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1997 7.3 towing

8K views 130 replies 9 participants last post by  Blue-Truck-Nut97 
#1 ·
So I got this truck that’s been sitting for 3 years and today was it’s first day at work. I’m hauling a 7x16 enclosed trailer with 2 big zero turn mowers in it. I was using a 98 Chevy k1500 with the 5.7 that did fine. I don’t understand all the hype about how “7.3 will pull a house down” that I’ve seen in the past but from a dead stop it takes 30 seconds to get to 60mph and on the free way it won’t hold 65 going up a hill. I have 4:10s my half ton hauled the same set up and would do so much better. Is there something wrong with my truck?



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#14 ·
Ok, then you've ruled out lugging and restricted intake. Longjonsilver has you on the right track for diagnosing the fuel system. If it was mine I'd still check for exhaust leaks as mentioned, just because it's a common thing. Check out dieselorings.com, they have a lot of good diagrams for the fuel bowl and attached devices, plus they are a great source for parts.

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#16 ·
This is my second 7.3 the first one was a 2001 and it was even slower. I sold it because I drove my neighbors 03 7.3 dually and it was a lot more powerful and I didn’t want to mess with fixing mine but my company needs a bigger better truck for hauling the heavier trailers and I thought another 7.3 was the best route


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#15 ·
I’ll add this if I put it to the floor it’s a dog until it reaches about 2700rpm so basically when it shifts. But anything after 60 if I floor it it just makes noise. But I feel some power when I’m in high rpm anything before 60mph


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#21 ·
masakimm I believe, he's working on lots of stuff! I feel I should warn you though, if it sat in the weeds for three years, the odds are you are going to have a few bugs and parts bills.

Longjonsilver is sharp too, and I agree with what he said, start simple, work your way up, it's cheaper that way, exhaust back pressure valve and fuel screen are a good place to start.



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#25 ·
I've got another question for ya, you said 2500-2700 RPM at 65 right? Is that in overdrive?

When you are cruising along and come to a hill, what does your RPM do?

The reason I'm asking is that sounds kinda high to me, I remember mine running about 2200 at 65. Wondering if your torque converter is locking. I'll drive mine home tonight and check RPM for a reference.

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#26 ·
Ok, drove mine and verified, 65 mph is roughly 2100 rpm. The slow take off also makes me wonder about torque converter lock up. I'm not confident enough to say " this is what's wrong", but it seems worth exploring.

I'm assuming you checked the transmission fluid level, warm and running, just like any auto trans.

Next, do all your brake lights work? All three, yes even the one on the back of the cab. After sitting so long the bulb sockets are likely due for a cleaning anyway, but a bad bulb or a bad ground on a brake light can cause it not to lock, went through that recently on mine.

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#30 ·
I think I unplugged that back pressure sensor it was a 2 prong plum in front of the turbo. I was doing some extra research last night and I saw where some line can get clogged or corroded on the Ford super duty’s with the 7.3 but I can’t find it on mine


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#32 ·
The back pressure valve is in the turbo base, the back pressure sensor is up front by the water pump. From the front of the engine, look at the passenger side of the water pump, there is a metal tube running from the passenger exhaust manifold up beside the water pump, with a sensor stuck in it. That's the exhaust back pressure sensor.

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#31 ·
You have to realize that these trucks are all over 22 years old and parts wear out. I'd check the up pipes and map sensor along with seeing how the turbo is.

I can still hook my 96 up to a house and pull it with no problems.
 
#33 ·
I would also invest in an adapter either usb or blue tooth and forscan to read data the data will tell u a lot about what's going on with the engine. If the hpop system is not building enough pressure low power if not building boost low power how's the fuel pressure. u can check it using a tire gauge at the filter housing if its bellow 50 psi then its a problem. Before I did all the work to my 95 we ran the crap out of it towed a 20 ft camper at 80 for mo to tx motor speedway. got 18 mpg towed my 57 fairlane on a 20 ft trailer. from our farm in tx to mo never even knew it was back there. And that was a heavy car and trailer. So need to do some testing and see. I have seen these truck never turn on the check engine light but have problems with codes in the computer. And no the parts stores can not read the codes on these trucks. heck my snapon modis at work argues about it sometimes. forscan has worked well for me thou.

Explosive Diarrhea not ur friend but a great weight loss tool.[emoji1787]
 
#34 ·
I'm just stealing parts off the ambulance to make my 350 better.[emoji16]

Explosive Diarrhea not ur friend but a great weight loss tool.[emoji1787]
 
#36 ·
Man you got some sweet rides.

I would live in that Ford Camper. Does it have a 390?
 
#41 ·
And here I am trying to down size and got rid of all my cars and motorhomes finally. I have my truck the POS I drive and the horse trailer I want to build to go behind my truck.

Explosive Diarrhea not ur friend but a great weight loss tool.[emoji1787]
 
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#42 ·
Sorry Eric got side tracked. So did a little test with mine last night on the way home, empty no load, 2150-2200 rpm was 65 mph in OD. By unlocking the torque converter my rpm rose to about 2450. I would think that if your converter wasn't locked you would experience slow takeoff, low power, and such. But this is only a theory at this point.
@masakimm

You've had more experience with torque converter problems than me, what's your thoughts?

As for reading codes forescan has been great for me. Sooooo, in the words of @Sbluke55 do a Google search for " super duty diagnostics on the cheap"

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#43 ·
Well torque converter lock would not be a problem till u were in 3rd and 4th gear they don't usually lock up in first and second the other thing is it won't lock up till trans reaches a set temperature.
I use a usb cable which was like 20 bucks and forscan on my computer and love it for data monitoring when there's a problem. If I'm working on a 7.3l at work and need to scan it I will most of the time grab my laptop and adapter.

Explosive Diarrhea not ur friend but a great weight loss tool.[emoji1787]
 
#45 ·
Just got home from working. I overreacted a tad on the rpm numbers apparently. It’s at 2200-2300 at 65 my bad [emoji23] I have a a blue tooth adapter that plugs in and the torque pro app I tried that and it doesn’t say anything really. Today I was trying to back up a driveway and the truck got to the middle of it I stopped because a dog ran in the way and when I tried to continue backing it didn’t have the guts to move it so I ended up parking on the road. So tomorrow I’m going to have to go back in the Chevy until I have time to mess with this one


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