01 Excursion for trailering jalopy derelicts??

Bit the bullet and bought one for towing - wife wouldn't ride in the rat van anymore. Any suggestions when towing, such as can you tow in overdrive? This one has the Powerstroke turbo'd 7.3 diesel.

 

go to www.powerstroke.org there is lots of info there.

 

Just make sure you have a couple grand set aside for the ******, Anything over 100,000 is borrowed time on those, and carry an extra cam sensor, learn how to change it out, they are good for 75,000 and die without warning.

 

trade it for a suburban...

 

Cam Sensors....my father has replaced it in his 01 Excursion 3 times already and its got 130k on it.

his has a Banks Turbo Housing, wastegate, exhaust and Trans reprogrammer has a Superchips chip in it. Pulls his stacker race car trailer nicely when he needs it too. Ive towed a lot with it and my only big complaint is that 4-wheel leaf springs leave you feeling beat the hell up after a good days drive

 

Couple of things.
1) Leave the motor stock. It has plenty of power for towing.
2) Change the ****** fluid and put a good synthetic in it. I have 110K on mine with Amsoil in it.
3) Tow in Overdrive.
4) CPS sensor issue does happen. I carry a spare, they're$20.00.
5) Enjoy.

 

I love excursions. Personally I think they are under-rated. I've been thinking about buying one as well. I used to do a **** load of installs on them when I worked for several Ford Dealerships and at the last dealership I was at. (I would do accessory installs for the dealerships not a job floater) Anyhow They are Great in my opinion. Many options on them, and the room inside is awesome especially if you have a family. You can always Change springs out, or add airbags for towing as well. I dislike the 6.0 diesel, and love the 7.3. I think they should have left a good thing alone until they really worked all the bugs out. But that is another story. Everyone is right about cam sensors, cheap price for security, always carry a few tools with you and learn how to do the maintenance yourself. oil changes are not cheap, but what is with a diesel??? I would suggest the synthetic in the ****** too, and save that $2k up like suggested earlier as well. When the ****** takes a ****, get a crate ****** from Ford and drop it in. 3yr 36k mile warranty as well. I don't think I'd waste money paying someone to rebuild one for me. When you get a killer warranty on a crate ******.

Enjoy your ride....

 

Don't forget this powerstroke recall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v36MCcRPRTc

 

The warr. just went up to 3yr/100000 on reman trannies from ford.They have a recall on the cam sensors also. Matt

 

Why not get something cool and old?

or try these...

http://www.ford-forums.com/ford-excursion/

http://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/forum29/

http://www.powerstroke.org/forum/99-03-ford-excursion-forum/

 

I have 135K on mine with a 100 HP hypertech kit,big exhaust and cold air intake 36 inch tires and I drive the piss out of it with no problems yet....guess I'm lucky eh?

 

I have about 50 of these in my fleet at work. The 7.3 is the lesser of 2 evils between it and the 6.0. Cam sensors are a must. They used to be $130 and a dealer only item. Now there $20 like metioned. Carry 2 spares. You need either an 8mm socket on a 3 inch extension or a 10mm socket on an extension depending on year. Its on the p***enger side of the balancer.

DO NOT TOW IN OVERDRIVE unless your on the highway and even then, don't shift into overdrive until your at cruising speed. The trans are the weakest link. However they are easy to change. (Takes me less than 3 hours start to finish at work.)

The other issue no one mentioned are the injectors. While they aren't as ****py as the ones in the Duramax or the 6.0, they do tend to fade around 120K. Don't let these things idle for long long periods, thats what eats them up and they aren't cheap.

Not to put a scare into you, but just the worst case scenerios so you know what you're dealing with. Good luck.

 

that's rich...

they'll also leak brake fluid somehow and catch fire. buddy's truck did that in the detached garage overnight. story he was told was they only did it while driving. he proved that wrong.

JML

 

I have a 2wd 2000 Excursion that I use to tow my 30' Toy Box camper. It has 140k on it, and 90% of the miles are pulling.

With the Super Chips re-programmer on "tow safe" setting it gets 21mpg.

I have had to replace the cam sensor, and have one in the glove box. I would not trade it for any thing. It will tow anything and haul 9 people at the same time.

 

****** is the weak link. Service it and treat it with care.
Pick up a CPS and keep it in the glove box
Switches in the door jambs that control the interior lights are cheap and never work right.
Throttle pedal [electric drive by wire] is another weak link,,, $100 at a dealer.

The 7.3 takes EXTREMELY well to used veggie oil for fuel. Check out www.frybrid.com for details. If you drive it daily, you could make your truck payment for what you save in fuel!

Keep it stock. The 7.3 has pleanty of power for what you need. Hot-rodding a diesel only shortens it's lifespan.

Drive and enjoy... Nice trucks those excursions

 

You are right matt, I totally forgot they just went up on the milage part. I used to work for AER who does the majority of Ford Engine and ****** rebuilds. I have seen very few problems with any coming back as well. So who is gonna post up some pics of their Excursions???? I love the simple wiring on them as well Only thing that ****s is putting a factory type DVD system in it. Easiest to pull the whole headliner out or at least enough to get it far enough down to bolt in the brackets. And dont let some jack*** talk you into cuting up your roof and blocking your A/C P***ages with foam, newspaper or other ******** like that. I don't know how many I fixed from stupid ***ed shops who did half *** audio video installs.

Oh yeah!! Buy some Jimmie Jammers. They are worth the 50 or so bucks to keep some ****tard from popping your door locks. Those are cheap and really easy to re-key and replace if someone does it though. Oh yeah their os some awesome power towing mirrors for them too, and some cool storage boxed that bolt in the back side panels and back doors as well.

Has anyone propane Injected theirs??

Will

 

Why did GM do away with the diesel burb?

 

One problem that has already surfaced is the auto doorlock system doesn't work properly. Anyone dealt with that?

 

I bought an Excursion new in Dec. 03. After I fought like hell for 12 months through 15 dealer warranty repairs, they were forced to buy it back through mediation. Their lawyer looked like an *** when it was over. I will never own a post WWII Ford, and you would be a ****ing idiot to buy one. Your trans will fail, it will puke oil, and you will sell it for a loss. Sorry man, you ****ed up.

 

great at***ude and way to be helpful

 

Reality is what it is. Experience teaches hard lessons. I forgot to mention that my Exccursion had 700 miles on it when it first went back, and 8000 miles when they warrantied the entire engine WITH A USED MOTOR. Just in case you thought I was kidding, I produced pictures at the hearing of the engine block that was butchered AND the bedplate (adapter between the engine and trans) that was butchered, for the judge. It leaked engine oil, ATF, and antifreeze, since new. Thanks UAW. No wonder your jobs are going to China.

 

So tell us Junkyardroad, tell us all of the incredible vehicle you own that will never loose a trans or leak oil, and you will be able to sell it at a proffit in 6 or 7 years.

Seriously, I would like to learn a little more about the problems you expirenced, but the at***ude is uncalled for.

I know a dude who just rolled 500,000 miles over on his Excursion. Personally I dont care much for Fords, but I would own one of these.

 

Uhhhh, thats not even related to his question, that is a part of the "clean up" program on the 08 model and a simple reprogram corrected it.

They actually get sticky.....squirt some WD40 in the latch area of your door, open and shut the door about 5-6 times and it will free it up. Do all the doors.

One other item, if it still has the original air box, it probably has broken tabs from the jiffy lube kids not taking care of them. Dont let a leaking air box go....it will let dirt in the motor and that will chew up the turbo fins and ruin the cylinder walls.

 

Good point. In my '57 Ford (post WWII) , the engine and ****** only lasted 50 years...and I really only replaced it with a V8 to get some more power.

Stupid Fords.

 

I wasn't answering a question of his, just thought it was a rather, uh, interesting video, related to the subject at hand. No harm done.

 

If that's 21 mpg towing I would have to call bull honkers on that.

 

I kinda like his at***ude.. right
to the point !
Dave

 

***mins, the way to go.
Just wish Dodge built a diesel SUV
The new mega cab with a long bed conversion is pretty bad *** thou.

Duramax is made by Isuzu?

Ford and Chevy are both gas block conversions. Transmissions on Ford and Dodge ****. So which of the lesser evils do you want.

If anybody would ever decide to drop a CAT motor in something under 1.5 ton, I would buy it just for the motor.

Maintenance is key to maintaining any vechile. Plan for the worst, hope for the best.

 

We had some Excursions and Suburbans in our fleet here at work.
I wouldn't piss hard for an Excursion.

Poorly designed, oversized ****. Not that the GM's of the early - mid '00s were loads better, but they were still better. Easier to work on. Less nitpicky plastic broken parts.

We've replaced all of our Excursions with newer Suburbans. Much higher quality.

Just my 2 cents.....

 

GM and Isuzu have shared alot, the diesel in the cab over isuzus is supposed to be bad ***, designed by detroit.

My step dad's 01 f-250 does pretty well, only had $4500 in computer parts replaced and about another $5k in bearings, seals, trans and injectors. almost 300k, not too bad.