7.3 basic upgrades

rcalexander105 said:
That'd be great to hear. Already been kicking around the idea of selling this thing.
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Being an e99 is what kills yours, if your will to drop a little coin you could be on similar levels with newer trucks. But you'd need a new hpop, injecters, turbo, intake mainfolds/y pipe, intercooler piping. Plus a few smaller items.
 
I'll just copy what others have said based on my experience:
Take the trans out of O/D when towing up a hill...made that mistake with my '96 F350 7.3l once
Spend the extra coin to get custom tunes over the canned tunes
Intake/Exhaust will open it up a little but won't be a cure-all
 
rcalexander105 said:
That'd be great to hear. Already been kicking around the idea of selling this thing.
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While 7.3 trucks pull a premium, most anything diesel does these days so be sure to weigh the cost of replacement vs cost of some mods. Even being an early 99, I'd probably hold onto it. It still responds the same to the mods listed and will run just fine. With a few more bucks spent on injectors, turbo etc they can really roll.
 
77GreenMachine said:
Is get a couple more pills with it first. Try the upgrades to let it breath and a tune, and try keeping it in the sweet spot like mentioned.

Every truck has that sweet spot for torque, even my gas burner. I have to be in 3rd at 65 or 2nd at 55 for a bigger hill. If you can keep the RPMs up and keep building boost you’ll be good.

If you put exhaust and air filter along with a tuner and still don’t like it, you should be able to get your money back for all of that easy with the demand of 7.3 trucks.
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Totally agree about the sweet spot and I found that out towing last weekend for sure. Mine was very similar to what it sounds like yours are. Gotta be in 2nd for around 55 and under and I gotta get to 3rd for anything much over 55. I guess I just wasn't expecting to lose speed like I did pulling w/ a diesel with no more weight than I had behind me. Felt like even you gassers would be waving as you pass by my left side moving on up the mountain.
Chris_Keziah said:
Being an e99 is what kills yours, if your will to drop a little coin you could be on similar levels with newer trucks. But you'd need a new hpop, injecters, turbo, intake mainfolds/y pipe, intercooler piping. Plus a few smaller items.
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That's kinda where I'm at...I was pretty set on an 06-07 6.0 but didn't rule out the 7.3s. This one popped up and I jumped on it. At this point, I'm torn on whether or not to throw more coin at this or to step into something that's going to be ~7 years newer, ride a lot better and have the power, more or less in stock form, to boot. There's obviously a whole other can of worms when dealing w/ 6.0s but keep going back and forth. I'd love to pull Black Mountain w/ my setup to see how they compare.
 
rcalexander105 said:
Totally agree about the sweet spot and I found that out towing last weekend for sure. Mine was very similar to what it sounds like yours are. Gotta be in 2nd for around 55 and under and I gotta get to 3rd for anything much over 55. I guess I just wasn't expecting to lose speed like I did pulling w/ a diesel with no more weight than I had behind me. Felt like even you gassers would be waving as you pass by my left side moving on up the mountain.

That's kinda where I'm at...I was pretty set on an 06-07 6.0 but didn't rule out the 7.3s. This one popped up and I jumped on it. At this point, I'm torn on whether or not to throw more coin at this or to step into something that's going to be ~7 years newer, ride a lot better and have the power, more or less in stock form, to boot. There's obviously a whole other can of worms when dealing w/ 6.0s but keep going back and forth. I'd love to pull Black Mountain w/ my setup to see how they compare.
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You could bulletproof a 6.0 for what it would cost to tastefully mod and update a 7.3 to late 99 stuff. 7.3 trucks will always pull a premium so it wouldn't be hard to break close to even on a jump to a 6.0
 
Well I played with it a little today only to find out (with the help of a Banks tech) that my tuner module is bad. At any tune above lv1 the truck would surge real hard and have a rough idle, kind of like a ipr going bad. And even after going back to a lv1 it would still act up and while sitting still for a few minutes the truck would shut off. Here is a video I made this morning.



But let me tell ya for that couple of minutes I had it on the highway on lv4 (80% above stock) it was like a kick in the pants, holy crap feeling. So a good tuner will do wonders for a 7.3L. But while working on it today I noticed some fuel has seeped down into the valley so I probably need to fix a fuel bowl leak before I do any more tuning lol.
 
Okay so not to hijack, but you guys talk about custom tunes vs. canned quite a bit so let’s go over this. From my research, The hydra is the better more versatile chip (yet ugly as sin). So it is worth purchasing tunes beyond the provided PHP tunes which ranges up to $150 for 3...? Seems like a lot. Just looking for some hard evidence on these custom tunes.
 
DannyH said:
Okay so not to hijack, but you guys talk about custom tunes vs. canned quite a bit so let’s go over this. From my research, The hydra is the better more versatile chip (yet ugly as sin). So it is worth purchasing tunes beyond the provided PHP tunes which ranges up to $150 for 3...? Seems like a lot. Just looking for some hard evidence on these custom tunes.
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I never had custom tunes but I will say the Hydra is leaps and bounds better than TS. If your running a stock truck (turbo, injectors, hpop) then I wouldn't bother with custom tunes.
 
Joe J. said:
Well I played with it a little today only to find out (with the help of a Banks tech) that my tuner module is bad. At any tune above lv1 the truck would surge real hard and have a rough idle, kind of like a ipr going bad. And even after going back to a lv1 it would still act up and while sitting still for a few minutes the truck would shut off. Here is a video I made this morning.



But let me tell ya for that couple of minutes I had it on the highway on lv4 (80% above stock) it was like a kick in the pants, holy crap feeling. So a good tuner will do wonders for a 7.3L. But while working on it today I noticed some fuel has seeped down into the valley so I probably need to fix a fuel bowl leak before I do any more tuning lol.
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Check the fitting on the ds of the bowl where the metal supply line connects . It’s pot metal like material and are known to crack. I over tightened mine and broke it off in the metal line.Had to replace the whole line. The metal fuel line going to the back of the ds head has a clamp on it that will wear a hole in the line and cause a leak also.


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Copied from my other post:

I spent this weekend working on both my trail rig and tow rig. The 7.3 had a bad fuel leak at the fuel bowl. I'm pretty sure after doing some research that this thing has been worked on before for the exact same issue but whoever did the work last time didn't do a great job at prepping the seal surfaces. Leaving the residue from the previous o-rings caused a bad seal on the new ones. So I cleaned it up good and replaced everything. Also added a riffraff frx and used the gold spring for a little more fuel pressure. Hopefully this will yield some better mpg's and longer injector life.
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I'll keep you posted on if this improves the mpg's, but so far throttle response does feel better.

Also forgot to mention I had to pull a buddies Ram back to Virginia via fancy gap, on Friday before I fixed the fuel bowl, and the truck never went under 65 all the way up. Was pushing 75 at the top right before my warning light came on the banks meter that said I went over 1300° on the egt. :eek: so I let out.:D I assume I was pulling around 10k. The truck had a couple of oak logs in the bed too lmao.

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Bumping this thread instead of starting another...
My '00 F250 7.3l w/ the 6 speed is getting close to 150k and the clutch is starting to slip; based on the Pure Diesel reviews here I was going to take it to them for an upgraded clutch, release lever & flywheel. While they have it I want to get the engine looked at to make sure the ol' tow pig is just getting broken in and figured upgrade to bellowed up pipes while they have the trans off. This opens up the 'while I'm there' rabbit hole...so what else is worth it and/or should be done?
Garrett38R turbo/non-EBPV pedestal & injectors or keep the stock 38, swap in a wicked wheel & just have the injectors cleaned?
I've already got new OEM glow plugs, so I'd like to get them swapped (along with the valve cover gaskets & UVCH) & keep the old ones as spares.
Anything I'm missing?

Thanks,
Brandon
 
StretchASU said:
Pretty sure @getstucksome has been chipping away at a lot of the common 7.3 upgrades on his Excursion and had a pretty good list made up.
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@Lurch830 has some of the same things I have on my to do list. I have the below parts waiting to go on. I have heard that the 38R is a good upgrade, but a lot more dollars than a wicked wheel.

I will say that it's worth getting OEM stuff for orings and gaskets, I resealed my oil cooler using Felpro gaskets/orings twice and had issues both times. Went Motorcraft and it sealed up perfectly the first time.

One thing that would probably be worthwhile would be the Plenum Reinforcing inserts Riff Raff Inserts since those can cause boost leaks and you'll have all of that off anyways. I installed on a 6.0 transmission cooler, worth it for a tow rig if you haven't already done that. I also installed a HPX from Riff Raff, it seemed to smooth out the idle and quiet the motor down a bit. Overall your list looks solid though!

OEM UVCH
OEM valve cover gaskets
EBPV delete pedestal
OEM glow plugs
Wicked Wheel
bellowed up pipes
riff raff FRX
 
Jumping on this bandwagon....Where is the best place to get the 6.0 cooler and stuff to hook it up?
 
@Lurch830 doesn't need a trans cooler for a ZF6 :D

Go ahead and do the turbo, some single shot injectors, and an upgraded HPOP. It'll be a totally different truck. You're doing to put a dual disc clutch in it...right?
 
Croatan_Kid said:
@Lurch830 doesn't need a trans cooler for a ZF6 :D

Go ahead and do the turbo, some single shot injectors, and an upgraded HPOP. It'll be a totally different truck. You're doing to put a dual disc clutch in it...right?
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Hahaha duh. I was going down my list of things I did, totally blanked on him stating he had a 6 speed.

jeepyjman said:
Jumping on this bandwagon....Where is the best place to get the 6.0 cooler and stuff to hook it up?
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I bought mine off of a guy parting out a 6.0. As long as the trans wasn't blown up I would think it should be fine.
 
getstucksome said:
OEM UVCH
OEM valve cover gaskets
EBPV delete pedestal
OEM glow plugs
Wicked Wheel
bellowed up pipes
riff raff FRX
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Already have the riff raff FRx & HPx, so that's one less thing to do...glad I'm not missing much!

Croatan_Kid said:
Go ahead and do the turbo, some single shot injectors, and an upgraded HPOP. It'll be a totally different truck. You're doing to put a dual disc clutch in it...right?
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I should've known you'd say something like this!
If the 7.3l is supposed to be a ~400k motor, what will the 38R, supporting injectors & upgraded HPOP reduce that to? I'm honestly leaning towards pulling the trigger, but I'd hate to upgrade for more power and only get another 50k out of it!
 
Shouldn't do anything, really. I've got a 67mm, bigger injection pump, 45% over injectors, and some other stuff on a 327k LB7. I aint worried about it. Just drove back to SC for the 3rd time this year with the cruise set on 85. Hauled a crew cab LMM back from WV last week too, ran 80 most of the way.

Definitely going to drop back down to a 63.5mm turbo. The 67 is too big.
 
Lurch830 said:
Already have the riff raff FRx & HPx, so that's one less thing to do...glad I'm not missing much!


I should've known you'd say something like this!
If the 7.3l is supposed to be a ~400k motor, what will the 38R, supporting injectors & upgraded HPOP reduce that to? I'm honestly leaning towards pulling the trigger, but I'd hate to upgrade for more power and only get another 50k out of it!
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Those upgrades won’t hurt longevity, unless you drive it like a teenager. Normal driving and towing those will only help.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
@Lurch830 doesn't need a trans cooler for a ZF6 :D

Go ahead and do the turbo, some single shot injectors, and an upgraded HPOP. It'll be a totally different truck. You're doing to put a dual disc clutch in it...right?
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Ford ZF6 actually have a trans cooler though, doesn't need to be upgraded at all. Mine never got above 150 iirc.
 
Lurch830 said:
Bumping this thread instead of starting another...
My '00 F250 7.3l w/ the 6 speed is getting close to 150k and the clutch is starting to slip; based on the Pure Diesel reviews here I was going to take it to them for an upgraded clutch, release lever & flywheel. While they have it I want to get the engine looked at to make sure the ol' tow pig is just getting broken in and figured upgrade to bellowed up pipes while they have the trans off. This opens up the 'while I'm there' rabbit hole...so what else is worth it and/or should be done?
Garrett38R turbo/non-EBPV pedestal & injectors or keep the stock 38, swap in a wicked wheel & just have the injectors cleaned?
I've already got new OEM glow plugs, so I'd like to get them swapped (along with the valve cover gaskets & UVCH) & keep the old ones as spares.
Anything I'm missing?

Thanks,
Brandon
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Depending on budget I'd just rebuild the stock unit and toss in a wicked wheel. That along with the ebpv delete will make a noticeable difference. If you just want to drop some coin I'd look at the KC turbos 38r, not sure what injectors I'd go with but likely some stage 1.5's. Plus all the other mods mentioned you'll have a nice little hit rod. I ran the south bend in my truck and loved it, however it does need to be broken in/set in. Basically just put the truck in 4th and let the clutch out I think is the process. Don't for the exhaust back pressure sensor and tube, it's an overlooked maintenance item that can make a difference in how the truck runs.
 
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