Hello folks,
I am new to the board, and looking to purchase a 2000-2003 diesel Excursion.

Can anybody out there give me an idea what kind of mpg they're getting in city driving (non-towing) with the V10. I'm looking for a 2000-2003 Excursion, and am trying to decide on the V10, or 7.3L diesel. Most of my driving will be short run city errands.

Thanks,

 

when im nice to it i get 10.8 city and about mid 13s highway doing about 75mph and being a little agressive with passing. When i get on it a lot my city falls to 9.8 and highway will be low 11s but im to the floor often when im driving like that. Ive seen as high as high 16s on a long flat road with the cruise control set at 55-60mph. This is according to the overhead counsole though and it tends to be off on some trucks.

 

I'd recommend looking at earlier postings and you'll find a considerable amount of discussion of comparisons between the 5.4 V8, the 6.8 V10 and the 7.3/6.0 PSD. My personal opinion is that with the type of driving that you're proposing the V10 would be the way to go. You'll pay between $4000 to $8000 more for the diesel and you won't realize that much better mileage on the diesel than the V10 for short in-city trips. The efficiency of the diesel is realized with steady highway driving and especially when towing. The present average .30 to .60 cent per gallon higher cost of diesel fuel closes the cost efficiency gap between the two engines and the 7.3 oil filters are about double the cost of the V10 and you're looking at 15 quart oil changes on the 7.3 diesel.

I'm getting about 10-13 mpg on short trip, in town driving, about 10-12 mpg towing a 24' 8500# car trailer at about 72 mph, and about 15-17 mpg highway with my 2000 Excursion Limited 4x4 which has the 7.3 diesel and 3:73 gears. This mileage is hand calculated and not based on the "lie-o-meter" in the overhead console which can be off by as much as 1-2 mpg. While I absolutely love the diesel, if economic efficiency is the basis for your purchase, the V10 would be the most sensible decision. If the deal's right, I also wouldn't rule out a 5.4 V8 as those Excursions have been tremendously underappreciated and underpriced. We've got a 5.4 in a 15 passenger Ford E350 cutaway with a high profile bus body on it at our church and I'm amazed at how peppy and powerful it is with a full load of passengers.

As for the vehicle itself, I love the Excursion. I've previously owned 5 Suburbans, two of which were 2500 3/4 ton units and I was quite happy with all of them (well there was that '78 model that rusted out when it was 3 years old!). However, the Excursion is definitely in a class of its own and I thoroughly enjoy driving mine. My wife has been quite surprised at how nimble the Excursion handles. I've got 81,000 miles on mine and I've got a tremendous amount of life left it it. I guess my biggest complaint is that I've been totally spoiled by my Excursion and, since they're no longer being produced, I'll be unable to find another one when the time comes to replace it!

Best of luck in your search!

BJ Lexington, KY

 

If ur only going to be isuing it for short errands, then i would get the v-10. Diesels like to be run for longer periods of time. And with ur gonna use it for, u going to kill that diesel.

 

Sorry, not so Matt. If that were the case, you wouldn't see UPS, Fed-Ex and other delivery, utility and service companies using diesels. It will last longer than a gas engine because it runs cooler and has a much larger amount of oil circulating through the engine plus the block and interior components are built much heavier. The 7.3 diesel is essentially a Navistar/International T444E commercial truck engine that is built for rigerous use but also comes with a higher initial price tag. The long-term operating and service costs are much less on a diesel or these companies wouldn't be using them. The problem with a diesel in a personal vehicle such as an Excursion is that we usually don't put the kind of miles and hours on them to benefit from the long-term cost efficiencies of a diesel.

You are correct that they're more efficient when they're allowed to run for a longer period of time, but it won't "kill that diesel" using it for short runs. I've got a 2000 E350 PSD work van that I ordered new with just over 99,000 miles on it and it continues to serve me well and without any repairs or problems whatsoever.

Regardless of which engine he chooses, I certainly would recommend having the vehicle inspected and particularly give the front end a thorough look as these vehicles have a tendency for bad ball joints and related steering component wear.

BJ Lexington, KY

 

Pretty much agree with every thing but the "runs cooler" part. If it ran cooler than a gasser, it wouldn't function very well .....they get hot.

 

So many things come into factor when your talking about mpg on anything really. With out knowing the land formation, how much wind on a daily basis you see. You'll see a bit of difference between us all in what MPG we get.


I live in the Springfield,Mo area. It's a semi-hilly area. With usually a nice breeze goin. So with that i am getting an average of 11-12mpg. If i pamper it i can get 13 but who want's to pamper this V10.

On the Highway, i average 15-16mpg if i pamper it i can get closer to 17mpg.

You'll find a post where i show'd ppl my first time hauling anything, we hauled my wife's EB home. I ran 60mph, and there were a lot of factor's but i think it got pretty decent considering the factor's.

 

I'll agree with the mileage numbers in the previous posts and add something. If you live up north and like to use your remote car starter (RCS) to start your truck and let it idle and warm up for a few minutes prior to going out there, you can take that 9 or 10 mpg and throw it out the window (if it will roll down in the 5ºF weather). I have seen low 8s because of warmups. That being said, I'm addicted to the RCS. I have about a 1/4 mile walk to my vehicle from where I work, and then I have to do a lot of snow and ice removal before I can drive away. It is nice to get into a warm vehicle.

 

Aside from all the BS about diesels are not for short in town trips (which every diesel mechanic I have talked to said is BS) .....I can tell you that my 04 Ex 6.0 gets 15.5-16.5 mpg's in town driving and I get 18.5-20.2 mpg's on the highway, (that's not babying the truck either, just normal driving.) My wife drives the Ex most of the time, it's a grocery getter, but I do tow with it a couple times a year. All those mpg figures are by hand not from the li-o-meter... The V-10 would never touch 16mpg in town so you gotta figure out what your gonna do??? The 7.3 diesels usually get a little bit better mpg's than most 6.0's.

 

Maybe I should have qualified this. As a general rule, I've found that diesel engines have a tendency to run cooler than their gasser counterparts. The actual coolant temperature when running is similar because of regulation by the thermostat. Even with the exhaust backpressure valve functioning and a good thermostat, my 7.3 still takes about twice as long to come up to temperature as my previous 7.4 Suburban gasser did but they both run about the same temperature once they're warmed up.

Good point!

BJ Lexington, KY

 

Howdy Scottman!

I wish I was getting those numbers on my 7.3 but I'm not. I don't drive mine hard either, just here in metropolitan Lexington, KY. Mine runs clean and smooth and doesn't smoke and the tailpipe isn't sooted up. It does do a lot of short runs and doesn't get fully warmed up much of the time.

I'm taking it in next week for the CMP sensor recall and maybe that will help the mileage on it.

I think that having the double number of valves helps that 6.0 breath a little better too!

BJ Lexington, KY

 

Don't be jealous of my truck or it's mpg's, cuz it's in the shop broken quite often!! LOL I'd take a 7.3 any day of the week over this 6.0!

 

You don`t want a diesel to run around town on short errands. like was said before the diesel won`t like it very much! sure UPS trucks do stop and go city driving, but those also put on approx. 300 miles a day. a little different than the 20, maybe! a private owner will put on in a day.

This advice comes from a Diesel mechanic that has seen what can happen to a Diesel that is run just around town, injectors take the biggest beating when improperly run.

 

7.3 all the way. Diesel will always get better MPG than a V10. We were just on a trip with my 04 X which is a 6.0 and it got 17 MPG all day going 80. The 7.3 gets a little better MPG than the 6.0. On my 01 X with the 7.3 I get about 17.5 on the free way and 15 in the city,
Nick

 

Well, lets see....with the cost of diesel fuel lately - V10@13 MPG & $3.00gal = 23 cents/mile; 7.3@17MPg & $3.40/gal = 20 cents per mile. So, @ 3 cents/mile, 3000 miles = $90.00. Just about pays the difference in routine maint, no? And we haven't mentioned the initial cost of the diesel vs V10. And the '08 diesels arent all seeing 17 mpg.......Just some thoughts........