Congrats, and excellent choice, Scott! If you really wanted a diesel Excursion, I agree that finding an Ex with the older 7.3 diesel would be the way to go. Not quite as powerful as a 6.0, but the 7.3 has a much better track record, for reliability/service.
Enjoy the truck, there are lots of happy Ex owners here you can chat with and learn from. Some have done some tweaking/modifications on the suspension to improve the truck, others (like me) have been happy with the truck just as it is. All depends on how you use it, what you tow, etc.
Will & Angela
2 wonderful children that love camping, Stephen & Allison
2003 Ford Excursion V10 4x4
2003 Thor Citation 33M, Hensley Arrow hitch, Brakesmart Brake Control
(wanna see? Here is a picture of it )
You'll come to love the 02 7.3L, I had an 01 Ex and went the pick-up route, I added a third seat to the back of the pick-up, sort of a Red Neck Limo, it works but the Ex was much better suited for carrying passengers.
Jay
Good Luck and Happy Trails
2007 Dodge 3500 4X4 MC,SRW,CTD EB
2004 Citation 29NP
Equal-i-Zer
Yamaha EF2800i
Nascar24 A lengend in my own mind, A Scary thought in someone else's!
We just completed a 440 mile leg from Denver to Albuquerque and over the Raton Pass. Nothing but smooth sailing minus some very high cross winds (50mph+) that slowed us down a bit.
We look forward to a few more days on the road with the Grand Canyon upcoming before hitting Disneyland.
Scott, Holly, and 2 little ones
2009 Heartland North Trail 31QBS
2002 Ford Excursion Limited PSD
Prodigy Brake Controller & Equalizer Hitch
We just completed a 440 mile leg from Denver to Albuquerque and over the Raton Pass. Nothing but smooth sailing minus some very high cross winds (50mph+) that slowed us down a bit.
We look forward to a few more days on the road with the Grand Canyon upcoming before hitting Disneyland.
Wow
Your right behind us!
We had gone through Colorado and down across the Raton Pass into Taos, NM on the 23rd of June . Attended a family wedding in Taos and moved onto the GC on the 1st of July ,we left the CG on Saturday the 5th, spent three days in Vegas , and we just arrived in San Diego this afternoon. Who knows maybe we'll bump into you in LA?
We had gone through Colorado and down across the Raton Pass into Taos, NM on the 23rd of June . Attended a family wedding in Taos and moved onto the GC on the 1st of July ,we left the CG on Saturday the 5th, spent three days in Vegas , and we just arrived in San Diego this afternoon. Who knows maybe we'll bump into you in LA?
Jay
That is pretty amazing. Look for a lady and a guy at Disneyland with 2 little kids. I'm sure you will pick us right out!
Alright, now come the mods for the 7.3. First things first, get gauges. You need to get a trans temp gauge and EGT gauge so you can keep tabs on your tranny and the exhaust temps. The one thing that will kill that turbo is the EGT's getting tooo hot for tooo long. You can get gauges that fit on the drivers pillar, up top over the mirror, or under the dash. I did the pillar gauges. I did have a local shop install them. Check out www.itpdiesel.com for gauges and mounts. I had them install the gauges and wire them up as well as paint the pillar. THEN, it would be nice to have a better air box. You can do the Ford heavy duty or the AFE stage 2 to get better air into the turbo. Once you have done that you have to get exhaust so that more air comes out. Last but not least, you are ready to unleash the power of the 7.3. I would go to www.dptuner.com and get the F5 switch and chip. That thing will make driving the X so much fun. I ran it in 80 econo 95% of the time and loved it. You won't hear anyone slamming this chip. Jody has done it right. I also used 60Tow for when I was towing. It changes the way the trans shifts. Like others have said, you are going to love the X and great choice on the 7.3.
One other site to read on is http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/. All you will ever need to know about your new engine.
ckrumm wrote: Alright, now come the mods for the 7.3. First things first, get gauges. You need to get a trans temp gauge and EGT gauge so you can keep tabs on your tranny and the exhaust temps. The one thing that will kill that turbo is the EGT's getting tooo hot for tooo long. You can get gauges that fit on the drivers pillar, up top over the mirror, or under the dash. I did the pillar gauges. I did have a local shop install them. Check out www.itpdiesel.com for gauges and mounts. I had them install the gauges and wire them up as well as paint the pillar. THEN, it would be nice to have a better air box. You can do the Ford heavy duty or the AFE stage 2 to get better air into the turbo. Once you have done that you have to get exhaust so that more air comes out. Last but not least, you are ready to unleash the power of the 7.3. I would go to www.dptuner.com and get the F5 switch and chip. That thing will make driving the X so much fun. I ran it in 80 econo 95% of the time and loved it. You won't hear anyone slamming this chip. Jody has done it right. I also used 60Tow for when I was towing. It changes the way the trans shifts. Like others have said, you are going to love the X and great choice on the 7.3.
One other site to read on is http://www.thedieselstop.com/forums/. All you will ever need to know about your new engine.
Thank you.
Given that I can't even change the oil in my own car without it being a half day exercise, I only understood about half of that...
However, you aren't the first to mention the gauges. Fortunately, the Limited does comes with a trans temp gauge and I'm going to look into the exhaust gauge when we get back. Crossing my fingers that the trip across the Utah and Nevada desert at 100 degrees doesn't become a problem. It peaked at 93 yesterday with moderate climbing into Flagstaff and the trans, engine, and oil temps never bobbled.
I did some poking around. DP-Tuner seems to go out of their way not to explain what the chips do precisely, but pulling one up to order starts to explain it. I'll have to do some more research on that - its intriguing.
However, you aren't the first to mention the gauges. Fortunately, the Limited does comes with a trans temp gauge and I'm going to look into the exhaust gauge when we get back. Crossing my fingers that the trip across the Utah and Nevada desert at 100 degrees doesn't become a problem. It peaked at 93 yesterday with moderate climbing into Flagstaff and the trans, engine, and oil temps never bobbled.
FWIW...I just got back from towing thru Arizona and Utah. I tow a 9000# TT behind my Ex. I towed many miles thru triple digit outside temps out in that area. I do happen to have a digital scan gauge on my Ex that displays critical temperatures. I've also swapped my trans, motor and axle fluids to full synthetics. My digital gauge allows me to monitor engine and trans temps as I drive. With the exception of long steep pulls, the temps remained very well in line. During the long pulls...temps rise slowly and not alarmingly on my V10...which I think has better cooling capacity than an '02 PSD...
I'd seriously consider gauges on your truck. Scan Gauge makes an OBDII version with a mount for above the rear view mirror for under $200 and that should also display turbo boost. CLICK HERE
The one I went with is an Aeroforce Tech gauge. For a detailed write up with pictures on my gauge CLICK HERE
With the Aeroforce, you can add the pyro sensor and feed that into one of the two analog inputs to display EGT's as well...
Just a thought.
Oh yeah...the factory trans gauge will eventually move...at about 220°F for pictures of the calibration temps CLICK HERE. BTW...in the pictures of my gauge cluster...you will notice white grease pencil hash marks...that tells me at a glance if any of the needles has moved slightly...the white mark is a visual aid I used before and after my digital gauge...
I'd seriously consider gauges on your truck. Scan Gauge makes an OBDII version with a mount for above the rear view mirror for under $200 and that should also display turbo boost. CLICK HERE
The ScanGuage II will not read the trans temps on a 2002 diesel F250. It will also not read the engine water temp or turbo boost. All other functions work fine. You will need separate gauges for those functions. At least this was true when I purchased mine a couple of years ago. Not sure if it will read those functions on other model years or not or if they made changes to allow it in present models.
Scotth92,
Congratulations on your new truck! You are really going to love that 7.3! I don't think they ever made a better engine.
Barney
* This post was
edited 07/10/08 12:44pm by BarneyS *
2004 Sunnybrook 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch
2002 Ford F250 Super Duty, 7.3L PSD
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