I have owned and loved (for the most part) my 2001.5 for a while now, and these forums have been awesome source of info regarding the lift pump daemons and other things that can go wrong with the truck. My company Ecnoline 7.3 finally died with 350,000 kms of hard driving. It was an uncomfortable problematic piece of crap but over the years it took a lot of punishment. My boss has bought a 2003 SLT Laramie 4x4 extended cab auto with heated leather seats (wooooooohooooooo!!!! Yea I know I’m one lucky ba#%$rd !!!!!) to replace it and were going to put a big fiberglass shell in the bed so I finally have something I can stand up in and work (electrician).

So my question is, not having spent much time in the 3rd gen forum what should I look for to go wrong and what can I do to help prevent any nasty repair bills. Are the front ends still weak? Is the common rail more of less reliable? How fragile is the 4x4 selector (it’s now a **** on the dash, I kinda miss the leaver)? Sorry if any of these questions seem stupid I just want to keep this thing in good shape because I never want to return to an Ecnoline.

Thanks

 

Only problem I've had is DC can't keep my AC charged and they can't find the leak. Other than that it's been a great truck. No weak bits that I have found. I can't help you with the 4wd selector - I got the lever.

 

Lift pump isn't the best. It's on the side of the engine, dealers do a relocation kit on them most of the time when they go in for service. My 03 has a lever operated 4x4, I wouldn't have it any other way. Common Rail is great, seems to be the way to go other than the 12v. I believe the front ends are a lot stronger and more reliable. I have two things I hate about my truck, the first being the painfully slow windows....uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuppp.......doooooooooo ooooooooown.....today or tomorrow? Also the stinkin' visors fold down but they don't tuck up and "hug" the windshield, so it gets annoying having to duck down to see some stuff like stoplights. I also wish the door handles were flush with the body instead of bulging out 70's and 80's style...but that's just me.

 

Lift pumps are the only real issues I've seen with any regularity concerning '03's. Mine has almost 50K on it now, and it's still pushing 9-10 psi.

 

Thanks fore the replies guys.

I know if the lift pump dies on my 01.5 the injection pump may soon follow, should I be concerned about the injection pup on a common rail system for the same reason? My old garbage econoline had absolutely no power toys at all… nothing, so power windows, air conditioning, heated power leather seats the radio controls on the steering wheel are a completely new concept for me in a work truck. I thought I had it good with my 01.5… don’t get me wrong I still love that GLUG GLUG GLUG sound and rough feel you get driving it but the 03 is just insane with the luxury. Is it possible to install those sweet fold out power towing mirrors on a second gen? I hauled a generator today and I kinda got use to them in a hurry!

 

The door seals are junk, the 47re left a lot to be desired and...uh...other than that I am very happy with my truck.

 

Yes, I've seen the fold out towing mirrors on 2nd Gens before. Those mirrors are the greatest thing since sliced bread!

 

Lift pump wise, as I understand it the CP3 in the CR trucks won't run without lift pump pressure, which is better than having a truck run with a bad lift pump only to take out the VP44 injection pump.

The track bar also appears to be a better design.

Other than that, there have been threads about alternator bracket that cracks, door seals, AC door problems, some folks got short lives out of ball joints or U joints...

Mainly I think they have been pretty free of unusual problems.

 

I had to replace that little **** ($220.00 bucks) and my lift pump. I recommed the FASS.