2001 Ford Excursion. 7.3-liter diesel.
260k miles. Purrs like a maned cat. I like it very much.
This is my first Diesel, so I will have lots of questions I am sure.
More later.
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Phil Reads
Enjoy the Decline
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Nice, solid front axle. What is the miles/gallon of diesel?
Diesel is the only way to go. And the 7.3 is Ford’s best one.
Steve, supposedly in the 20+ mpg range if you drive “normally.” I ran it at my usual 80mph+ speed when driving it back to the house on Hwy 580 last night and got 12.5mpg avg according to the internal computer. I will probably learn to slow down some with this one….
Rod, exactly! Phil, as well as many RNS readers, warned me off of the 6.0-liter version some months back. I value our readers’ input, especially on topics where I know little and they know much!
Oh, I should add that the steering on American SUVs and trucks has always felt “loose” to me compared with Toyotas. I learned as a kid that taking our Suburban up to 90mph made the steering feel pretty tight. That’s the case with this big bruiser, too.
Nicely done! Just needs a pintle and a ring mount!
Having sold a few dozen of those back when they were new, I have some experience with ’em.
Check into some of the peformance specialists, such as Banks exhaust, and other chip tuning options. Several offer a broad range of chip controllers, where you can “dial-in” anything from better MPG, to higher torque or hp, or any combination thereof.
These usually require a low restriction intake and exhaust, as well as either a chip burning device, or a “on the fly” user-controllable chipset with all of the performance/mpg options pre-programmed.
I’m not up to speed with who has the good units nowdays, but hey, that’s what signing up for various 7.3 diesel forums is for, right?
Tire selection is also critical to mpg. Harder, narrower rubber gives better economy, but of course, sucks in handling and off road prowess. Find that happy compromise which fits YOUR all around operating profile.
Oh, and replace all fluids with premium synthetics. You’ll greatly extend the life of all three differentials, not to mention the engine and tranny.
Some synthetics leak past gaskets a bit more than liquid dinosaur, but again, that’s what queries to the forums are for.
All in all, that should be a half million mile beast. More, actually. It all depends on your maintenence schedule.
Enjoy!
Jim
Sunk New Dawn
Galveston, TX
P.S. if it didn’t come with high quality skid plates, get ’em!
You should look into Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO). For a few hundred bucks you can get a filter and pump and get fuel that will replace diesel 1:1 up ’til 75% or so (ambient temp permitting). All you need is to make friends with some restaurants.
no loss in power either.
YMMV
You are gonna need one of these:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34707
Welcome to the Ford Earthfucker family!