One thing I would add is to ask or look and see if the truck was ran with a "Tuner, Hyper chip, etc".  They can add a tremendous ammount of xtra Horse power, but they can also be extremely hard on diesel engines and drive trains.  Don't get me wrong, we have a 2000 F250 flatbed with the 7.3, and it is a beast when pulling.  We do in fact have a Bully Chip on it, and love the way you can adjust HP and Foot lbs for pulling, but on extreme setting I can see where someone could easily trash a motor, transmition or clutch.

I drive an 01 Ford 350 7.3 w/ auto trans that has 284K on it; and I have never touched the engine or tranny other that normal service (oil and filters).  I have hauled and delivered a lot of 7 ton loads of hay with this truck.

I also just purchased another 01; but a 250 with the same engine/trans.  The truck has 127K one owner miles on it; BUT I had to do some serious searching to find it.  Most trucks of this vintage will have closer to  200K or more on them.  I have a lot of customers that own 6.0's, and have either gotten rid of them or traded for DuraMax's.

For what its worth.....I too know folks who swear by their 7.3 Ford and I know folks who have 05-07 6.0 Fords with no problems.  Have seen broken 03-04 6.0L.  The 08-11 Fords are nice but very expensive.

I bought a used 05 F250 that Ford had bought back under warranty after the motor tanked.....they put a new motor in it and I have 150k on her now. Stock, running good.

Glad your looking to get a real truck, you will like it.

And let the bashing start.  hee hee.

Here is my opinion and I not only sell them but use them myself.  Pretty much all years of the 7.3's are good and it kept close to stock (other than exhaust and mild tuner or chip) will last a good while.  While some will tell you "I have heard" or whatever, anything I tell you is from USING MYSELF, not what I heard someone say or do.  Pure facts only.

With that being said, someone said something about tranny problems is some years.  Hog wash!  Ford used the SAME  automatic transmission from 1992 till 1997 and the same from 1999 till 2003 in the 7.3 trucks.  The only real issues is if the OD light flashes the elctronic packs in the trannys go bad causing hard shifting. ($300. to $500. fix)

The 2008 year model you mentioned I would RUN as fast as I could to get away from it as well as any 2008 TO 2010 FORD DIESEL.  Some was OK and most was problems.

My favorite is the 6.0's.  Because most people hate them and I know how to fix them and make them better than the 7.3's.  More power and a 5 speed automatic transmission.  The problem with these truck are most people have no clue what to check or fix on them andjust send them to Ford and Ford will charge you out the wyzoo to fix them.

As far as the life of a diesel, that is all up to the owner of that diesel.  I have seen 7.3's with 75-k miles on there last leg and some with over 400-k still strong. (just sold it last week).  Also have seen 6.0's the same way.  low miles turds and 250-k to 300-k running perfect.  I just sold a 04 F-350 REGULAR cab dually with the 6.0, automatic 2 wheel drive with 286-k miles that I fixed right and did it did have a chip in it and I would not be think twice about driving it anywhere towing or not.

Order of fuel economy from my personal use going from the worst to the best, based on STOCK trucks.

2008 to 2010

1994 to 1997

1999 to 2003 (7.3's)

2003 (6.0's)to 2007

Now for the economy with mild upgraded equipment on the 1994 to 2003 (7.3's) and 2003 (6.0's) to 2007 with egr and cooler detetes and the 2008 to 2010 with the DPF deletes. Again going from worst to best mileage.

2008 to 2010

1994 to 2003 (7.3's) will can get close to the same when done right.

2003 (6.0's) to 2007 again the best for mileage.

(My understanding is that to change the EGR cooler or remove it you basically must pull the cab off the truck, and that's not exactly shadetree stuff)David

Edited by dgeesaman 2010-12-02 4:41 PM

I would go up to a 350... And a 7.3... Also I would think long on the diesel part.. I do drive a diesel and sometimes finding a diesel pump that can accommodate my rig and cold weather can be the pits.. JMHO

Oil leaks on 7.3's is either the oil presure switch on top of the engine causing oil to run down the valley off the back of the engine or the oil filter or valve cover gaskets.  This is the 3 major oil problems.

Hard shifting could either be a silinoid pack in the tranny or abs switch on the rear axle housing. (easy way to tell is if your od light is flashing while driving)

Having to plug it in at 40* is more than likely the glow plug relay possible glow plug.

After looking at some of my books I found something you need to have done and this could be the problem with everything, hard shifting, cold start, mileage and oil leaks too.  Have a someone run a buzz/ contribution test on your truck.  Will have to be someone that has a good scanner like a SNAP-ON or something like it.  This test takes about 10 mins to run and will check you injectors and glow plugs both then let you know if each cyl is hitting or not.  You could very well just need valve cover gaskets which could also solve you oil leaks.  These gaskets have electrical wires running through them and is just a poor setup in general.  If oil is getting into the connectors that could cause a short circut.  Reason I included the hard shifting is if these trucks are not running RIGHT they will not shift right.  Everything on them is electronic.

The egr system on these trucks are WORTHLESS!  There is a couple of companies that offer egr delete or bypass kits.  Depending on how much you want to do.  The easy/cheapest is around $500 of so parts and labor (around here) for a by pass kit.  Or I do a full delete and remote oil cooler at the same time and the last one I had done back in the summer was around $1250 for everything, egr delete kit and new remote oil cooler.

This stuff is done without having to remove the cab.  The only reason the cab is removed is to do the head gaskets.  It takes WAY less time to raise the cab than it does to pull the engine.