Hello
I have recently purchased a 1999 F250 Super Duty with a 7.3 Turbo Diesel. It is quite different from the cars that I have owned. The biggest shock was the fuel mileage. I am having fun learning about trucks and diesel engines. I have enjoyed reading the questions and answers on this forum.
Thanks
Greg

 

Welcome Greg..

Good choice...

 

I can't stress enough - regular service for bearings on turbos. I've personally witnessed a near catastrophe due to a lady who ignored servicing them. The whole everything under the hood lit and melted (as I saw after the extinguisher put it out) and the metal exhaust manifold and turbo were glowing cherry red with heat. Please turbo owners - service when Ford has it's intervals for service - whether by yourself or at a garage. Don't wait.

 

The 7.3’s turbo bearings are engine oil pressure fed for lubrication and wear control.. There is no service interval.. Generally when the turbine bearings/shaft wear and/or fail, oil leaks past the shaft seals and excessive engine smoke will usually precede a complete failure.. Turbo’s can and will fail at times, but not a common problem on the 7.3,, especially under normal operating conditions, and with regular engine services/air filter ect……..

 

Good idea, bad idea. It's great they figured to pump oil to the bearings in the turbo. Two bad problems - now the engine oil and base temp. is increased and if it's pumping inline before the oil filter or it has it's own filtration - great but if it has troubles and is pumping fragments after the filter (in the event of a failure) - that also spells MOTOR trouble. I sure hope the engineering was up to speed. It would be great if the pump were secondary (run by the engine belt) and had an emergency bypass in case of overheat or oil pressure failure. That would make them 100 percent more desirable. I should find out more only - I'm notinto havingextra stuff to fix and big repair bills for newer items bolted to a basic block. If I want power I'll take it a little more hassle-free with a supercharger (of whichmany are easily hooked up as an accessory instead of a necessity). The plus is they aren't prone to the same damage a turbo more often sees. I just hope the companies selling superchargers have already gone a similar route by providing oil pressure systems to the bearings. Thinking ahead - what would really be cool (if you wanted towaste awaya lotmore money) would be to hook up both on low pressure systems. Superturbocharged. I think I've actually seen that before. How about Superturboinjection. At any rate - I'm cranking along toward 300,000 miles on my vehicle now and I'll never miss not having extra stuff to fix (especially since I'm the one fixing it).