OT Tranny is toast

After 423,235 miles the tranny finally sacrum to the hard use of hauling.

    Sorry to hear Dennis. What are you going to replace it with ?

If the first one went that long, then I'd go with a Ford reman.  3 year 100,000 mile warranty and no more expensive than the other aftermarket builders.  If you want to drop some serious coin, look at a BTS or Woods tranny.
AaronSEIA

AaronSEIA wrote: If the first one went that long, then I'd go with a Ford reman.  3 year 100,000 mile warranty and no more expensive than the other aftermarket builders.  If you want to drop some serious coin, look at a BTS or Woods tranny. AaronSEIA

I don't have much confidence with the Ford reman's. My cousin had 5 put in before he got a good one.

I doubt Ford does the reman. Had an IHC reman front diff for my last truck and it was farmed out...was crap too.

when a friend of mine retired from being a police chief, he bought a new ferd F350. it was a special edition that ferd put out and with a fancy made in America paint scheme. and because he bought that truck he got the job of towing celebrity campers to filming spots all over the USA/Canada. paid really well, it was something he and his wife could do together, and be able to see the country. the first rear end and tranny was done on warranty, as was the 2nd and 3rd. he said some of those campers should not have been towed by a pickup. he was out of warranty on the truck, next to go was the engine, I don't remember how many miles he told me. then another rear end and tranny. he said they seem to go ot at the same time every time. he said that ferd told him to never have either fixed, but buy them new. he also said it's a good thing he saves his money he makes, cuz he'll need it down the road replacing something on the truck. but all in all he's pleased, as he got to be with his wife and see the country. he can't drive anymore, and I think that truck is stored ina barn somewhere. this is just a tid bit of info, not intended to put the truck brand down, (i'll do that in other posts) it's all in how any of them are driven and maintained.

shameless dude wrote:  it's all in how any of them are driven and maintained.

victoryallis wrote: Neighbor A lost his tranny in his F350 neighbor B’s dad owned a tranny shop at the time. Neighbor B figuered out it was cheaper to put a Jasper tranny in than rebuild the original. My question is how many rear differentials in 423,000 miles did you eat?

This is the first powertrain failure with the exception of the driveshaft universal joints and the 4 wheel drive locking hubs. The hubs I just replaced last week do to the bearings getting loose. On the engine the only failure has been the glow plugs which were replaced at 316,100. Injectors, injector pump and engine have not been touched. It did have an oil pressure issue. After the oil warmed up the oil pressure would drop to 7psi at an idle. The issue was the oil bypass valve was stuck open. Once it was cleaned and inspected it was put back in with no farther issues. I have had to replace the computer twice which is odd, so I keep a backup in the truck just incase.

Before you toss money at it, diagnose things.  You can check the solenoid function with a simple volt meter.  You can also check the glowplugs with the same meter on an ohm setting.  Glowplugs aren't the most fun job, you have to pull the valve covers to get to them.  Always, always replace with genuine Ford Beru plugs.
AaronSEIA

darrel in ND wrote: Can you fill me in on changing the computer, please......? Thanks, Darrel

Yes it's a 7.3.
It only takes about 10 mins or less to change.
Pop open the hood and look at the left side of the firewall you will see a set of three wire connectors that run up & down. As you are facing the connectors look to the right. You should see one connector by it's self. That's the PCM. With a 10mm socket loosen the screw that holds the wire connection to the PCM and pull the connector out.

Now you need to go inside the truck on the drivers side. The PCM is in front of the parking brake pedal. It will be enclosed in a black plastic case that is held in place by three screws. Simply remove the screws in the PCM will drop out.


I have cut a window in the case to allow the chip to be removed and replaced without having to take the PCM out, so yours will not have the cable coming out the back like the picture shows.

The 7.3 was the absolutely positively best diesel we had in ANY of our F450's... they didn't put out quite the power of the 6.0 and every one after, but we had NO failures of engines on the 7.3 trucks.

We did have a few transmission repairs... IIRC ours had an earlier Allison, but with 16k GVW and a fully loaded 14k trailer, I think those were well-deserved.  If yours went past 400K, you're doing very well.