basket case 99 F250 crew cab 4x4 refurbishment

[DividingCreek]

Thanks for the feedback. I managed to wrestle the engine in working by myself yesterday. Decided to install it without the manifold rather than burn more time waiting. Once installed it became obvious that the E and F wiring harness's were different so I pulled the ratty looking 250 harness off that engine and re-wrapped the entire thing with two rolls of black electrical tape. The factory red etc was falling off after 15 years and this made the harness look like new and hopefully adds some life to it. Going to go re-install that this afternoon and work on getting the pedestal and turbo installed so when the manifold and new up pipes arrive they will be all that is left aside from putting the front of the truck back on.

 

[DividingCreek]

Manifold came last night ups @ 8pm. Went up to the shop and drilled and tapped it for the pyrometer thermocouple and bolted it up to the block. Turbo is in. Just waiting for the up pipes to come so I can get them installed before putting the whole front end on the truck. Right now I have ok access, once I put all that back on the only way to work on it is to lay on top of the engine. Have a used 99-03 intake spyder coming from a guy on craigslist in Ohio. Hoping to have the truck up and running Thursday. Really hoping I don't have the trouble getting it to start the first time that many seem to have.

 

[redthies]

It's a big learning curve sometimes, but sounds like you are getting it sorted out. I miss my old 7.3, but not all the bloody acronyms! It's crazy making trying to keep all the different sensors and valves etc sorted out in your head. You'll have a great truck when it's done though!

 

[DividingCreek]

It lives !
Now to get it through Virginia safety inspection. I have 1500 miles of towing to do with it right away. Two defender 110's and a 90 that have cleared customs @ Baltimore and need to come back to the farm.
Can't wait to start adding things like the inverter, quick connects for jump starts and powering the winch in a cradle, engel, co2 bottle for air tools.

 

[C5dad]

If you have the time in the future, the ported intake turbo housing and a 6637 intake make a huge difference on the breathing! Not to mention, the stock intake housing in the turbo can cause long term issues due to poor flow patterns causing cavitation.

CW

 

[xbox73]

Good to hear you got it all up & running. You'll likely love the fridge on long trips. I'd probably go for a constant duty onboard air compressor & a 2+ gallon air tank to run air tools, rather than the hassle on constantly having to fill up or check the level of CO2. Since I didn't have any regular air tools, I bypassed that altogether & went for Dewalt 20V MAX Lithium Ion cordless tools (400 ft-lbs 1/2" impact, 130 ft-lbs 3/8" impact, brushless 1/4" impact driver, brushless drill, reciprocating saw, light) & have a couple of chargers & a bunch of batteries I got in various on sale kit deals. I also have an inverter in the truck I can run the fast battery chargers from, if necessary. Not exactly cheap, especially if one already has a bunch of regular air tools, but I didn't & I've probably saved close to the cost of those tools by doing some basic maintenance/upgrade work myself or with friends' help vs. taking the truck to a shop for service.

 

[DividingCreek]

My co2 bottle is a 20lb'er so takes quite a bit to run her down. I have a 3 gal air tank that was from under a range rover that ran the air ride suspension and there's plenty of room to bolt it under the 24ft long crew cab 250 but the co2 bottle is just too easy and $16 to swap it for a full 1 once or twice a year fits my needs well. My needs are typically within the confines of the secure area within a port, dealing with non-runners or flats etc. The amount of tools,towing, and recovery gear I loaded behind and under the rear seat today was crazy.

The 250 had a cracked upper tank on the radiator and I tried jb weld but the crack went down to where the alum and plastic meet so no joy. Upside is she has a new radiator. Also swapped out the prairie tan formerly leather wrapped steering wheel and the gear selector lever today. Put the black steering wheel that came out of the ambulance I got the engine from. The original lariat wheel was shot after 375k. What little leather that remained (most seemed to have rotted away) needed to go. The gear selector lever had a broken knob on the end and that is where the overdrive switch is. I had thought the truck wasn't engaging overdrive because she's turning 2500 rpm @ 60 mph. Turns out the overdrive does work and I seem to have low gearing....
I set the cruise on 65 with the tuner on the 4th position and went up a mountain here in central Va tonight. I just watched the egts because you couldn't tell there was a load on the truck going up that steep grade. Fortunately the grade ended just as temps hit 1250. I have never been able to pull that grade @ 65 in anything else that didn't involve a downshift

 

[DividingCreek]

I have the S&B cold air intake that was on the truck when I bought it. I had thought that was pretty much the best out there ? The 6637 NAPA filter is an improvement ?

Are you saying the van turbo intake housing is a problem ?

 

[BBslider001]

My co2 bottle is a 20lb'er so takes quite a bit to run her down. I have a 3 gal air tank that was from under a range rover that ran the air ride suspension and there's plenty of room to bolt it under the 24ft long crew cab 250 but the co2 bottle is just too easy and $16 to swap it for a full 1 once or twice a year fits my needs well. My needs are typically within the confines of the secure area within a port, dealing with non-runners or flats etc. The amount of tools,towing, and recovery gear I loaded behind and under the rear seat today was crazy.

The 250 had a cracked upper tank on the radiator and I tried jb weld but the crack went down to where the alum and plastic meet so no joy. Upside is she has a new radiator. Also swapped out the prairie tan formerly leather wrapped steering wheel and the gear selector lever today. Put the black steering wheel that came out of the ambulance I got the engine from. The original lariat wheel was shot after 375k. What little leather that remained (most seemed to have rotted away) needed to go. The gear selector lever had a broken knob on the end and that is where the overdrive switch is. I had thought the truck wasn't engaging overdrive because she's turning 2500 rpm @ 60 mph. Turns out the overdrive does work and I seem to have low gearing....
I set the cruise on 65 with the tuner on the 4th position and went up a mountain here in central Va tonight. I just watched the egts because you couldn't tell there was a load on the truck going up that steep grade. Fortunately the grade ended just as temps hit 1250. I have never been able to pull that grade @ 65 in anything else that didn't involve a downshift

2500 RPM at 65 mph is pretty high. I wouldsay OD is not working. These truck turn 2400 RPM @ 70 mph. You might wanna look at that and make sure its engaging unless you have a higher gear ratio that the PO installed. 1250 is not bad on EGTs. You just don't want to hold it any higher than 1350 for an extended period of time. I have pulled grades towing and held it at 1200-1250 without an issue. I don't love it, but it won't hurt it.

 

[DividingCreek]

2500 RPM at 65 mph is pretty high. I wouldsay OD is not working. These truck turn 2400 RPM @ 70 mph. You might wanna look at that and make sure its engaging unless you have a higher gear ratio that the PO installed. 1250 is not bad on EGTs. You just don't want to hold it any higher than 1350 for an extended period of time. I have pulled grades towing and held it at 1200-1250 without an issue. I don't love it, but it won't hurt it.

The overdrive is working. I have had several turbo diesels and I back off @ 1250. I'm thinking the truck has been re-geared to 4:10's or lower. A friend has an 03 7.3 f250 up outside of Boston that he's retired and is asking me to come get for free so I'll likely either swap axles or diffs from that truck into mine.
I'm up in Baltimore now and going to pull three Defenders out of the port tomorrow. She made the 250 mile maiden voyage nicely, although there is a boost leak and some misfiring on some of the upper level tunes so more sorting ahead of me. Tomorrow I will find out how she tows loaded. The 40 acre turning radius is taking some getting used to.

 

[DividingCreek]

Well, I though OD was working because when I touched the button to turn od off the truck would downshift. The other day I was towing a loaded car trailer and trans temps got up around 210. All of a sudden the truck shifted up to another gear and it has worked great ever since. As soon as it shifted up the trans temps dropped back down around 140. I'm not sure if it was a sticking solenoid or a stuck valve but its worked great ever since. Really need to do the cooler upgrade and a flush since I've seen 210 on fluid temp.
I have put 2000 miles on the truck in 2 weeks and I'm loving it.

On a long straight stretch of uphill grade I floored the truck while rolling along. It made 23lbs of boost before shifting to OD so everything seems healthy.
Hopefully economy improves dramatically as before od started working I was getting around 13mpg towing the car trailer.