Need to look at the turbo and see if it shows signs of dirt being past thru crappy stock air filters

JMO but I would not buy one without doing a compression check. You could be fixing to buy a motor that's on the verge of being whats called "Dusted"

 

Yup the 7.3 liter PS is used in Idustrial applications. Yes it is a great engine.

As a matter of fact I know a few people who ran the Cummins 5.9 in skidders back east and hated them with a passion. They kept throwing valves and having fuel issues.

The Cummins is a great engine but so is the 7.3.

 

Why that is interesting. Was the 7.3 used in the same application? Probably the best motor in a skidder is a 671 Detroit.

 

We have an 03 F-350 4x4 wheel lift tow truck with a 7.3 and an automatic tranny that was just recently overhauled for the first time. The mileage on the truck is just over 300k. If you really want to get down to it I will assure you that I have seen 10 bad Cummins ISb's to 5 bad 7.3's. And it surely is not a volume thing. I have seen the Cummins 5.9 wipe out cranks, pistons, heads, head gaskets, injectors, fuel pumps, yada, yada yada, in Fedex, UPS, F650-750, FL60-70, and various other platforms. The Cummins loves to blow up just as much, and sometimes, even more than other engines. Anyone who says otherwise is full of crap. Believe what you will, but in my experience the 7.3 in both the Ford configuration and the International configuration are good solid reliable engines.

 

I don't think the psd got an intercooler til 98 and then the hp went up. I knew a fitter with a 97 psd with a lincoln 200a welder/flatbed and he could only go up to Eisenhower at 45 mph. My stock 97 ctd would go up it at 55+ with a 25' 5er. Just tell him not to expect much power. Craig

 

We have a 97 F350 single wheel auto 4x4 that has around 180,000 miles on it. It is chipped and has pretty good power. We use it to spray crops in the summer on the farm, it probably weighs 12-13000lbs when loaded and I really can't think of anything that could be much harder on every component of a vehicle than that. I had it twisted up so bad one day that it put a small dent in each fender just above the wheels. And we still use it everyday. It does eat cam sensors between oil changes though.