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What can ya tell me about the early 7.3 powerstoke?

skinny_pedal

skinny_pedal

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Im looking at picking up an early powerstroker. 96 and 97's. I have no plans to bomb the truck, just intake and exhaust. my main concern is relieblity. How many miles are the engine good for. besides cam sensors what else goes wrong? what to look for in these trucks? my ultimate plan here is to get a rig i can pay off in a year and put a cummins in.
 
skinny_pedal said:
Im looking at picking up an early powerstroker. 96 and 97's. I have no plans to bomb the truck, just intake and exhaust. my main concern is relieblity. How many miles are the engine good for. besides cam sensors what else goes wrong? what to look for in these trucks? my ultimate plan here is to get a rig i can pay off in a year and put a cummins in.
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I know my buddy blew his 97 p/s tranny(auto) within 10k miles of bombing it. He hauled a camper/trailer and toyota and it maybee has 90k on it.
 
I'm interested in this subject as well. I've been told to avoid earlier ones due to injector issues, but that's about as far as I've researched it.
 
nope im just sicc of making the payments i make on my duramax. jeesus i could have a house for what i pay in truck payment and insurance. i cant find a dodge in my price rage that fits my criteria, but i have found some fords, and im not afraid to rip the powerstorke out. i just want to make sure it will last till i decide it needs to come out. so i need some info on this early powerstroke.

all it will pull is an all steel 14' flatbed trailer and a k5 blazer. sometimes a camper. but im only going after the manual trucks
 
The early PSDs are a good truck. I owned a 97 and the only prob I had was the trans that went bad because the stock trans cooler is joke. The engines in these trucks to my knowledge were good worker motors, but do yourself a favor and run a tow chip as they werent super powerful in stock form. Add a bigger downpipe,delete the cat, aftermarket trans cooler, and a tymar intake and you will have a long lasting tow rig. The only problems you see in these trucks are the CPS, and trans after you bomb it too far. As for the injectors, me and my buddies that ran them had no probs.
 
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No injector issues and no trans issues unless you overheat it. Put a trans temp gage on it! The CPS is a non issue at best. They very rarely go bad but occasionaly they do. Mines had one go out in 200K and it's a $30 part that takes 10 minutes to replace. If you take care of it the engine should outlast the truck and chassis......
 
Binder said:
No injector issues and no trans issues unless you overheat it. Put a trans temp gage on it! The CPS is a non issue at best. They very rarely go bad but occasionaly they do. Mines had one go out in 200K and it's a $30 part that takes 10 minutes to replace. If you take care of it the engine should outlast the truck and chassis......
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Thats not exactly true... You can expect to buy injectors, and under valve cover harnesses every 100K, and if your really unlucky an injector control module... Outside that their excellent motors, but do need a chip or atleast a down pipe...
 
downpipe/exhaust, chip, intake. And run it till ya need to rip it out... And make sure it's an F350 and not a 250. I'd love to have one of those trucks, still one of my favorites (with a cummins in it of course)
 
Things I replaced between 125,000 (when I bought the truck) and 160,000 (when I sold the truck) was cam sensor, fuel bowl (They eventually crack and need replaced), vacuumn pump and alternator. The auto tranny was getting ready to need rebuilt. You said your going for a manual so no worrys there.

There is also a small resistor on the computer board that you can replace with a larger one. It's the one that supplies the power to the injectors. Just increases the voltage. That makes a big difference in its self and there are a few local guys that do the computer mod.

This was a 97 f350
normal_snow_day_037.jpg
 
heres the injector issue. In the 94.5-97 trucks they used AA code injectors. Rated at 90cc's of flow. The CA emitions trucks from 96 and 97 had ab code injectors that flowed 120cc's. The Super Dutys have AD code injectors that flow 130cc's. Some of the eraly trucks 94.5-95 had some issues with the internal o-rings going out. on all of them the external o-rings get weak and leaky. If you find an early, the injectors have already been out and o-ringed. They last on average 180k.

The CPS. Keep on in the glove box. Thier down to around $20 now (if you shot around). They go out with little or no warning. its 1 10 mil bolt. Change it on the side of the road and be done with it.

The Exhaust on the Old Body Style is stupid. An aftermarket will fix the flow and lower temps. you CAN just buy the down pipe for about $160.

The Stock intake was good but most didnt get it sealed up very well. Doesnt flow the best but its not terrible. The paper filter mod is cheap and adiquate for mild moded truck.

If it were me with those solid plans, I wouldnt even mod it. drive it into the ground untill the swap. And honestly, buy a 460 XLT F350. Save ya enough $ to buy the cummins ;)
 
82toyomud said:
Thats not exactly true... You can expect to buy injectors, and under valve cover harnesses every 100K, ...
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I don't agree. I would not expect to buy injectors every 100K and you'll find that not many are replaced that frequently. Even if you do have to do maintenance after 100K it's hard to call that a reliability issue......

I'm not sure why you want to do the Cummins swap but hey, it's your truck.:awesomework:
 
They are great trucks. I owned a 95 f3504x4 with a 5 speed. I did injectors, turbo, lift pump, chip, exhaust, intake, superduty hpop, and a south bend clutch. Sold it to a friend of mine that drives and tows the hell out of it. Another friend of mine drives a 97' with 368,000 miles on it. The engine is about dead but it still makes good power. I would rather have a 12V cummins though. It's way cheaper to get power out of.
 
Gavin they are a good truck. My last F350 had 300K on it with no issues except needing a injection pump. My f350 now has 140k on it and has zero issues. I would look for a 5spd if you can find one. My last one was a auto and this one is a 5spd, I like it alot more. Ive got exhaust, intake, and a Edge and it has plenty of power for me.
 
Binder said:
I bhah to buy injectors every blah 100K and you'll find blah frequently. Even blah 100K it's hard blah reliability issue......

I'm not sure why you want to do the Cummins swap but hey, it's your truck.:awesomework:
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Some of us like to tow in the fast lane.:awesomework:
 
Binder said:
Much easier to modify the engine thats already in there for more power than it is to swap it out for another engine that still needs to be modified for more power AND has reliability issues.:;
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wait a minute.. reliability issues? We're talkin 12 valves here. One of the guys I worked with in the factory has a 97 Ford.. With the amount of money he has put into that truck just fixing problems with the motor. Injectors, glow plugs, blah blah blah. He could have had a Cummins that would last a hell of a lot longer, get better mileage, and easily make 4-500 rwhp. And his Powerstroke is still stock!
 
Don't think anyone said anything about 12 valves specifically but sure OK........I know many people who own cummins powered trucks. I don't think I know ANY that have not replaced a injection pump. Then there's the ones that the engine mount rips off of the side of the block.... What happens when a roll pin comes out of ones timing gear? I seem to know someone in this thread that has had that happen........Who was that?.....:flipoff:
Don't get me wrong, I think Cummins has it's place but doesn't have the reliability of the 7.3. The only reason I could see to swap out a 7.3 for a Cummins is if it's going to be a drag truck or something where you're just going for max HP.:stirpot:
 

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