95 modle F350 7.3 fuel usage.

Rob,i have owned a 7.3 since /6/05 it is not the full duall cab & is 6sp manual teh 1st 3 yrs of it's life was carrying my roofing gear ,hoist, sand,compressor,cement mixer,nails,nail guns etc,etc.
Some hwy, some suurbia mixed bag sort of driving & hardly any off road (morton island & landcriuser park) once each.Was getting around the 16ltre per 100k,it has not mattered whether emty or not still around the same.When on Morton i was in 4wd for a fair bit of the time when driving & consuption went up to around 30 ltr per 100.Now i am not working in that business any more, driving without any gear or the sides on the tray (it is a trayback)& just hwy running for one tank of fuel it got down to 14.7 ltr per 100.then i put my 600kg plus camper on & mainly running hwy again the 2 wks before Xmas was back up to 16ltr/100k,so i am still pretty happy with it.I do beleive the auto with a chip for towing & hwy running is pretty good as well.

Cheers Bob.

Rob,

I also have an 05 7.3 F250. The only difference between the 250 and the 350 is that the 350 has duals on the rear. I pull a 30' 5th wheel, AGM of 4450kg. I get between 21 and 25 litres PHK, depending on the road conditions. Freeway driving 21 LPHK, 25 up and over Kurrajong Heights on Bells Line of rd.

Empty I also get around 16 Litres PHK around town, but have managed 11 litres PHK on the freeway.

I have added a steering stabilizer and in the near future will add air bags to the rear suspension.

They are so nice to drive.

BruceV

2004 F250 with the 7.3 T diesel...towing 4.0 tonnes of boat & trailer at 100kph - on flat going I get between 5 & 6 Kilometers / liter.

Thats around the old 15 - 16 miles per galon.

Unladen on the highway I can get 19 or so miles to the gallon if I drive at the 100kph judiciously - if using the cruise control it goes down a fraction - using your right food judiciously, is better.

If towing anything then they can't be beat for comfort...the vehicle is big 7 heavy as a result it has a good footprint on the road that winds from passing road trains etc can't push around too easily - for me this is important, the boat i tow is proud in the bow and has a pilot house type cabin - i.e. a hge amount of windage.

Towing it with a 4.2 Td cruiser and wind from trucks would push or pull me halfway across the white line - it was frightening.

The F 250 with boat in tow - holds it's ground against sea breezes, road trains etc etc.

Theres no way to describe it - you just have to drive one to know.

For me as a big fella (read fat ~ 130 kilos) the seats aren't the most comfortable - they tend to be a bit narrow and not well padded...even had them re apholstered but still not great...

The air conditioning is a oke - yes it's cold - but poorly designed - you cannot for example direct cold air conditioned air downwards onto your feet, when radiated heat comming up thru the metal floorpan and rubber mats from the exhausts and road make the floor uncomfortably hot on a long tow in summer 100 plus temps.

Obviously it's designed for snow countrys where it's more important to heat the footwell than cool it...in our hot climate that becomes an issue after a few long days continuous heat towing.

The electronics that fire the old 7.3 are notoriously unreliable - there have been some CPS (Camshaft Position Sensor) recalls in the USA that Ford in Australia just chose to ignore.

They were charging something like Aus $600 odd+ for a USA $20 part that they are supposed to supply free under the recall.

You can order the part ex USA ford for $20 still or get one from a International harvester dealer for about $120 instead of paying the ludicrous $600 fee.

The wiring looms that fire the HEUI Injectors (Hydraulid Electric Unit Injector) from the IDM (injector driver module) controlled by the onboard computer, are notorious for rubbing thru and shorting on top of the metal rocker covers or over the top of the shock absorber tree inside the engine bay.

Also the same circuit plugs into the gasket under the rocker covers and comes out inside the ricjker covers to fire the injectors and actuate the glow plugs...

The snap lock plastic fitting under the rocker covers that transmits these electriical pulses etc also has ahabit of popping off from time to time with hardening cuased by heat and oil exposure inside the roicker cover.

All these things tho are "easy fixes" (but the parts can be hellish expensive) IF (and thats a big if) you can diagnose whats wrong.

To do this you need to truck your vehcile to a Ford dealer where they have the computer software to diagnose faults or if your brave enough to venture anywhere outside the metro area with one - then you need to carry a laptop computer with you as well as a auto enginuity PC based scan tool and Ford non OBD11 compliant unlock code set for your vehicle and the USB type connector - so that you can diagnose and reset your own fault codes. (~US$700).

Ohh you also need a complete list from Ford f all the diagnostic codes to match the numbers the computer spits out to possible faults in english.

The electronic manual will then tel you a series of tests to perform to exactly determine where the fault is.

When one wire in my harness shorted out - it earthed the timing signal for the 4 injectors in one bank of the v8 turning a beast into a 4cyl midget at the slightest bump in the road or engine torque on it's engine mounts - that only cost about $5K to fix.

Great trucks when they work and very expensive and frustrating when they don't.

Even the Ford mechanics really haven't got half a clue how o diagnose service and maintain these trucks...they just don't see enough of them and Ford in their wisdom arent importing any more.

Like I said great trucks when they work and damned expensive when they don't.

Cheers