[ARCHIVED THREAD] - 2002 F-250 advice needed (Page 1 of 2)
Posted: 9/15/2016 9:37:39 AM EDT
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Being offered one, manual xmission, 4wd 7.? diesel, runs good, HIGH MILES. What should I look/test for before purchase? rear spring hangers have been replaced. was used for owners plowing onlyon plow use.
I owned a F250 1977 15 years, still have needs major work. Thanks, folks. Need for local, some medium work, |
| What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. |
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I would pass. Ford's QC problems (particularly diesels) in that era are well documented Money pit, just so that you know. And I'm a Ford guy, so by no means a bash post 7.3s enjoy an excellent reputation. Mine has been exceptional. Curious about your comments. |
| The only thing I read that scares me is "plow truck". As in snow plow? Plow trucks have a very bad rep for drivetrain and suspension wear. It is a tough life for a truck. Check it over well. The 7.3 diesel is a plus, to me. I have seen many of them with 200,000 miles plus that were in good shape. Maintenance is the important factor. Inspect it, factor in your expected use and see if the price matches up. |
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What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. |
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Quoted: Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. Quoted: Quoted: What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. This mirrors my experience with my 2001. Front end will be worn out. Ball joints, hubs, etc. Check the oil pan for rust. If it runs rough intermittently or check engine comes on, you likely need a new harness under one or both valve covers. The glow plug relay is shit and contributes to cold start issues. Injectors may leak and require rebuild/replacing. To say "200k miles isn't much for that truck" is only partially true. The true part is that with some maintenance or replacements, the engine is certainly capable of another 200k. The other side of that is a lot of those things really begin to wear out around the 200k mark. Seemingly all at once. I parked mine at 243,000 because between 175k and 240k I replaced ball joints twice, rear calipers, both harnesses under the valve covers, 2 glow plug relays before I found out about the Stancor, alternator, water pump, rebuilt the hubs, glow plugs, and starter. At that point the bed began rotting out due to the brilliant design of open cell foam between steel panels, and the injectors leaked enough oil to hydrolock the engine. I didn't need it to haul any more because we'd sold our animals, and I was sick of wrenching on it. Now it sits there because it's too valuable to scrap and I have too many other priorities to get to fixing it. |
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Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. Quoted:
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What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. I live below the rust belt and want the esof to work. I am lazy. |
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This mirrors my experience with my 2001. Front end will be worn out. Ball joints, hubs, etc. Check the oil pan for rust. If it runs rough intermittently or check engine comes on, you likely need a new harness under one or both valve covers. The glow plug relay is shit and contributes to cold start issues. Injectors may leak and require rebuild/replacing. To say "200k miles isn't much for that truck" is only partially true. The true part is that with some maintenance or replacements, the engine is certainly capable of another 200k. The other side of that is a lot of those things really begin to wear out around the 200k mark. Seemingly all at once. I parked mine at 243,000 because between 175k and 240k I replaced ball joints twice, rear calipers, both harnesses under the valve covers, 2 glow plug relays before I found out about the Stancor, alternator, water pump, rebuilt the hubs, glow plugs, and starter. At that point the bed began rotting out due to the brilliant design of open cell foam between steel panels, and the injectors leaked enough oil to hydrolock the engine. I didn't need it to haul any more because we'd sold our animals, and I was sick of wrenching on it. Now it sits there because it's too valuable to scrap and I have too many other priorities to get to fixing it. Quoted:
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What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. This mirrors my experience with my 2001. Front end will be worn out. Ball joints, hubs, etc. Check the oil pan for rust. If it runs rough intermittently or check engine comes on, you likely need a new harness under one or both valve covers. The glow plug relay is shit and contributes to cold start issues. Injectors may leak and require rebuild/replacing. To say "200k miles isn't much for that truck" is only partially true. The true part is that with some maintenance or replacements, the engine is certainly capable of another 200k. The other side of that is a lot of those things really begin to wear out around the 200k mark. Seemingly all at once. I parked mine at 243,000 because between 175k and 240k I replaced ball joints twice, rear calipers, both harnesses under the valve covers, 2 glow plug relays before I found out about the Stancor, alternator, water pump, rebuilt the hubs, glow plugs, and starter. At that point the bed began rotting out due to the brilliant design of open cell foam between steel panels, and the injectors leaked enough oil to hydrolock the engine. I didn't need it to haul any more because we'd sold our animals, and I was sick of wrenching on it. Now it sits there because it's too valuable to scrap and I have too many other priorities to get to fixing it. I have an 02 gasser. I just did ball joints, front axle seals (pull carrier), locking hubs, (1) wheel bearing, and (1) abs sensor from beating the christ out of the hub. I've also replaced (2) calipers that locked down. I've had two brake lines rupture from rot, then replaced them all. Carrier bearing on driveshaft was replaced too. I bought it a little over a year ago  There's only 130k on it.
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I don't know what it is with calipers in those trucks. None of them that I've installed lasted very long before locking up. Didn't matter if I greased them, how much I spent, they'd all stick eventually. Same with ball joints, Moog, cheapies, didn't matter. They had about 30k in them then tires would begin to chop. Oh, forgot, I also replaced the front hubs/wheel bearings once hoping that might help resolve the ball joint lifespan. I liked the truck and I bought it used so I can't complain really, but I did more maintenance on that vehicle than any other I've ever owned. I don't know if it's because of the design, or if things were underengineered for the weight of the truck and it's capability, or what. It never really left me stranded, but it was a constant thing to keep it at 95% operating condition. |
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I would pass. Ford's QC problems (particularly diesels) in that era are well documented Money pit, just so that you know. And I'm a Ford guy, so by no means a bash post I have 270k on my 02. Guess I got lucky. If you get it op I got some spare parts I'll sell for cheap |
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I have an 02 gasser. I just did ball joints, front axle seals (pull carrier), locking hubs, (1) wheel bearing, and (1) abs sensor from beating the christ out of the hub. I've also replaced (2) calipers that locked down. I've had two brake lines rupture from rot, then replaced them all. Carrier bearing on driveshaft was replaced too. I bought it a little over a year ago There's only 130k on it.Quoted:
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What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. This mirrors my experience with my 2001. Front end will be worn out. Ball joints, hubs, etc. Check the oil pan for rust. If it runs rough intermittently or check engine comes on, you likely need a new harness under one or both valve covers. The glow plug relay is shit and contributes to cold start issues. Injectors may leak and require rebuild/replacing. To say "200k miles isn't much for that truck" is only partially true. The true part is that with some maintenance or replacements, the engine is certainly capable of another 200k. The other side of that is a lot of those things really begin to wear out around the 200k mark. Seemingly all at once. I parked mine at 243,000 because between 175k and 240k I replaced ball joints twice, rear calipers, both harnesses under the valve covers, 2 glow plug relays before I found out about the Stancor, alternator, water pump, rebuilt the hubs, glow plugs, and starter. At that point the bed began rotting out due to the brilliant design of open cell foam between steel panels, and the injectors leaked enough oil to hydrolock the engine. I didn't need it to haul any more because we'd sold our animals, and I was sick of wrenching on it. Now it sits there because it's too valuable to scrap and I have too many other priorities to get to fixing it. I have an 02 gasser. I just did ball joints, front axle seals (pull carrier), locking hubs, (1) wheel bearing, and (1) abs sensor from beating the christ out of the hub. I've also replaced (2) calipers that locked down. I've had two brake lines rupture from rot, then replaced them all. Carrier bearing on driveshaft was replaced too. I bought it a little over a year ago There's only 130k on it.I just did my whole front end on my 7.3. Used the danatrac ball joints, new spicer ujoints and seals(inner, dust, and knuckle), timken hubs, calipers, break lines, tie rods, and have an energy suspension bushing kit to install. She drives great though. Eta: also did a driven diesel fuel bowl delete, added 2 auxiliary filters, and did the hutch mod to my tank |
| Bought a plow truck once. Frame heavily rusted. Brake lines etc eat up. Started having valve rattling problems due to the previous owner letting it set and idle. Eventually rebuilt the engine and had to trash the truck. The cross members had daylight coming through the rust holes. |
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I don't know what it is with calipers in those trucks. None of them that I've installed lasted very long before locking up. Didn't matter if I greased them, how much I spent, they'd all stick eventually. Same with ball joints, Moog, cheapies, didn't matter. They had about 30k in them then tires would begin to chop. Oh, forgot, I also replaced the front hubs/wheel bearings once hoping that might help resolve the ball joint lifespan. I liked the truck and I bought it used so I can't complain really, but I did more maintenance on that vehicle than any other I've ever owned. I don't know if it's because of the design, or if things were underengineered for the weight of the truck and it's capability, or what. It never really left me stranded, but it was a constant thing to keep it at 95% operating condition. I think it's the weight that causes all the wear. They're truly heavy duty and that comes with a lot of components on the edge. Fucking Ford rust doesn't help. |
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I have customers with like year models who have well over 400,000 miles on theirs with manual transmissions.
My 2001 7.3 has had some wiring harnesses under the valve covers replaced along with another harness of some sort up on the top of the engine that had started to deteriorate which may have had something to do with difficulty to start in cold weather. Other than one water pump, u joints, shocks, front wheel bearings/hubs and some sway bar bushings mine has been pretty much solid. I chased a few bugs after the front end was wrecked by some jackasses in a Dakota truck but that had nothing to do with regular maintenance. Currently sitting at 220,000 miles. Mine is an automatic with manual transfer case, auto trans shit the bed at 175,000. Love my old truck, and anything she needs she gets to keep her looking and running good. $500.00 here and there beats the shit out of a new one in the 50-70k range these days. |
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Quoted: Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. Quoted: Quoted: What is high miles? on a 7.3 200,000 isn't high miles. Also check the electronic shift on the fly hubs. They are problematic, you can rebuild them yourself if you are fairly handy with a wrench but would cost you a bit to pay someone to do it. If it doesn't have a chip or a tune, you might want to do that as stock it is pretty anemic. Meh, yank the hubs, cap the vacuum lines, and replace with Warn hubs. Literally a 10 minute job. OP, expect front end to be entirely worn out. Make sure t-case shifts through the gears, especially if electronic shifter. Look for the obvious rust spots; as well as brake lines. |
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7.3 is good for 400k miles. The trans should be good for 350k before basic rebuild. Plow trucks go through batteries twice as often. Weak points to consider on those year Fords: electric door lock mechanism is prone to breakage. Replacement is about $25 per door but takes about 2hrs to r&r. Parking brake is marginal. I had a '97 7.3. Sold it to my brother with 297k miles. He currently has 320k and it is still running strong. My current rig is 2001 F350 with 7.3 + Banks upgrade. It's just getting broke in with 120k miles. Beast of a truck. |
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I have customers with like year models who have well over 400,000 miles on theirs with manual transmissions. My 2001 7.3 has had some wiring harnesses under the valve covers replaced along with another harness of some sort up on the top of the engine that had started to deteriorate which may have had something to do with difficulty to start in cold weather. Other than one water pump, u joints, shocks, front wheel bearings/hubs and some sway bar bushings mine has been pretty much solid. I chased a few bugs after the front end was wrecked by some jackasses in a Dakota truck but that had nothing to do with regular maintenance. Currently sitting at 220,000 miles. Mine is an automatic with manual transfer case, auto trans shit the bed at 175,000. Love my old truck, and anything she needs she gets to keep her looking and running good. $500.00 here and there beats the shit out of a new one in the 50-70k range these days. Start using Archoil in your oil. A 7.3 suffers from injector stiction and the Archoil will make a dramatic difference with your cold starts. |
| My 2001 4wd lariat has around 315K. I bought new and don't tow much anymore. It does have a liftgare and several hundered pounds of tools riding around in it. So far, two water pumps, IDM, Tranny rebuilt around 180K, cracked injector sleeve on one side, hubs replaced with manual ones.Inside the power door locks and. Seems like I spend 2k/yr on repairs, still much cheaper than a new car payment. Brakes have always been anemic. Its in the south and the body/frame looks like new. |
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When was the last transmission put in. My dad's has 260k and needed a trans at about 180k. He does tow quite a bit so that could be a contributing factor. Made it to 297k with a 99 7.3 auto. Trans finally quit and that was with heavy towing 3'4 days per week. At 320 k now |
| We have a 1998 E-350 at work with. 7.3. They original trans made it to 398k and it currently has 480k. Granted this is all highway miles. It is getting low on compression and takes starting fluid to get her going if it is beliw 30 out and not plugged in but I love that girl. If you take care of them they will last a long time. |
| We have a 1998 E-350 at work with. 7.3. They original trans made it to 398k and it currently has 480k. Granted this is all highway miles. It is getting low on compression and takes starting fluid to get her going if it is beliw 30 out and not plugged in but I love that girl. If you take care of them they will last a long time. |
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I'm daily driving a 2000 F350, CC, XLT 4x4 with the 7.3 PSD that I picked up for $4200. About 352,000 miles on her right now, original motor that falls in the serial range where they were still using forged rods. The motor runs like clockwork, even cold starts last winter weren't a problem. Transmission was replaced not long before I bought it. I had to replace the shocks, batteries (thanks to the alternator dying), and alternator after I bought it. I'm planning on swapping the waterpump, TS, and serp belt along with a fresh change of ELC before winter.
With these old 7.3 trucks, the motors are dead solid. Not to say they are infallible (no manufacturer is), but they will run like a champ for a LONG time if cared for. 500K shouldn't be a problem, and 6-7-800K, even a million miles isn't unheard of as long as you DON'T NEGLECT THE MAINTENANCE. As AC1 mentioned, check for excessive blowby by taking off the oil filler cap and checking for excessive smoke or puffing. Some smoke and puffing is normal, but you should be able to flip the filler cap upside down and set it covering the filler without it blowing off. It may vibrate off, but it should not pop off. Uhhhh, they leak, they just flat out leak once they get some miles on them. I don't care who the maker is, front end parts will wear out and need replaced at some point. The nice thing about these trucks with 200K+ is that alot of the wear parts have already been replaced, maybe a couple times.
As with any older, high mileage vehicle, expect shit to break or need replaced. The biggest thing is being able to wrench on the thing and fix minor-intermediate things yourself. I've fixed things on it for 1/4 or less the quote to pay a shop by smart parts shopping and some banged up knuckles. Overall I know it's not the Tier 1 900 ft-lb monster of today. It's slow, noisy, and smelly. But I like it.
The new ones smell like a propane grill queef. Oh yeah, as initially posted, $$$ and mileage OP? Cab config? Went out and took a pic of the odo. Truck originally came out of Canada, so it's in KM. 
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We have a 1998 E-350 at work with. 7.3. They original trans made it to 398k and it currently has 480k. Granted this is all highway miles. It is getting low on compression and takes starting fluid to get her going if it is beliw 30 out and not plugged in but I love that girl. If you take care of them they will last a long time. Holy shit, no no no. Do NOT spray ether in a diesel. You are not helping the longevity by any stretch of the imagination. |
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I have customers with like year models who have well over 400,000 miles on theirs with manual transmissions. My 2001 7.3 has had some wiring harnesses under the valve covers replaced along with another harness of some sort up on the top of the engine that had started to deteriorate which may have had something to do with difficulty to start in cold weather. Other than one water pump, u joints, shocks, front wheel bearings/hubs and some sway bar bushings mine has been pretty much solid. I chased a few bugs after the front end was wrecked by some jackasses in a Dakota truck but that had nothing to do with regular maintenance. Currently sitting at 220,000 miles. Mine is an automatic with manual transfer case, auto trans shit the bed at 175,000. Love my old truck, and anything she needs she gets to keep her looking and running good. $500.00 here and there beats the shit out of a new one in the 50-70k range these days. Quoting my own post to ad a current pic or two. When the front end got rearranged back in 08, I updated to a 05-07 style bumper, grill and headlamp. Recently installed some aftermarket focused beam headlamps and LED headlamp bulbs. Big difference for night driving. Upgraded the fog lamps to led's also. Lots of light, almost rude from the fogs and also quite heavy for the plastic oem brackets as one of them broke. Gotta address that issue. With the manual transfer case it tows nicely behind the motorhome. 
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Quoting my own post to ad a current pic or two. When the front end got rearranged back in 08, I updated to a 05-07 style bumper, grill and headlamp. Recently installed some aftermarket focused beam headlamps and LED headlamp bulbs. Big difference for night driving. Upgraded the fog lamps to led's also. Lots of light, almost rude from the fogs and also quite heavy for the plastic oem brackets as one of them broke. Gotta address that issue. With the manual transfer case it tows nicely behind the motorhome. http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/duc-man97/IMG_20160915_184402_686_zps8fay42xt.jpg http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/duc-man97/IMG_20160915_184425_296_zpshqgikonl.jpg Quoted:
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I have customers with like year models who have well over 400,000 miles on theirs with manual transmissions. My 2001 7.3 has had some wiring harnesses under the valve covers replaced along with another harness of some sort up on the top of the engine that had started to deteriorate which may have had something to do with difficulty to start in cold weather. Other than one water pump, u joints, shocks, front wheel bearings/hubs and some sway bar bushings mine has been pretty much solid. I chased a few bugs after the front end was wrecked by some jackasses in a Dakota truck but that had nothing to do with regular maintenance. Currently sitting at 220,000 miles. Mine is an automatic with manual transfer case, auto trans shit the bed at 175,000. Love my old truck, and anything she needs she gets to keep her looking and running good. $500.00 here and there beats the shit out of a new one in the 50-70k range these days. Quoting my own post to ad a current pic or two. When the front end got rearranged back in 08, I updated to a 05-07 style bumper, grill and headlamp. Recently installed some aftermarket focused beam headlamps and LED headlamp bulbs. Big difference for night driving. Upgraded the fog lamps to led's also. Lots of light, almost rude from the fogs and also quite heavy for the plastic oem brackets as one of them broke. Gotta address that issue. With the manual transfer case it tows nicely behind the motorhome. http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/duc-man97/IMG_20160915_184402_686_zps8fay42xt.jpg http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/duc-man97/IMG_20160915_184425_296_zpshqgikonl.jpg Beautiful truck!  Mine is lightyears from being that pretty.
Mine goes up ATV/SxS/Jeep trails so it's nice and pin striped. 
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I have a 2002 4x4 7.3 with a manual transmission I purchased in 2010 with 258,000 miles on it. Here's what I learned.
Take it to a good diesel mechanic and have a "CYLINDER CONTRIBUTION TEST" done. It will identify if any injectors are bad, or if there are mechanical problems in any one cylinder. A set of remanufactured injectors for a 02' will run you about $1,000 before labor. Plenty of free information to allow you to change them at home, which is what I did. Make sure you see how it runs when it's cold. Check the engine for blowby, that where compression leaks past the rings. Just take the oil cap off while the engine is idling at operating temperature. If there's excessive gases coming out of the oil fill, then it might have a lot of blowby. They turn like crap, just be forewarned. My Crew Cab long bed needs five lanes to bang a u-turn. Right now I've got 325,000 on it, and I got 19.9 MPG on a trip where I didn't go above 60. Quoted:
Look at the oil pan. They rust out and are bitch to replace. Quoted:
Holy shit, no no no. Do NOT spray ether in a diesel. You are not helping the longevity by any stretch of the imagination. |