabs but still have great cloth interiors without the driver seat tear. Then, did the own religiously change the oil and coolant ? Did they change filters at regular intervals ? Without a service record you may as well guess if it's good engine/drivetrain or not. Most folks tend to have some documentation, repciets or something showing a service history. Used vehicle lot gets rid of that paper trail, so sometimes buying from an original owner is a plus. Only two issues on mine in 169K. Water pump and pinion seal, both while still under warranty. I've been running Bully Dog mods on mine since 2003 and knock on wood everything has held up good. I do have an oil weep from the oil cooler gaskets and bought a set to change out before the June Daytona Beach / Melbourne run. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Another problem was the front brake calipers on the 4x4 with 4 wheel ABS. Dual piston OEM lasted about 120K then nothing but trouble from "limited lifetime warranty" rebuilt as "like new" ones. The piston goes out but the inferior rubber piston seal lets crud get in and then one piston won't go back in it's sleeve. Luckily it happened only 2 3/4 miles from home. Pound on it, apply brakes, smoking hot. Pound to release, drive apply brakes, repeat. Serious remanufacturing problem on those dual piston 4 wheel ABS 4x4 calipers. All in all, I'd buy another one. Tip on the HPOP during oil change. I used a pump and suck that dirty quart out of it and replace with fresh. Cap HPOP Crank run motor few minutes and repeat then once more. Last time add 50/50mix of oil and Lucas Synthetic Oil Stabilizer. Cap off the HPOP. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Something else you may know is the oil cap blow by test. Take cap off and rest it upside down on the oil fill. If it blows the cap off, walk away. Granted I do have the billet Roush piece on there but you can tell it's just vapors, this is after 45 minutes of run time. Yeah, the wife bought the Tornado as a Christmas gift 2001. Bill Hewitt runs Powerstroke Specialties in Buford, GA just NE of Atlanta. He has many help videos for Powerstroke owners. I bet he could put a 7.3 together blindfolded. If ever I need major work done, this is where Big White will go. Sent from my SM-G930P using Tapatalk
Found an example of a 7.3 that has been updated. 2002 117K miles $11,500 Cleveland, TN Looks little fishy though, new front seats, new dash and low miles. https://chattanooga.craigslist.org/cto/d/2002-ford-f350-4x4-diesel/6556694346.html
