I drive a 2002 7.3L diesel and get anywhere from 15-19mpg on the freeway does anyone have any tips or know of any products that improve fuel economy?
I drive a couple hundred miles a week and with diesel at $2.34 it adds up fast. I love my truck, but going to the pumps once a week is a little depressing. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I have a 2001 crewcab 4x4 the gets at least 20 mpg, usually closer to 21-22. You may consider switching all of your lubricants over to full synthetics. I use Amsoil and have had excellent results. I think it cost approx. $300 to do everything. I also noticed a slight improvement after installing a banks powerpack. I bought it for the extra power, which is great, but it did increase the mpg a bit also. I would start with the synthetics and check you results. With the amsoil engine oil and there filter, you can also go longer between oil changes. There oil costs a bit more upfront, but more than pays for the differance over the long run from the increased mpg and extended oil change intervals. My engine has run quite a bit smoother and started easier in the winter using there oil as well.

Not sure what you use your truck for, but propane assist also help the fuel economy quite a bit. The propane helps the diesel fuel burn more compleatly and gives you a cooler intake charge. Several different companies offer propane kits. Personally I like the MSD or the powershot 2000. Info on the powershot system as well as many other excellent products for the 7.3L can be found here:

www.dieselsite.com

Info on the MSD system can be found here:

http://store.summitracing.com/defaul...=400122+310472


This is Amsoil's website: www.amsoil.com

 

Wow thanks for the info. What kinds of upgrades can void the stock warranty? I know for most stock cars it's forced induction systems and nitrous, but I'm still new to the world of turbocharged diesels.
I've often heard that the ford transmission can't put up with as much power as the engine can. Is yours upgraded or is that a false claim?
I suppose it depends on driving habbits alot, I just have worries of adding power to my truck if it means the tranny will need to be replaced do to failure.

 

Depending on your local dealer, if you do any minor mods like using an aftermarket intake, air filter, exhaust or any type of programmer/chip they will attempt to blame any problems if they happen to arise. Under fedaral law they can not do so unless they can directly pinpoint the modification as the cause of the givin failure. Not sure where you heard the info on the Ford trans, but most would consider it the weak point on the 7.3L trucks. I was stupid and after installing the Banks kit on my truck, which comes with a trans command to increase line pressure to prevent clutch plate slippage, I was showing off how the truck had plenty of power and was doing many burn-outs/brake torques at our local car show with the 37" tires I had at the time. Only problem was that I got the trans and convertor very hot and just shut the truck off without allowing proper cool down time. To make a long story short, I took they truck to my local Ford diesel mechanic and the put a remanufactured trans in it because I had basically welded the clutch plates togeather getting them so hot and turning it off without allowing proper cooling off. They never mentioned anything about my aftermarket turbo or any of the banks stuff. I am lucky to have such a great dealship and have learned my lesson on being stupid. They even added an extra trans cooler and magnetic in-line trans filter at no cost to me. I know most dealerships are not quite this easy to deal with, but most people do not do the stupid thing that I did to cause the problem. That just shows that every dealer is different on what they will and will not cover.

With that being said, I have over 120,000 miles on the remanufactured trans, with 2 fluid changes using Amsoil's ATF and I have not had the slightest problem. I pull at or above the trucks max quite often and have over 525 hp with the torque over 760 at the rear wheels. I do have the proper guages(trans temp, boost and pyro) and my trans has not even gotton as hot as it did when the truck was mostly stock. I also have many friends with much more power than I am making that still use the stock trans, they also installed an extra trans cooler, but other than that, and the increased line pressure from the Banks trans command, they are stock. Not sure if my experiances are what you are looking for, but they should atleast give you something to start with, depending on what you are using your truck for.

 

I forgot to mention, your warranty on your engine is 5 years or 100,000 miles, whatever comes first. As for the rest of the truck/driveline, you are still under the 3 year 36,000 mile warranty.

 

Dang, 37s? I've never seen someone smoke a tire that large. Of course most of my buds are running foreign cars so they think 18" rims are huge.
If you have that much power running through your transmission and pull trailers that's a testimate to how strong it really is.
I was just going off what I've heard, personally the only trouble my transmission has ever given me was it didn't want to shift when it was really cold out one day.
Thanks for all your help, much appreciated.

 

37X14.50R16 tires to be exact. No problem whatsoever smoking them as long as I wanted.

 

RNGMSTR,
Is this a good transmission cooler for this price? http://www.shopdiesel.com/index.cfm/...uct_id/165.htm
I just don't know how they rate them. Do you accomodate the larger size by adding more oil?

 

YES!, That is the same Flex-A-Lite cooler that I have been using and installing for the last few years with nothing but excellent results. I would highly recommend plumbing it inline with your factory cooler so that you are getting the cooling benefits of both, no reason to leave your factory cooler just sitting there for the ride. I would also recommend adding the ford inline magnetic filter, very easy to install. All you have to do is cut the rubber line, and put it back togeather with the filter and two hose clamps that are all included with the filter kit. You may also consider changing to a fully synthetic trans fluid. The synthetic fluid handles the temp extremes, both cold and hot much better than the conventional ATF. There are many available, the one that I use and have always recommended is the Amsoil ATF.