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7.3 Excursion


Tigerpaw

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Diesel prices are currently higher than gasoline... about $4.19/gal. down here. If I were going to buy a monster that size, I'd want the diesel too, but at that price for fuel, I'd have to think hard about whether I need a truck that size.

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If you find one buy it! I have had mine for 12.5 years. It is going in the body shop in a few months to have some wheel well and door rust fixed and a fresh coat of paint applied. I love it and there is nothing on the market that compares. In the time i've had it the only issue is that it blew 2 turbos in the first year. The cause was identified as a faulty oil line. It rides great, has great towing capability and the 4 wheel disc brakes top it off. I have enlightened numerous members to the way of the X in the past few years. As far as mileage goes, i have gotten over 700 miles on a tank if i'm on a long trip. I can make it from my house to Saulte Ste. Marie, MI back to Mackinaw City on 1 tank hauling my 2 place snowmobile trailer doing 75mph.

Edited by cmh_sprint
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7.3 is best motor ford ever had...

This, I run a 6.0, anything you want to know let me know. My uncle(inlaw) had a built 7.3 F250 with 10K in the tranny alone.

The 7.3 can handle ANYTHING and has so many less issues than the 6.0. Diesel is more expensive BUT so worth it. I had an F150 before my F250 6.0 and even now with gas so much cheaper I would NEVER go back. NEVER.

I read up a ton on the 7.3 and 6.0 daily as they are back to back engines so I know both pretty well. Reliability yes, power yes, mpg yes, love them.

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+ infinity. The 6.0 is junk.

Only junk if preventative maintenance isn't done. No issues 135K that weren't covered by warranty. Granted I've modded it but yet to stud it or get a head job. HAHA Head job.

But yeah, they are definitely not good if you don't take care of them.

7.3 is clearly the best diesel motor Ford's ever made though. 6.4 was easy to mod and cheap to get to 500 WHP but their exhaust and turbos had some issues from time to time. DPF is a bitch.

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Definitely better than a gas suburban, but as has been said, good luck finding a clean, low mileage example.

A Burb gets 12mpg and can't pull a trailer as comfortably as an excursion which gets, what Matt, 18-20?

Definitely a great motor, but they are not without their problems. They have been known to have issues with rusting oil pans that require the engine to be pulled to repair.

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Definitely better than a gas suburban, but as has been said, good luck finding a clean, low mileage example.

A Burb gets 12mpg and can't pull a trailer as comfortably as an excursion which gets, what Matt, 18-20?

Definitely a great motor, but they are not without their problems. They have been known to have issues with rusting oil pans that require the engine to be pulled to repair.

Some where in that neighborhood if you're not pushing it to hard. Now that you mention it I did have to replace my oil pan. At least the dealer let me supply the oil pan and save a few hundred on that. :facepalm:

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Just talked to a guy at work and he knows of someone that has one they may sell. He said the guy has had it for a couple of years and it came out of florida. He wasn't sure of the year but knows its has low miles he thinks below 40k, and leather interior. And also said he knows it won't be cheap he thinks the guy paid $32k ish 2 years ago. He is going to get contact info and maybe a price for me today somtime...stay tuned

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk 2

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I have 2 6.0L's right now. I can find you a 7.3 if you want. Be prepared to spend more. You would be better ahead to buy a 6l and do the egr delete and coolant filtration.

Boom, do those and make sure all injectors are good, and good to go. In the 6.0 case I will probably stud it down the road, but right now, knock on wood, no puking or issues.

Carwhore, your's studded? you got a local guy that does the job? I found one in CLE that told me 3300 for everything, but I arleady hjave the EGR delete, up pipe, etc. so he said he'd work with me.

I know there was a local guy in Cbus on the east side that I talked to too. Think he was 3500 for everything and he told me the same thing, he would reuse what I arleady did to baby bulletproof it.

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Thanks for the responses. Keep 'em coming.

1) Is there an aftermarket oilpan that won't give me trouble, if it does need to be replaced?

2) Any non drivetrain issues to look for?

3) The only one i've driven was a base model V-10. It's steering would wander all over the road at highway speeds. Is this typical? Fixable?

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I run steering stabilizers adn a 4.5 lift and 35s so I can't really answer, but if its a 7.3 it should ahve the OEM steering stabilizer I believe, so may just need a new shock.

Oilpan, hm, mine leaks a tad of oil in my 6.0 but not from the oil pan, and very little, like no drips on drive, more like burns a little.... I can't answer that, I am sure it's fixible, maybe just new gasket, pan, and bolt. Actually maybe the bolt doesn't have the crush washer. Mine didnt when I got it from the dealer.

Drivetrain, not that I know of. One of the best drive trains in diesels that I've read of.

V10, my neighbor has a 250 and Excursion both with that and I don't get it. The mpb has to be god awful, and they sound like sh*t with exhaust, at least his do.

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Thanks for the responses. Keep 'em coming.

1) Is there an aftermarket oilpan that won't give me trouble, if it does need to be replaced? I don't remember the brand I bought but I slide under the truck every 6 months or so to check it out. No issues so far and it has been installed for about 4 years. If it starts to rust I'll just clean it up and spray some paint on it.

2) Any non drivetrain issues to look for? I haven't had any major issues. The only drivetrain issue I have had was the transmission case started to leak due the seal going bad. I replaced it with an aftermarket that had better cooler vanes. No issues since.

3) The only one i've driven was a base model V-10. It's steering would wander all over the road at highway speeds. Is this typical? Fixable? The 7.3 does have a steering stabilizer and drives rock solid. I have replaced the shock once and am going to replace it in the Spring. It is a very firm, heavy feel driving the 7.3. I hate driving my wife's F-150. It feels like a toy compared to my X.

answers above. Avoid the V-10, it will drink you broke. I have a good friend who has an X with the 5.4 Triton and it does very well. I was skeptical until we used it to pull my snowmobile trailer and his boat. It doesn't have the grunt but does a great job for what it is.

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answers above. Avoid the V-10, it will drink you broke. I have a good friend who has an X with the 5.4 Triton and it does very well. I was skeptical until we used it to pull my snowmobile trailer and his boat. It doesn't have the grunt but does a great job for what it is.

I have the v10 and yes it's not as good on fuel as the 7.3 but in my F250 (2005) I can get 16-17 Mpg on the interstate with cruise set at 72. It's not hateful and the goo part is it doesn't drop like crazy with a trailer or load in the bed. I think the biggest problem was the 4.30 gears that came I some of the V10s.e

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I have 2 6.0L's right now. I can find you a 7.3 if you want. Be prepared to spend more. You would be better ahead to buy a 6l and do the egr delete and coolant filtration.

Here is your challenge if you choose to accept it:

I'd be interested in a 2003 7.3L Eddie Bauer 4x4, with 2nd row captain seats, DVD, as close to OEM as possible(stock wheels/suspension/paint), less than 150K miles, southern truck(no rust), non-smoker, clean carfax, in MINT condition. For that I might go up to $20,000.

I would spend much less without those requirements.

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