# 1999 7.3 Powerstroke To Tow 23Rs



## lucar (May 11, 2012)

I have recently purchaced a 23rs and now must find a tow vehicle. Can anyone comments on the 99 powerstroke? Is it an engine that generally aged well? At 13 years old but low millage, say 100,000 miles, it is a risky to buy. I plan to do 5000-7000 a year and would like to last 3-5 years.
thanks


----------



## jeffh (Jun 16, 2009)

My father in-laws 99f350 has around 120000 on it and runs great it tows our 25rss and thier 30 footer great. The 7.3 ps is one of the better diesels around and you should be good for another 100000 plus miles.The one thing we see here in New England is the trucks rot out before the motors and drivetrain go.


----------



## Kapnkirk (Mar 2, 2012)

Lucar

I think you will have a good truck in a 1999 Super Duty if mine is any indication, I have 125,000 on mine right now, bought it new in 1999 and with the exception of a cam señor or two she has been flawless, just get a cam sensor off ebay and carry a 10 MM wrench in the truck, I am contemplating having the transmission rebuilt and put in a new torque converter, the torque converter is the weak link in the 7.3 power train and with her getting to 13 years old I think I am gonna be pre emptive. Just hate spending $2500 dollars to rebuild a perfectly good transmission but I plan on keeping her and making a Wyoming trip and wouldn't want a transmission problem on the road. Maybe you will luck out and the previous owner has already did the tranny.

Good Luck with the new truck.

Keith


----------



## Sandlapper (Apr 12, 2010)

If you can find a 7.3 with 100,000 you'll be very very happy with it. In my opinion, that would only be 1/3 or less of its life.. The 7.3 is arguably one of the best diesel motors ever built. They seem to run and run and run with minimal to none engine issues. Good luck and hope you find what you're looking for!


----------



## maddog (Dec 16, 2009)

My 7.3 has 145000 and only had to replace the cam position sensor 1 time, but there was a recall to fix it and Ford reimbursed me. Only other issue is that I just had to replace the oil pan due to rust. That is one thing you do want to check because that is a common issue depending on climate in the region. Other than that no other mechanical issues.


----------



## CamperKev (Feb 20, 2012)

You cant go wrong with the 7.3 liter Powerstroke. It is the most reliable diesel motor ford ever had. One bit of advice, I would just check the oil pan on the truck your interested in. They had a tendency to rot out all depending on what part of the country your from. With the amount of salt they put on the roads here in the northeast nothing stands a chance!! Good luck with your search!! Kevin


----------



## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

I have a 2000 F250 with 7.3 engine. It has 140K miles on it. So far the cam sensor died on me once. I replaced it myself with a 10mm wrench and 10K miles later Ford had a recall on something else, I took it in and they put another cam sensor in it despite of my telling them it was already done. I just hope the one Ford replaced with was not the same defective part as the original one. I still carry a spare CPS and 10mm wrench in my truck.
Everything else on the truck is original except for the upper hose housing, which is made of sheet metal. It rusted out and leaked. I replaced it with an aftermarket unit made of solid aluminum. The upgraded part costs $45. The sheet metal OEM part is $15.

The 100K mileage is less than half life for a 7.3. My neighbor has one and he has 240K on it. The only major repair he did was the transmission.

I get 18 to 20 miles/gal on freeway without towing. With the 25RSS trailing behind, it gives me 12 to 14 miles/gal on flat terrain so long as I keep rpm less than 2K.


----------



## Kapnkirk (Mar 2, 2012)

Tangooutback said:


> I have a 2000 F250 with 7.3 engine. It has 140K miles on it. So far the cam sensor died on me once. I replaced it myself with a 10mm wrench and 10K miles later Ford had a recall on something else, I took it in and they put another cam sensor in it despite of my telling them it was already done. I just hope the one Ford replaced with was not the same defective part as the original one. I still carry a spare CPS and 10mm wrench in my truck.
> Everything else on the truck is original except for the upper hose housing, which is made of sheet metal. It rusted out and leaked. I replaced it with an aftermarket unit made of solid aluminum. The upgraded part costs $45. The sheet metal OEM part is $15.
> 
> The 100K mileage is less than half life for a 7.3. My neighbor has one and he has 240K on it. The only major repair he did was the transmission.
> ...


Tango, I did 2 cam sensors before Ford did the recall one, I carry an extra too just in case. The Ford new one seems to be good, been a couple years and still good, agree with you the 7.3 is a great motor, have you done any transmission work on yours, guess I am trying to talk myself out of rebuilding my perfectly good one. Been a great truck, I've gotta work on her a little, mileage has dropped off quite a bit since new, used to get 16-17 average and 11-12 towing, now down to 13-14 and 9-10 towing less weight than the 5ver we had.

Have a great day, Keith


----------



## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

Kapnkirk said:


> I have a 2000 F250 with 7.3 engine. It has 140K miles on it. So far the cam sensor died on me once. I replaced it myself with a 10mm wrench and 10K miles later Ford had a recall on something else, I took it in and they put another cam sensor in it despite of my telling them it was already done. I just hope the one Ford replaced with was not the same defective part as the original one. I still carry a spare CPS and 10mm wrench in my truck.
> Everything else on the truck is original except for the upper hose housing, which is made of sheet metal. It rusted out and leaked. I replaced it with an aftermarket unit made of solid aluminum. The upgraded part costs $45. The sheet metal OEM part is $15.
> 
> The 100K mileage is less than half life for a 7.3. My neighbor has one and he has 240K on it. The only major repair he did was the transmission.
> ...


Tango, I did 2 cam sensors before Ford did the recall one, I carry an extra too just in case. The Ford new one seems to be good, been a couple years and still good, agree with you the 7.3 is a great motor, have you done any transmission work on yours, guess I am trying to talk myself out of rebuilding my perfectly good one. Been a great truck, I've gotta work on her a little, mileage has dropped off quite a bit since new, used to get 16-17 average and 11-12 towing, now down to 13-14 and 9-10 towing less weight than the 5ver we had.

Have a great day, Keith
[/quote]

Hi Keith, 
I've been pondering on rebuilding the transmission too....just for the peace of mind given the 140K miles on it. Like you, I want an upgraded one and it seems to me a great number of people who have upgraded transmission recommend Brian Truck Stop in Arkansas. His price is stiff, around 5K if I remember correctly, but supposedly to be bullet proof.

Do you know this vendor?

http://www.brianstruckshop.com/index.html

By the way, have you cleaned the EBPV (Exhaust Back Pressure Valve)? I heard a lot of people saying mileage improves significantly after cleaning it. I got the instruction but have not yet got around it yet. 
I bought a set of Monroe Reflex shock absorbers and they are still sitting there looking at me....








One thing I immediately did though was installing an extra transmission cooler to ensure I don't get a tranny burn out due to towing. I know the truck was designed to tow 10K lbs trailer and mine is only 7K lbs loaded, but the transmission cooler is cheap ($150) and in case the OEM cooler fails this extra cooler would alleviate the thermal problem. I bought the temperature gauge for transmission fluid a year ago and it is also sitting there looking at me...


----------



## Barry (Mar 13, 2011)

I traded my 2004 F150 4X4 for a 1999 Ford 7.3 powerstroke F250 and haven't looked back. The 99 had 139,000 miles but i know of several that have 300,00 and still going strong.

You will have a good truck!


----------



## Kapnkirk (Mar 2, 2012)

Tangooutback said:


> I have a 2000 F250 with 7.3 engine. It has 140K miles on it. So far the cam sensor died on me once. I replaced it myself with a 10mm wrench and 10K miles later Ford had a recall on something else, I took it in and they put another cam sensor in it despite of my telling them it was already done. I just hope the one Ford replaced with was not the same defective part as the original one. I still carry a spare CPS and 10mm wrench in my truck.
> Everything else on the truck is original except for the upper hose housing, which is made of sheet metal. It rusted out and leaked. I replaced it with an aftermarket unit made of solid aluminum. The upgraded part costs $45. The sheet metal OEM part is $15.
> 
> The 100K mileage is less than half life for a 7.3. My neighbor has one and he has 240K on it. The only major repair he did was the transmission.
> ...


Tango, I did 2 cam sensors before Ford did the recall one, I carry an extra too just in case. The Ford new one seems to be good, been a couple years and still good, agree with you the 7.3 is a great motor, have you done any transmission work on yours, guess I am trying to talk myself out of rebuilding my perfectly good one. Been a great truck, I've gotta work on her a little, mileage has dropped off quite a bit since new, used to get 16-17 average and 11-12 towing, now down to 13-14 and 9-10 towing less weight than the 5ver we had.

Have a great day, Keith
[/quote]

Hi Keith, 
I've been pondering on rebuilding the transmission too....just for the peace of mind given the 140K miles on it. Like you, I want an upgraded one and it seems to me a great number of people who have upgraded transmission recommend Brian Truck Stop in Arkansas. His price is stiff, around 5K if I remember correctly, but supposedly to be bullet proof.

Do you know this vendor?

http://www.brianstruckshop.com/index.html

By the way, have you cleaned the EBPV (Exhaust Back Pressure Valve)? I heard a lot of people saying mileage improves significantly after cleaning it. I got the instruction but have not yet got around it yet. 
I bought a set of Monroe Reflex shock absorbers and they are still sitting there looking at me....








One thing I immediately did though was installing an extra transmission cooler to ensure I don't get a tranny burn out due to towing. I know the truck was designed to tow 10K lbs trailer and mine is only 7K lbs loaded, but the transmission cooler is cheap ($150) and in case the OEM cooler fails this extra cooler would alleviate the thermal problem. I bought the temperature gauge for transmission fluid a year ago and it is also sitting there looking at me...








[/quote]

Tango

Yes I have heard of Brians, if I was a little closer they would be the place, but quite a drive for sure, I have found a shop here in Jacksonville with a super reputation and he is gonna rebuild, install billet converter and use fully synthetic fluid for a total $2600, I thought that price was really good and my boss has had him do three different vehicles for him and he swears by him. I've visited his shop and was impressed, so with a little luck and some more saving time I believe he will do my work.
No I have never cleaned the EBPV, never heard of it till now, but I will find it and give it a cleaning, Thanks, I will let you know if it makes a difference. I usually do the work on my super duty, with the exception of flushing the transmission every 18,000 miles which Ford did, i like working on her myself. If it isn't too much problem where did you find the instructions for the EBPV, I haven't looked yet but if it's not too much trouble let me know.

I never installed a extra cooler on the tranny, I installed a three pillar gauge set and have always monitored the transmission temp, empty she averages 140 and never over 170, pulling the 5ver with a 2,000 boat behind the 5ver she averaged 170 and never has been over 200 except one time in the Georgia mountains with both the Sunnybrook and Boat behind me, she got to 220 and I went ahead and pulled over and let her cool down for a bit before finishing my trip up the hill, so I think she has always been cool enough and with the fluid changes I have taken as good a care as I could. but now with her over 13 years I think its time for a rebuild before I undertake a trip out to Wyoming to visit our son at Cheyene and his new base.

Thanks for your thoughts, give us a ring sometime and if your ever in North Florida stop and rest a while.

Keith


----------



## Kapnkirk (Mar 2, 2012)

Barry said:


> I traded my 2004 F150 4X4 for a 1999 Ford 7.3 powerstroke F250 and haven't looked back. The 99 had 139,000 miles but i know of several that have 300,00 and still going strong.
> 
> You will have a good truck!


Barry

Ive heard of the same, I have always wondered those with such high mileage numbers what kind of maintenance have they had to do, if I am lucky maybe I can get those high numbers some day, but first got to do 3 more years till retire again.

Keith


----------



## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

Keith, 
It is definitely a good deal if you can get it done for 2.6K. BTS offers only one build, supposedly top of the line for people who abuse their truck with other mods to boost power and mud running. For people like us, that would be an overkill. We only want a reliable trannie to tow an RV...









I drain the trannie fluid every 15K miles using the plug on the pan. It is just like changing engine oil. That replaces about 40% of the fluid in the trannie. I flushed it myself once at 120K. It was not difficult at all. I used straight Mercon, which was recommended by Ford. I am not sure the year 2000 OEM trannie is compatible with synthetic, which may damage seals inside.

Here is the website with the EBPV cleaning instruction.

EBPV cleaning procedure

This website also provides instructions/tips for some other maintenance and upgrades projects. It is very helpful.

One modification I really want to do is the "Hutch Mod", which would allow me to fill the fuel tank all the way to the top without having to spend half an hour in front of the pump. From the point the fuel nozzle tripped to the point where fuel reached the top I measured it once to be 5 gallons. This "hutch mod" allows you to fill that final 5 gallons within a few minutes.

By the way, I add 2-cycle motor oil to diesel at ratio of 1 oz to 1 gallon. The engine runs smoother. Today diesel has only 15 ppm sulfur, which is the lubricant agent, to comply with EPA. Diesel engine made before 2003 were mostly not compatible with the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel.


----------



## Kapnkirk (Mar 2, 2012)

Tango

Thanks for the link, I will give it a try, I remember when I first purchased my SD I asked about the fully synthetic at first flush and my service manager said the same thing about the synthetic, so since then they have only used the Mercon, and you made me think I did not inquire about the synthetic fluid and compatibility but i will talk with him prior to rebuild, sure they use compatible stuff but i will ask.

I haven't heard of the hutch mod, can't remember having too much trouble filling tank unless I am at a truck stop and they only have the hose with the large nozzles, won't fit in my filler, I have made it a practice now to usually avoid they big truck stops, use the RV section if they have em.

Thanks Again, Have a great day, Keith


----------



## Tangooutback (Apr 16, 2010)

Kapnkirk said:


> Tango
> 
> Thanks for the link, I will give it a try, I remember when I first purchased my SD I asked about the fully synthetic at first flush and my service manager said the same thing about the synthetic, so since then they have only used the Mercon, and you made me think I did not inquire about the synthetic fluid and compatibility but i will talk with him prior to rebuild, sure they use compatible stuff but i will ask.
> 
> ...


Glad to be of help, Keith.

If you rebuild it is not a problem to use synthetic. The new rebuild kit has seals which are compatible with synthetic fluid. I have not had this experience first hand. This is what I learned from discussion on Ford forums and it sounded logical to me. I want to play safe, so, I stick with Mercon, which is specified in Ford manual.


----------



## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

We have a 23RS. It is 5k dry. We intially towed it with an '02 F150 with the 5.4 v8 and 4spd trans. It did ok on the flats but was not very good in the hills. I avoided mountains. A 7.3 PowerStroke will be much better than that. The 23RS is very light.

-CC


----------



## stang5302 (Aug 31, 2010)

I have a F350 with the 7.3 and over 320,000km , still runs very good, I just towed my 10,000 pound fith wheel to Austin Texas, a 5000 km drive and it ran flawless getting between 11 and 14 miles per gallon. I actually work with 2 guy that have the same engine that are driven to work regularly with over a million Km's on each them. A 7.3 with 100,000 is hardly broke in.


----------



## jayger (Sep 29, 2011)

Tangooutback said:


> One modification I really want to do is the "Hutch Mod", which would allow me to fill the fuel tank all the way to the top without having to spend half an hour in front of the pump. From the point the fuel nozzle tripped to the point where fuel reached the top I measured it once to be 5 gallons. This "hutch mod" allows you to fill that final 5 gallons within a few minutes.
> 
> By the way, I add 2-cycle motor oil to diesel at ratio of 1 oz to 1 gallon. The engine runs smoother. Today diesel has only 15 ppm sulfur, which is the lubricant agent, to comply with EPA. Diesel engine made before 2003 were mostly not compatible with the ultra low sulfur diesel fuel.


I have a 2003 7.3 with 155k and I also add TW3 2cycle oil to every tank. I only add 1/2 bottle to every fill up, you really can't put to much in but the fuel really needs lubercation for the injectors to be healthy. Drive it like a diesel and keep up on the maintenance and it will last over 300k miles then have it rebuild for $6500 and drive it another 300k


----------

