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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
An F250 has been beckoning to me. It's a '97 (the older style) but only has about 40K miles on it. I've only taken a quick walk around but it really looks like showroom condition with nice alloy wheels and new tires. So here's my question, is there is big difference in fuel mileage between the 7.3 and the new 6.0? Are there any other differences that I should be aware of if I check it out further?
Dave
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
According to my farming friends that have had a bunch of them, the 7.3 gives better mileage than the new 6.0. They wish Ford hadn't changed them. They are a bit noisy.
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
since I have both [2000 250 & 04 250] here goes.
7.3 w/auto trans &3.54 gears
1]more engine noise
2]older, bulletproof technoligy
3] 14 - 17 mpg empty,highway speeds over 70 raise rpm above the 2200rpm "sweet spot" and mileage goes down the toilet
4] 12 -15 towing anything. my sled trailer or the tractor,doesnt matter
6.0 w/auto and 3.54 gear
1]almost as quiet as a gasser
2] new technoligy,many key aluminum parts [not good for diesel application IMO]
3]12mpg no matter what.anyspeed,any load.
4]a little more power,noticeable towing,less dropping out of OD on big hills with loads [6k# or more]
both
1] synthetic oil is very important
2] 16 qt oil changes and all filters are much more expensive than gassers.
3]you must be very careful where you buy fuel,an injector job on either will be over 3 grand.Recomend that you always use lubricity additive in fuel and if possible store and dispense fuel yourself to maintain quqlity and no water content.
4]longer warm ups than gassers
5]cool down cycle is important after pulling hard so as to not heat soak and cook turbo bearings.
6]exhaust systems never rot out
7]turbo whistle is reall "cool" if you remove the cat and muffler.The turbo will keep it quiet, but whistle nicely when comming up on boost. Dont really know why they even bother with mufflers on these.
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
Dave, a couple of more points.
A 1997 is a couple gnerations older than the last PSD's, my 1999 (see picture # 19) is the last gen. they made before going to the new 6.0 PSD's.
I don't know about Turbo's mileage estimates, mine is similarly equipped except for having a 6 speed instead of an auto.
If my truck dropped below 16 mpg (under any circumstances) I'd be checking it over closely, maybe the auto makes a bigger difference than I thought. General driving I get about 18mpg (US gallons of course) and about 21-22 mpg on the highway empty, if I keep my right foot under control.
The only real weak spot on those trucks was the auto. tranny. They are fully electrically controlled and will hand grenade from the least electrical fault. The most common cause I'm told is the trailer plug. The TX senses electricity in the brake light circuit and uses that as a trigger to unlock the torque converter. Any corrosion or bad wiring will put a trickle of electricity in the brake light circuit and cause the converter stay unlocked, or constantly lock & unlock. Either way the TX is a goner. We had one of these trucks back then, it had 6 TX's done under warranty. When the warranty expired I dealt the truck on the same thing with a 5 speed.
Best of luck.
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
Thanks for the responses guys. This one's sitting at a little country dealer that I drive by every day. In fact it's called Countryside Motors. A few months ago he had another old one in beautiful condition with 70K but it was really too old (a '93). This one has paint that looks absolutely new that may or may not be original. New paint and low miles could imply a rebuilder. That in itself is not bad as long as they did a good job and it's priced accordingly. Oh, and it's a 6-speed.
Dave
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
Dave, it's a 5 speed, not 6.
The 6 speed wasn't available until the 1999 model. That was also the first year there was a choise of rear-end gear sets in a dually. Up to that point you could only get 4.10's.
The 6 speed is just a 5 gear with a bull-low added in. The difference though is huge.
With 3.54 gears in the back, and a 6 speed TX, (which is what mine is) the bottom end is actually a smidge lower than 4.10's with 1st gear of a 5 speed. The real differnce though is at the top end. At 60 mph in 6th gear that PSD is only turning 1350 rpm.
I'm not sure at what speed it hits the governor, I've never been brave enough to try spinning those 6 big 10 ply Goodyear Wranglers at anything faster than 110 mph, but there was still lot's of rev's and pedal left.
Sounds like it would be a good truck all the same.
Best of luck.
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
I've got a 2000 F-250 with the 7.3L diesel. I love the truck. I have the auto trany though. I get about 16.5 mpg running the country roads and some in town mix. Highway does better. My best was over 18 but I had a tailwind that day. Worst while towing was 13.5 mpg while towing a Ford Ranger that was loaded down and I had a load in the back of my truck. I was doing 75 mph through Minnesota. So I was happy.
But run the additives. I hadn't until recently and the mileage and performance dropped off. Due be diligent about changing the fuel filter. Only problem I've had was a water pump at 130,000 miles. It exploded in the Menards parking lot and spilled all the coolant out along with pieces of the bearing. That's an expensive repair as the pump by itself was about $400 without labor. I got bent over on that repair but had no choice since the tow bill back home (30 miles) would have eaten up any savings from doing it myself.
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7 3 diesel vs 6 0
I'm on the original tranny with the 2000. It is used 75% as a tow vehicleand the lightest trailer is my 32' enclosed sled hauler at about 6k loaded.I did switch the trans to synthetic at 10 miles and installed a big cooler and aux. trans filter in the cooler line.Fluid was dumped at 65k,the in pan screen and pan was absoulutely clean.I know a lot of people have had nightmares with the trans,but I'll bet 90% of them were brought on by maitnence or abuse issues.Reverse is weak and will overheat the oil quickly.I did install manual hubs on it so that when I'm spotting trailers I can use low range in the transfer case , this really is a plus.
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