crcr wrote:
brooks379 wrote:
They had trouble with trucks with auto transmission in the F250 and F350 and I always heard it was from not changing the ATF regularly. I have a 2002 F350 7.3 4x4 CC auto trans. I bought brand new and it has been a GREAT truck...never has been back inside a Ford shop since I bought it. 278,000 miles on it, most all towing.
Thanks! What are the years of F250 and F350 where the 7.3 was offered?
I think, for your budget, you would be most interested in 1999 through early 2003 on the Ford 7.3L diesel. I have owned, for a short time, a 2000 crew cab F-250 with the diesel. Some fairly low mileage 7.3 units, especially 2 wheel-drive, sold for as low as $8k. I bought more expensive 4x4 because I may eventually sell our only other winter 4x4 truck, a gasser 2000 Excursion V-10, which is basically the same 3/4 ton chassis.
The 7.3L diesel (over the V-10) improves empty fuel economy by about 3-4 mpg, and about the same towing. Although the diesel has less HP, about 235 versus 310 for the 6.8L V-10, it runs down the highway right in the sweet torque spot, about 1800-2000 rpm, and does not shift down as often out of overdrive as the V-10. Other than the steepest of hills, 200 HP is already overkill, as level, windless cruise only takes about 100 towing. Newer high HP diesels are factory drag-racers, rather impractical. Of course, who doesn't love hotrods?
The V-10 has to shift down out of overdrive frequently because it runs well under torque peak rpm at highway speeds. As soon as a medium hill is encountered, the engine bogs and it shifts. This is one reason fuel economy suffers more on the V-10. The downshift doesn't hurt the engine, but it sucks more fuel at high rpm. The other reason the diesel makes better fuel economy than gas is that diesel fuel contains more heat energy per gallon of course.
The F-250 Super Duty years I mentioned have a 4 speed auto tranny. They are quite reliable, but the diesel can wreck the torque converter if souped up. Ford calls for fluid changes at 30k intervals and, for a pre-owned purchase, I would look for service records if possible. If the truck was not used for heavy towing I wouldn't worry about double, or triple, service intervals. The max torque on the two engines is similar, with the diesel a little more, and at much lower rpm.
My preferred buy was a specific ultra reliable 1995 2wd Dodge Cummins with a manual tranny. The autos did have a bad reputation on these, but even they are marginally ok if not abused. I missed the buy from my buddy because I didn't realise he was going to sell. As he proudly showed me his newer, snow-loving GM 4x4, I was consequently distracted by my remorse at having missed the very low mileage Cummins buy. It went for $8k. The reason I was so interested in it was that they are the king of mpgs, towing at 14-15 and running empty at 20+. I would have lived with a small standard cab, manual tranny and 2wd for that. At least it had an 8 foot box.
Concerning 4x4, we live in snow country and our preferred daily transportation is a 2007 Toyota Prius which does not do well in deep snow. It high centers and the confounded, no-spin, always-on traction control stops it dead in it's little tracks. Otherwise expect to
average 40+ mpg city/highway and, during our model year, was
thee most reliable car in the world per Consumer Reports.
Good luck!
Wes
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