The truck had zero leaks. The underside of it looked dry. It has 3.73's and a Trac Lok in it. Tires are OK.
**Good sign, no leaks. Leaks can be problematic with some 7.3's. Most all 7.3's had 3.73 gears with a limited slip from the factory, it was the F-450 and up that had 4.10 gears normally unless it was special ordered.***
I give the body a 7 out of 10. It has no rust, but has 2 dents on the roof right where the roof meets the top door area. The paint is cracked there and there is a rust colored line where the paint is cracked. There is also 4 holes in the roof, right down the middle of the cab, front to back. These have some rubber plugs popped into them.
***I'm not to worried about the body, unless its severe abuse. They are pretty well coated with anti-corrosive coatings any more. Touch up the cracked paint with sand paper and some spray bombs Until you can afford to spruce it up right.***
Here's my concerns after looking at it. Upon first driving it it had ZERO bottom end power..... Found the air filter was plugged BIG TIME. The air filter gauge was sucked to the red....... Luckily my Dad's 02 PSD was next to it and we swapped in his K&N and I noticed a big improvement.... But it still lacked some, to me at least, BUT maybe it's just me.
***I would check the fuel filter. It should be changed every oil change. If the EGR has been getting a fair amount of blowby, the intercooler can be partially clogged with oil. Take the EGR pre-formed hose out of the drivers side valve cover and throw it at the nearest Chevy you see. Make up a fitting/hose so you can go from the valve cover and run the hose into the wheel-well. It will smoke a bit out of your wheel-well....lol...but in a couple weeks the intercoller will begin to clear up and move more air with less resistance. By an Airaid cold air intake, they are cheap and work as good as any. Thye bottom end can be helped by buying a Wicked Wheel compressor wheel...or similar. Banks has one, BD Diesel, TS, Black Cloud...there are many out there. It is basicly a pre-1999 compressor wheel. The 99 and newer had the redesigned compressor wheel that was quieter....it sucks. It does less boost at low RPM's, it goes into surge WAY to fast...and causes turbo failure....not to mention its freaking QUITE! Who wants a quiet turbo? You better hope the guy has the tuner for it. If its a chip, it is in teh PCM facing your left knee as you set in teh truck. If its a tuner it was plugged into the OBD-II port and a performance tune was installed. If you dont have the tune device, and you ever take it for service...you loose the tune. Dealer will flash over your tune and its gone forever. How old is this tuner? Todays tunes are 1000% better than what was out 3-4 years back. If you want to know what tuners are good today ask me.****
It also had what seemed to be an exhaust leak on the driver's side. I could hear it tick while driving.
***The up-pipe from the manifold to the turbo? The exhaust manifold? The turbo inlet "Y"? It could be any of these.......you just got to find it...****
What else could make it seem like it still had some air inlet restriction?
If its not getting air, its going to smoke. The 7.3 should not smoke much at all, even at wide open. Until you add fuel with aftermarket injectors...smoke is hard to come by unless your injector timing and pulse width is so far out of whack that the thing makes no power and just plain dumps raw fuel thru it. If it is smoking, something is not right. I run a 100chip with a 6-gun stacked on it and I can make a grey puff if I let my 7.3 fall to idle at 40 MPH and smack the throttle to the rug like Im mad at it...a few second puff and the boost comes alive and cleans it up.****
Also, it seemed to run rough. I know it's a diesel and has 225K on the clock, but it seemed rough compared to my Dad's which has 80K on it. could it be dirty injectors? A bad sensor? Will the engine light come on if a code is present? Or will I have to pull the codes. It seemed rough when I would stomp it and it would accelerate up through the gears and also while cruising when I would mash the gas a little to speed up to change lanes, etc.... My Dad's truck is smooth when I do this..... Could this be air in the fuel lines? Or becuase of the chip it supposedly has in it. It sure didn't perform like a chipped truck.
***If there is a minor code, it will throw the yellow SES (Service Engine Soon) light. If there is serious detrimental to the engine's life code, you throw the red SES light...and you better shut her off.....now. Change the fuel filter/air filter and see if it cleans up the rough running. I'm betting it does.****
It didn't smoke any more than other PSD's I've seen when you stomp on it. No smoke at idle, seemed to idle fine, it was a little louder than my Dad's. Don't know why? Maybe the idle loudness and the roughness of the engine are connected? This truck is identical to my Dad's, except it's an 01.
**See above, it should not be smoking unless its messed up or HIGHLY modified***
Don't know what oil was run in it. It had a "Quickie Lube Place" sticker on it. What could happen if it didn't have the correct "diesel" oil on run in it?
****Run Diesel oil only. Mobile1, Delvac, Ams-Oil 3000, or similar. If your running regular oil, your going to have noisey injectors, and ruined injectors...soon. Good oil quits the oil, keeps the injectors alive, and actually can help smooth the idle and quiet the injector clatter.****
The trans seemed to shudder when I took off. Not real noticeable, but I could feel it here and there. What could this be?
****Common problem is Convertors, that has the old single disk lock up convertor Unless its been changed out with the 2003 7.3 convertor (2 disk). Like 350 bucks for a new one if you know how to buy it. Ask me if you need one, I can tell you who to call. The other thing is the valve body mod, and the tranny fluid should be flushed. You can do this at home, I can tell you how..ask me.****
Other than the roof dents, a few scratches... it was, after all a work truck, it's not bad. I can clean the interior myself, and I have a body/paint man that can weld the holes shut in the roof and fix the dents for a great price.
Also, it's had the muffler removed. It's got a straight pipe installed in it's place. It sounds great too! Will this cause any problems???
****This is the best thing you can do for it. It lowers the EGT's and makes her sound just right...****
My uncle wants 13,000 for it. Kelly Blue Book lists this truck, with all of its options in GOOD condition (4 out of 5 stars) for 16,800, and in FAIR condition (3 out of 5 stars) for 15,100. This is Private Party Value. What do you think?!
***When you hear it run, whats your gut feeling? Does it sound mechanicly "smooth", or does it sound like a box marbles? It sounds a bit high with the body damage and the low maintenance...I dont like hearing that the filter was sooo dirty it tripped the sucky-sensor.....that shows it was not maintained or loved. Consider this an abused truck.****
I have the previous owners number and will call him about the truck. Just to inquire about maintenance, etc.....
***Get the tuner! Is the convertor original? When was the tranny flushed last? Do the tranny every 50-60K miles for longer life. What oil did he ask for at the quick change shop?***
Also, I took it out on the highway and the overhead MPG computer said 23.5 mpg at 74 MPH. I know these things can be off by as much as 4-5mpg, but I thought this was still good.
***Especailly with a tuner, that thing is worthless. Consider it a "Lie-O-Meter". With no tuner its pretty close.....within 1 MPG.***
Do you think it's worth it? I say YES, but really I don't know. BUT only because I don't know what could be causing the "rough" condition. Or the trans shudder.
***It may just take a good servicing, injector cleaner, fuel/air filter, EGR re-route, clean out the intercooler......and she should get back up and run. Add a whicked wheel and a tuner from the last 12-18 months and your really going to love it. Can you say 310-330 RWHP and 600 ft/lb of TQ? I can do a quarter in 16.8 with my 8,400 lb Excursion.
HELP ME GUYS.......
I really need the 4 doors this truck has, My 94 Supercab just ain't cutting it with my 2 boys stuffed in the back.......
Thanks as usual......