Just bought one for my construction business here in Panama. It has the 7.3 Power-Stroke turbo diesel made by International. Low miles and shipped from the US. It's been re-mapped for an extra 100hp and 100 foot pounds of torque. I've owned many gas Ford cargo and box vans when I lived in the US, but never a diesel. I know it was probably the best diesel motor that Ford ever used. If you have had any experience with this motor I'd like hear your input. It's a bull of a motor. I've been to many forums and typical, everyone has a positive or negative reply. I'd just like to know about the idiosyncrasies of it. Parts aren't cheap to have sent from the US and I want to keep this van running for another 200,000 miles. Thanks. 

You want to look into using the coolant additive Ford recommends or else you end up with coolant cavitation, which eats away at the cylinder liners and the heater core. They also sell test strips to check on the coolant health.

Diesels don't like putting off any maintenance. Fuel filters, oil changes, air filters should be done regularly as possible. Your oil changes are going to be more expensive than you're used to.

It'll probably last longer with a stock chip in it (IMO).

If it's a stock automatic of the same vintage, it's marginal at best-they tend to die around 200k. There are places that rebuild them to make them far more robust than a stock one. If it's a manual disregard-those are fine.

That's all that comes to mind right now. Good luck-hope it works well for ya.

Thank you for the info. Yeah, it's an automatic. It is straight and runs great and the original owner serviced it at the proper intervals, but I imagined that the tranny could be an issue in the short future. I'll get it flushed and serviced. 15 quarts of oil and a filter is $160.

I had a 99 F250 with the 7.3 PS, with manual transmission. Awesome truck and engine! The engine etc... were all running strong at 235,000 (long enough to replace the glow plugs twice) miles when the truck rusted out around it. 

I'm getting conflicting info on the Ford site. Is it necessary to let it idle for a few minutes to cool the turbo before shutting down? I have no manual and this may or may not have an intercooler with mid-year model changes. Also, I live in the tropics so how long should I let it warm up when starting?.........I'm not trying to waste your guys time, I looked on-line and get so many different answers. 

Quote from: ADG on July 31, 2017, 08:30:49 PM
I'm getting conflicting info on the Ford site. Is it necessary to let it idle for a few minutes to cool the turbo before shutting down? I have no manual and this may or may not have an intercooler with mid-year model changes. Also, I live in the tropics so how long should I let it warm up when starting?.........I'm not trying to waste your guys time, I looked on-line and get so many different answers. 

I never let my truck cool before shutting off.....which doesn't mean I was doing it right...Also, mine was not a commercial setup.

As far as warming up.... I was told by the mechanic (that I trusted) that once the truck was running, it was ready to go. No warm up needed.

Thanks. Here and in the US you always see people that start their diesel trucks and let them idle for 10-15 minutes, go into a store or something and let them idle, get home and let them idle. I had a neighbor that would start his truck at 4:30 am close to my bedroom window and let it idle for 30-40 minutes. Pissed me the F off.

Many gringos move to Panama with all of their possessions, have a house built, complain that this isn't the USA, or wherever. Or have health issues, or the newly retired have newborn grandkids and move back and want to bail out quick. You can buy "fire sale" deals on anything here because it costs a lot to ship back to the US, Canada, Europe, etc. This van "blue books" for $7,000-8,000 here and I paid $950. New and used cars and bikes are expensive in Panama. I went to the Honda dealer and a new CBR1000RR was $31,000.

I told you . . . Those calipers are heavy and shipping would be around $200.00 for 2 including hardware and pads w/hardware

Tranny can cost up to $1500 to have shipped to PTY and if you pick up then the transport to Boquete is "free"

Luckily it only needed new pistons, seals and pads.

And oh, I know about shipping costs. I've had many very heavy construction tools shipped here that you can only get in the US. Some cost just as much to ship as the cost of the tool.

Quote from: DarkMonster620 on August 01, 2017, 05:17:09 PM
I told you . . . Those calipers are heavy and shipping would be around $200.00 for 2 including hardware and pads w/hardware

Tranny can cost up to $1500 to have shipped to PTY and if you pick up then the transport to Boquete is "free"

Carlos, a friend needed a new alternator for his Lexus, $975 here. We looked on-line and bought a factory new one for $175 and $150 shipping from the US.

Quote from: ADG on August 01, 2017, 04:56:30 PM
Thanks. Here and in the US you always see people that start their diesel trucks and let them idle for 10-15 minutes, go into a store or something and let them idle, get home and let them idle. I had a neighbor that would start his truck at 4:30 am close to my bedroom window and let it idle for 30-40 minutes. Pissed me the F off.

Oh, I was an idler....just like most Diesel people. Usually didn't shut off to fuel, left it running for quick stops...Right or wrong, there is a strong belief that it uses/used more fuel to restart than to just let her run....Perhaps some also held opinions about glow plug life? Not sure one way or the other about that.

I just turn it off and on like any other vehicle.

If it can't handle that, then automotive darwin can cull it out of the herd.