Going to check out this powerstroke today. What do you think?

[motolife313]

https://portland.craigslist.org/wsc/...028995220.html

[ronsii]

Seems a little high for a 2wd with that many miles...but it is a dealer....

[motolife313]

That’s about the cheapest I’ve found

[motolife313]

I did find some a touch more spendy but there big 4x4 lifted trucks with autos. If I like it and it runs good I try handing him 5k

[ronsii]

Dealers generally have room to dicker, just depends on how much they want to move stuff end of year is coming up so they might want to get a few more sales in before it. Mine doesn't have much of a lift on it and sometimes I wish it didn't have any... but then again it's handy when you're off road or on a very lumpy site.

[motolife313]

Ya I’m hoping they will budge. Anything I can check while I’m there on these puppy’s?and if I get it I may make a crane or just a winch and put on to lift wood in. It will be much tougher to load with a high up truck

[12V71]

A little high for the mileage and being 2wd. Locally I'm looking at the same truck (extended cab not crewcab) with 4x4 with 220K miles for $3K. The owner has had everything done at the Ford dealer and has a stack of receipts for the work. The paint has some issues but it's fine for me as a work truck... oh it has an auto trans, doesn't bother me in the least.

[bigb]

If there's no rust it might be a good truck, the standard tranny makes it worth a bit more. There's a lot of things to look for. Best to not make an appointment, just show up unannounced so they won't have a chance to warm it up before you get there, you want to start it stone cold. Watch for excessive smoke and note the color. If the smoke clears up right away no worries. Also crawl underneath and look for leaks, bring a bright flashlight. Tap on the oil pan and make sure it is not rotted, common issue on these trucks when in salt country and the engine has to come out to fix it properly. If there is anything dripping off the bell housing then raise the hood and check the valley for puddles. Many places for oil leaks up there but none super hard to fix. After it's warmed up a bit remove the oil cap and place it upside down on the oil filler tube. If it blows off then you are looking at excessive blowby and probably a worn engine. If it just rattles around and falls off blowby is probably acceptable. Look for a tune or signs of a tuner, to me a truck that has been running performance tunes is worth less, not more. If it's an old man truck never been tuned or chipped chances are it still has a lot of life in it. Screw holes on the dash or something stuck in between the PCM connector and the firewall smells like tunes.

[motolife313]

Ok thanks. I’ll give the fill cap a try. I tested it and it ran strong. Transmission was a bit tough to shift. I think this is the pattern, no pattern on the stick

[ronsii]

I think that's right... been a while since I drove a logger friends crewbus same year and tranny... had a good low gear but the shifter was really loose and sometimes you couldn't find 3rd

[motolife313]

Had a hell of a time finding a couple gears

[ronsii]

Wel..... if you can't find em' grind em'

[bigb]

did you try double clutching?
Once you get used to an old stick and you relax it usually goes pretty easy. If you try and fight it it usually won't go so easy.

[motolife313]

I’m getting the hang of it now. The gears are very close to each other. I’m not using the clutch. Seems to jump around at low speed in low. I’m thinking the u joints are bad. Also key ignition can turn with no key. For 5k it’s ok tho. Does have good power when I put my foot into it so that’s good. Can’t really hear the turbo tho. Is that normal with these? I wanna chop the muffler off!! Pics coming soon

[mla2ofus]

Moto, someday you're going to get a hard and expensive lesson about not using the clutch. You've complained about your knee so why not look for one with an A/T.
JMHO,
Mike

[motolife313]

I’ve got it down decently now. I’ll be a pro with it at the end of the week. Should get pretty good mileage here. 2k is about 68 mph. Feels decently low on the gears. I’ll get a better feel for it this week. E brake doesn’t work very well either. Gota fix that also. Kinda sucks but it’s a decent truck seems like so farjust did some more playing and I’m getting it good. Just need to learn my rpm and mph cross over. Going from L low to 1st then 2nd and so on. I’m taking my word back when I said it’s geared kinda low. I’m thinking medium high after looking at the mph and rpm. 1st goes to about 18 mph at 2500 rpm. Low goes to about 7 or 8 max looks like at 2500. Here’s hwy rpm in 6th aka Dim hoping it will get 19 average mpg.

Can I just replace the muffler with a straight pipe and run it or does it need any tuning after that? Haven’t checked the blow by yet.

Does this mean 4:10 rear gear? Bottom of the list where it says axle. Doesn’t seem like it. I’m not going through the gears that fast

[ronsii]

Right now I have just a couple feet of 4" straight into a cherry bomb type resonator it's not too loud but it's considerably louder than stock, do an actual mph check of that speedo before you get too far into anything... you can program the speedo by a wire behind the glovebox if someone has changed the factory tire size and messed it up... however you can only reprogram a few times before it is locked! so only do it if you are sure.

Also the flex cables to the rear axle are prone to getting rubbed through or otherwise damaged I think they run about 20-30 bux each or could be other things in ther rear brake system.

[farmersammm]

Axle specs on Ford door plates refer to a number, not gear ratio. https://www.blueovaltrucks.com/tech-...-door-sticker/

Keep shifting that thing without a clutch, and you'll be replacing synchros in no time

[farmersammm]

If the shift pattern is sloppy, it may be like the older Mazda transmissions. The problem is in the shift tower, directly underneath the stick. The pins wear, and there's a spring loaded washer that disintegrates. There are inexpensive kits to fix this.

[motolife313]

Right now I have just a couple feet of 4" straight into a cherry bomb type resonator it's not too loud but it's considerably louder than stock, do an actual mph check of that speedo before you get too far into anything... you can program the speedo by a wire behind the glovebox if someone has changed the factory tire size and messed it up... however you can only reprogram a few times before it is locked! so only do it if you are sure.

Also the flex cables to the rear axle are prone to getting rubbed through or otherwise damaged I think they run about 20-30 bux each or could be other things in ther rear brake system.

I think I’ll just do a straight pipe and save some money rather then getting a cherrybomb unless it’s too loud. I’ll look into the speedo. Maybe just ride next to a friend and see what his speed is. I’ll check the brake line connection also

Sam thanks. Looks like a 3.73. I’d rather have 4:10. Unless Somone changed it. And my synchros are still good on my Toyota pickup after shifting it with no clutch from 236K to present 310k miles on it

[ronsii]

Your phone can give you accurate speed on the freeway or any other straight road, mine is loud in the cab I kinda wished I'd put more of an actual muffler on it.... don't get too into the whole 'diesel' upgrade thing... it just costs $$$ with very little return on all the MYTHS out there about upgrading this or that to get better power/mileage/handling/etc...

[ronsii]

If your tire sizes match what is on the sticker then the speedo is probably accurate... very few people know that you can reprogram the ecu... and even fewer of those would ever do it

[motolife313]

Ya if it’s too loud I’ll adjust it. Don’t want it that loud inside. Is your turbo loud when driving? I swear mines not that loud. Unless I’m tripping. I’ll have my girl take a video so I can hear it on the outside. What’s your mileage?

[ronsii]

And... one other thing.... as much as these 7.3's are tough if you don't want expensive bills in the future make sure you keep the oil up and don't go too long on the oil changes!!! also I would not personally recommend going with synthetic oil at all!!!! I went that route and the ONLY noticeable difference was me spending over twice as much on oil and the FACT that it was using twice as much per mile... there was NO difference in mileage. Stick with either rotella 15-40 or delo400 15-40

Also make sure the air filter is clean, as that's one thing that will rob power and mileage but do NOT put in an aftermarket hi-flow (k &n type) filter... diesels eating fine dust WILL kill the rings fast!!

[ronsii]

Yeah you can hear mine whining pretty loud but some of the fins are nicked so that don't help.