mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320 
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Post by mingiz on Nov 7, 2014 21:22:52 GMT
The 7.3 is a good motor. Good pulling motor. Actually hubbies truck gets better fuel mileage than mine. How many miles does yours have on it. His has about 211k and he doesn't take as good care of his as I do mine. Well as long as it is doing ok for you keep it and keep saving for a newer one. These days though it seems like the newer ones break down just as much. Poor craftsmanship these days. You can always take it to the dealer and have them hook it up to the computer and it will show if anything is wrong or not preforming properly. Maybe worth the money to find out. I know with mine I knew something was wrong but it always would throw a wrench light on the console no code so I didn't know what it was until I pulled into the dealership and they hooked it up and told me about the EGR and Oil coolers going bad. So far no more issues and if anything else was going bad they would have told me. Just a thought. As far as the rust. Well Pretty is as pretty does.  |
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nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
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Post by nhg on Nov 7, 2014 21:53:54 GMT
I have to throw in a funny story here. A friend of mine is new to driving and knows nothing about vehicle upkeep. The other day she took a picture of a light that had come on in her van and wanted to know what it meant. She wanted to know what the 'gravy boat' was. Once I saw the little oil symbol I just about peed my pants laughing and told her to get her husband to check the oil level asap!
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Post by ladymcts on Nov 8, 2014 21:22:48 GMT
nhg, that's right up there with the "710 cap" story ...
Mingiz, thanks for that suggestion. As a rule I stay as far away from dealerships as I can. Years ago I had a Honda that needed a muffler, the bits that went somewhere between the engine and the tailpipe, and Honda's quote was well over $1000 for some fancy mesh doohicky, where Meineke did it for 1/3 of the price and sounded just as fine, lasted just as long. Later on with a Ford Pickup I went to the dealership for something and they were doing the really hard sell on me for replacing the vehicle. So as a rule of thumb I avoid them like the plague.
But I can tell you that with this Diesel 7.3 that I do have, I have really wondered if it is performing as it should. I have no frame of reference because I've never driven anyone else's truck like this. My only other reference was when I had an F150 before it, and sure hands down the weight of the F350 makes it feel like the trailer behind it is "nothing," and yet the startup speed from zero to getting going feels sluggish and when I go over hills (trailer or no trailer) I feel like the engine is complaining a lot. How do I know if it's normal? So I've been taking it to a non-dealership mechanic who says she does a lot of diesel work and who says it's in good shape but I don't know what kind of diagnostics she has done on it. She said she took it out to some of the hills we have around here and she thought it performed fine.
*sigh* Decisions, decisions ... something to think about anyway.
Well, for now I have a rental car for a week and a half as I'm about to take a 2500 mile ROAD TRIP. Yay!!!
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mingiz
Junior Member
Los Lunas, NM
Posts: 3,320
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Post by mingiz on Nov 9, 2014 2:34:27 GMT
Well the difference between an F150 and a F350 is that the diesels are made for pulling. So it's not a speedster. But yet mine has the power if I need to pass something when not towing. Even towing on the flat it picks up speed quickly. Pulling hills it does seem sluggish but again I'm pulling about a 10k trailer loaded. Have you asked your mechanic what diagnostics she has done. Lint's 7.3 has get up and go when needed. The main thing I have found is keep the oil changes regular, Change fuel and air filters yearly. I guess I got lucky with the dealership here. So far they haven't tried to tell me anything that would make me think they are trying to screw me over. I know to much about mechanics. Plus Lint was a mechanical auto teacher. Wish you were closer I would let you drive mine.
Anyways have a great ROAD TRIP!!
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Post by ladymcts on Nov 13, 2014 18:18:21 GMT
Thanks Mingy!!! I drove about 1200 miles out ... took count on the two days where I could see cars. Counting horse trailers only ...
Day 1 was mostly Indiana and Kentucky
15 Ford
2 Chevy
1 Dodge
2 Gmc
2 custom rigs that I assume were either Mac or Freightliner.
Day 2 was mostly Ohio and New York
2 Ford
5 Chevy
0 Dodge
2 GMC
1 custom
Interesting watching and counting ...
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nhg
Junior Member
Posts: 2,429
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Post by nhg on Nov 14, 2014 0:45:20 GMT
In Canada the number one selling truck is Ford, then Dodge, then GM/Chev.
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mistersmom
Junior Member
Abita Springs, LA
Posts: 3,749
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Post by mistersmom on Nov 18, 2014 17:50:22 GMT
Someone (my mom maybe?) just told me that Ford will start making the body of their trucks out of aluminum rather than the fiberglass which everyone else is using. www.news-journal.com/business/ford-unveils-aluminum-body-truck/article_4092e6c1-1bae-5f52-ad7c-5464777ba17b.htmlThoughts? NHG, I'd be especially interested to see what your daughter has to say about this. Wouldn't a lighter truck be a bad thing for hauling? Don't you want the heft of a good truck to pull your trailer? I don't think they are changing the frame so would it really make that much of a difference for hauling? |
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