Great White maintenance Log

[metalminded]

Hello all!
I live in upstate NY and just bought a 1993 ford f350
I am making this thread to document my experiences with repairs and modifications of the truck in the hope it will serve as some kind of helpful reference for other 7.3 idi owners.
I just bought my truck in South Carolina and drove back to NY, aside from 4 bad tires and 4 universal "pre filters" the truck made the trip without issue. Upon successfully arriving in NY the truck was given the nick name Great White.


here she is as found:

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[metalminded]

As i mentioned before, I was in Virginia when one of the oval tires popped a belt and the truck started really shaking down the road. I limped off the highway and found a sears autocenter where i had them replace the two rear tires with load E BFG TA/KOs. They also wired my exhaust back up after the bouncing the tires had caused made the two rear hangers break. After that we were back on the road, and aside from changing out universal fuel filters, installed ahead of the screw on filter, there werent any other issues.
now that i was back i could start replacing worn parts, so far the list includes:
front spring shackle(i bet this was adding to the ride quality )
front BFg tires to match the rear
air filter
fuel filter
battery terminals(decided to replace these after a no start issue was solved by forum member "icanfixall" thanks!)
transmission fluid( found what looked like well used gear oil in the transmission,changed to mercon V and plan on dumping it again soon)
front calipers and pads
front universal joints
front ball joints
tie rod and drag link

oh my aching wallet....

 

[metalminded]

My plan today is to flush the coolant system. i just got back from the International dealer (happens to be 10 minutes away) and after alot of confusion i ended up buying some green fleet guard and the additive. I also bought some testing strips which i plan to use before i dump the old coolant and after the fresh coolant has been added. i'll update my findings later on.

In the mean time, the previous owner had told me that the 4x4 shifter was missing a pin of some kind and that was the reason it was laying on the rear floor. When i was replacing the transmission fluid i removed the 4x4 shifter boot to feed a hose down into the transmission. here is what i found:
anyone know what this part is called? it looks like i may have to replace the whole assembly...

 

[icanfixall]

Welcome to the forum. Seems like the need for several extra mounted pre fuel filters is not helping anything. If they are the tiny filters that you can see thru they will not stop much small stuff. surely they will stop the big rocks but the standard fuel fitlers work down to a very small micron filtration. I think it 8 or 12 microns depending on which fuel filter you use. Fram is the worst so please don't use those. Baldwin or wix from nappa or the oem filters wil be about the same. Sounds like the trip home was easy besides the tire issue. So you have the 4 spped E4od trans. Keeping the fluid clean is very important to long life. Having an after market large trans cooler is a must too. also is having a tans temp gauge. Never allow the trans temp to reach over 200 degrees. They don't live long up there. If they get too hot the front seal melts and then fluid pumps out till you cool them down. But the seal is ruined and your driving on borrowed time.

 

[metalminded]

the pre filters i would say deffinately helped... the rear tank had some old nasty diesel in it and although we siphoned it before adding fresh fuel it was still able to foul 3-4 of those universal filters on the trip. i have the new wix filter from napa but i have not replaced it yet.
as far as the transmission goes, its a 5spd manual, i thought from my reading it was a ZF5? I could be wrong about that though. do you know what that 4x4 shifter assembly is called that posted a picture of? in the pic you can see that the casting that pinches the actual shifter is broken..

thanks for the help in advance! i am diggin this forum!

 

[SLC97SR5]

That shifter arm should be easy to weld up and keep rockin'.

 

[79jasper]

I have a transfer case shifter assembly from a 88.
I believe it's the same, maybe shaped a little differently. Hopefully someone will know.

If you're doing calipers and pads, might as well replace the rotors. Either way, might as well repack the wheel bearings.

 

[metalminded]

I will try and find out if its compatible as well, thanks for the reply!
I am going to give welding the shifter a shot, but my tig is in storage at the moment so i'll get to that a bit later... besides still many other things to occupy my time

Update: New universals, wheel beariings, ball joints and seals installed, all greased and never seized up, what a nice feeling

I am headed to the local yard today to scout some parts and get a rear bumper so i can get the truck inspected. i'll take pix if i see any thing interesting...

next on the to do list is changing out the front and back differential fluid as well as replacing the rear cover with a fancy aluminum ford cover. I haven't really poked around in to many differentials, what should i check while i have the covers off? also whats the fluid of choice on oilburners?

thanks a bunch guys!

 

[jfp3205]

That looks like the brother to my truck and I am in charlston sc. I am also having a hard time finding parts so if you find some let me know
Also, my truck is a late 92 without a turbo. Do you have a turbo on yours?

 

[metalminded]

That looks like the brother to my truck and I am in charlston sc. I am also having a hard time finding parts so if you find some let me know
Also, my truck is a late 92 without a turbo. Do you have a turbo on yours?

Nope my truck is NA also

ok well just back from the yard and they have a pretty good selection of trucks... i'd say about 30 f150,250 and 350s.. i picked up a new climate control unit, wiper stem, headlight switch and a chrome rear bumper
there is an 89 superduty there with the hydroboost brake booster. i haven't really read up on whats needed for the swap but this truck had all the brake parts intact. i took a pic of the booster and the vin of the truck if those would help.

if anyone needs anything i am going to go back at some point soon to grab some other stuff... and maybe that hydroboost stuff if it'll work

 

[metalminded]

So if the dang rain will let up i plan on draining my diff fluids. i picked up 4 quarts of RP 75/140 synthetic for the rear and three quarts of mobile 1 syn 75/90 for the front. what do i need to check out while i have the covers off?

 

[metalminded]

just placed my first order with Rock Auto... i think i just cleared 3k since i bought this truck...

You must be registered for see images

 

[metalminded]

little update (partially for my records)
completed repairs/maintenance :

4 load E bfg AT tires
Upper ball joints
Lower ball joints
wheel bearings w races
bearing seals
drag link
center link
tie rods
front calipers
front pads
front ebrake cable
Headlights w bulbs
coolant filter
coolant w additive
fuel filter
fuel pre filter
headlight switch
climate control unit w knobs
4x4 shifter
clutch slave cylinder
pinion bearings
pinion seal
front differential fluid
rear diff fluid
rear diff aluminum cover
transmission fluid, twice
transfer case fluid
oil change
exhaust with muffler
battery cable terminals
air filter
reverse light switch connector
driver door pins
rear bumper


up coming:

waterpump
thermostat
fresh coolant
timing
glow plugs
front seat re-upholster or replace

 

[BrandonMag]

It looks like you're moving in the right direction with your maintenance regimen. Pretty soon you should be done with all of the little stuff and then it will be time to bolt on a turbo, hydroboost, an intercooler, water/**** injection, etc. Etc. Etc.

 

[metalminded]

hydroboost is definitely on the horizon