milage on a diesel engine

Ivylog wrote:
Anyone who knows Ford PSD engines will take the 7.3 over the newer 6.0 or 6.4 every day. There are plenty out there with 500,000+ miles that have never been worked on... OK, maybe a new cam sensor or new glow plug relay.

X2------Having one in a 2001, it is not as loud as a cummings and rivals in power with some of them if a certain chip is installed.
My mechanic wanted mine when I trade but I told him I would NOT trade mine even for a new one. I'm serious about that folks.

For the record, the 6.0L Power Stroke diesel in the E350/E450 is an engine to AVOID owning. It was a short-lived offering for a very good reason.

I heard good things about the older 7.3L diesel engine.

The typical life of the automatic transmission used with the 7.3 was 150K to 175 K miles and they are about $4000. Water pumps averaged 200k miles.

DrewE wrote:
I'd worry more about the rest of the RV being worn out. The Ford 7.3 is well-regarded and generally a very reliable engine, if somewhat anemic in power and loud.

X2, diesels go for a LONG time. The rest of the coach is the thing to check. However we are talking the ENGINE parts only, not external engine parts like the alternator, water pump, etc.

On a 7.3L you'll be running into age issues, not miles issues, at that point. Assuming it has proper maintenance.

That is not too many miles on the 7.3 diesel, oilfield service fleets around here operating the type usually traded at around 200,000 to 300,000 miles (which might be 3-5 years).

It depends really on how many more miles you plan to put on it. At 5000 miles a year you could be looking at another 10 years of service. 50,000 miles a year, maybe a couple more years. Even then, what is going to be wearing out will be drivetrain parts behind the engine, not the engine itself.

As others have noted, for a C motorhome with that many miles, you need to be looking at the condition of the house. But even there, a lot of time on the road is not necessarily an issue, some RV rental operations used to order C motorhomes constructed such that they could lift the house off a worn-out chassis (200,000 + miles for gassers) and drop it on a new one.

Also agree that the engine is probably not an issue...but 150K on an RV is a LOT of miles and there could be a lot of stuff shaken apart by now. Depending on how 'dynamicly' the previous owner drove, even the structure of the body could be getting compromised, especially around the roof-wall area causing leaks. Once you start heading towards 200K miles you're looking at why people spend big bucks on Prevosts and the like...

You don't say what year the RV/7.3 motor are. Ford continued the 7.3 into the 2009 (2010 model year) in the EconoLine van. If pre-DEF, it would be even better. Like Drew, though, I would be worried about the rest of the RV. How well was it cared for and does the seller have maintenance records.

Rob

Anyone who knows Ford PSD engines will take the 7.3 over the newer 6.0 or 6.4 every day. There are plenty out there with 500,000+ miles that have never been worked on... OK, maybe a new cam sensor or new glow plug relay.

I'd worry more about the rest of the RV being worn out. The Ford 7.3 is well-regarded and generally a very reliable engine, if somewhat anemic in power and loud.