New to the site and am looking for some info. I've never owned a Powerstroke diesel before and am looking at a couple of used pickups. A buddy has an '03 with the 7.3 liter engine and has never had any problems that I know of. I've heard about problems with the 6.0 liter engine and am cautious about looking at an '04 or newer as it's my understanding the 7.3 wasn't avail after '03. I know there is a wealth of info on this site and would like to hear some brief comments on both of these engines (good or bad). Thanks.

 

Have an 03 F-350 7.3 with no major problems. Get what you want. All you will get is everyones opinions.. Good and bad. Me, find one that's will have a cheap payment so you will have money to buy upgrades.

 

As long as you take care of it the 7.3 is about as close to bulet proff as a motor can be, well except for the CPS A 60 dollar part that will cripple it and the dealer will try to charge 280 to replace. If you can find one that was taken care of the 7.3 will be very dependable. The early 01's had the "diode" in the tranny but very few of these will be left running.

The 6.0 has some bad history with the early years and the injectors, head gaskets, ect.

 

Make sure if you get a 7.3, put a CPS in the glovebox.

 

If I had to get a new truck I would get another 2000 7.3L again. The only thing I would do different is get a manual tranny. The bigger reasoning isn't 6.0 vs 7.3, it is that I know the 2000 7.3 from past experience and mostly that it would be more affordable. That means more money for mods!

 

I agree that opinions are mostly what you'll get. I know people with both, and on each side of that equation, people who've never done more than regular maintenance, and people who've had repair bills that hacked them off.
What I'm saying, I know 6 people who bought a 6.0 and 5 of them dumped it. But I think thats non-typical. If you talked to guy #6, its the best truck he's ever had. And I know at least that many with a 7.3. Some have never done squat. Some have dumped ten grand into maintenance. Pretty hard to correlate anything meaningful. They're all different and drive and tow different.
Lifes a gamble. Get what you want to pay for and roll the dice.

 

??????

Wes

 

I believe he meant trucks with a diode in the tranny. I guess they don't last very long. Pretty sure mine has one if it has not been replaced before I got it.

 

what is this "diode"?

 

It was used for about 6 months or so in the 2001 model year when Ford decided to try to replace a tranny sprague with the diode. They found out it was a mistake almost immediately but it took about 6 months to retool as the original tool was destroyed. Same truck otherwise, just an Achilles heel with the diode in the tranny. Once repaired or replaced, good to go.

 

there was some sort of reliablity issue with the early 01 trannies due to a diode failure or failure caused by the diode. I was more interested into why he thought there would be very few still running (01's in general or that year model trans unrepaired still running?).

Wes

 

IMO, def buy yourself a low mileage 7.3 Powerstoke. I researched my purchase last year and bought an 02 4x4 Lariat for $26K with 79K miles
I have since installed a lot of performance mods and have not had to do any major work to the engine, other than a new Glow Plug RELAY which was under $100. I have talked to many SD owners with the 6.0, most have had engines issues and have them in the shop more than normal.

 

I just cant find a way to say it better, MEGA DITTOS!! bullet proof tranny with bullet proof engine!

 

When I started looking for a truck in jan 06, I wanted an 00-03 F-350, SRW, 7.3, 4x4, super cab, short or long bed. In march I found an 03 with everything I wanted, but it was a 6.0 . The truck looked great, low miles, ect. I then found an 2000 7.3, same thing looked great, 73k, ect. I bought the 2000 for 19,500 and never looked back, now maybe I could have bought the 6.0 "asking 22,000" and been just as happy. But now having my 7.3 I would NEVER even think for a second of wanting that 6.0 .

 

Well said Alpha, not really a ringing endorsement for the 7.3 but on target!