Trucks: 2003 f350

I'm a dyed in the wool Chevy guy. Never owned anything else (well, maybe a couple Hondas for commuting and Mrs Papi) but I've got a line on an F350 at a good price, with a plow, that would definitely be an upgrade of capability compared to my half ton Chevy. I had a 3/4 ton plow truck a while back and with all the headaches associated, swore I'd never plow again... but damm if this winter lugging the snowblower all over God's creation didn't make me reconsider...

To the point, when I go check out this truck, what do I need to look out for? It's an 03 v8 gas truck, replacement engine and auto tranny. Of course where the replacements were sourced from and who did the work etc needs to come up, but is there anything common to this truck I should look out for? On a Chevy, I could name a few things to check... but I'm new to Ford entirely. Anybody have any thoughts?

 

Good trucks. One thing that comes to mind is thin exhaust manifolds. They rust through and leak. It may have the spark plugs which are expensive to replace also

 

Once you get that Super Duty, you'll never go back to Chevy's! I used to be a Chevy guy until they gave me a '99 F-250 crew cab at work. I've went through a couple other's through the years until last month when they got me a brand new '18 F-350. At home I've got an '88 F-350 and an '08 F-350 with the Powerstroke. They're just more truck than comparable Chevy's in my opinion. They seem much more heavy and beefier. The gas engines tend to pop spark plugs out of the aluminum head. They claim that if they do that you have to pull the heads and have them machined back to spec. I had it happen twice, I just gobbed coppercote neverseize on the plugs and screwed them back in, never had a problem again. I've had to replace the occasional ball joint or u-joint, not too bad, just routine servicing.

 

The 5.4 it's a good motor. Yes, the exhaust manifolds can crack, but that happens on many vehicles. They are thirsty, but we'll built.

Yes, it won't be a rocket ship, but they are solid vehicles.

I can assume it won't be a daily driver, right?

 

Thanks for the input, gentlemen. I am a little concerned about it being anemic with the 5.4, especially if it's got the 3.73 rather than 4.10s. (Anybody know the code for that off the top of your head?) As long as it's got the grunt to plow and haul without pizzing down its own leg, I'll be happy.

I guess if it's slowing me down I'll open it up a little with intake/headers/exhaust and see how it goes. Are these known for responding well to being "uncorked?"

It will be a daily driver, but having started a new job last year (primarily due to the commute!) my daily ride is usually under 20 miles round trip. Anything further than that I use Mrs Papi's nice little baby hauler with the heated seats etc.

 

Power-wise, they're fine with a medium load up to 55 mph. Unless you're used to a diesel

 

I have a '03 F250 SD ext cab 4x4 with a 5.4 V8 and 3:73 gears...I don't find it anemic at all...quit the opposite...I am often impressed with how it pulls hills without shifting down as far as I would have expected (if at all)...got allota grunt for a 330 CI engine. I am not a real aggressive lead foot driver though either...but my previous truck was a '95 F150 SC 4x4 with a 5.0 V8...now that was gutless.
As far as things to look out for...don't know as there were any real stink bombs with the 03's...the spark plug launcher thing was on the earlier models...and the stuck plug thing started in '04 I believe. I would look it over real well just the same as any other vehicle really...and scope out the bed cross members real good...they are known to rot out if you are in a salty roads area. Good used Superduty beds are kinda pricey...just from demand I guess...fortunately mine is from Florida, so no rust worms.
This is a single rear wheel F350? I find duallys, even 4x4 ones, to be less capable off road, or even on road in slippery conditions.

 

Good heads up on the bed rails. We're definitely well into the rust belt in MA, and the liquid stuff they've been using seems to be even worse than rock salt. Definitely going to spend some time underneath it. Gotta check out shock mounts, rockers, crossmembers etc.

It is a single wheel rear.

 

Papi, I'm a Ford guy with a 01 7.3 with that miserable automatic transmission. Now "they" may use a different a/t in the gas models, or maybe with the different HP & torque it will be fine but Ford put a tranny in that truck every 4 of July for the first 3 years!! This was also with adding (and monitoring) a trans temp gauge and synthetic Amzoil in the trans. Then I bought a 7.3 F 450 with a stick for all my towing work. It's been fine since I quit towing and the bed & racks got worked real hard. This has been my and a bunch of buddies experience with that "e 4OD" tranny. They fixed it @ the introduction of the 6.0 diesel (03? +) and forward to today's models, in fact I don't think you can order a manual in any configuration these days.

 

Yeah they needed beefed up a lil bit to hold up behind the diesel...worked pretty well with the gassers though...

 

A couple of years ago I bought a 2008 F350 with the 5.4L automatic for hauling our gooseneck stock trailer. Prior we had a used 1989 F250 with the 460, standard transmission, and prior was a F150 in-line 6, standard.

All three engines have been exceptionally good to me. I’ve towed with some nice diesels, and the 5.4 isn’t in the same league, but it does what we need. It is not a daily driver, so I didn’t feel we could justify the diesel. It is the standard cab and 8’ bed, which was hard to find. I prefer a stick, but my wife doesn’t, and she sometimes ends up hauling cattle, so this is my first auto. So far no issue. Overall very happy with this truck, and absolutely got my money’s worth out of the previous two.

 

While the 5.4 in those may not be fast, it's certainly no slouch, and you can do upgrades to make it go better.

That said, it's far peppier than any factory TBI 5.7 gm in similar 3/4 ton trucks. Nobody ever complained about what slugs those were.

 

And that......is a fact

My old man had an 87 3/4 ton. Pulled out of our shop road onto the blacktop behind a bobtail semi and tried passing it. Didn't work.

 

Purchased an 01 V-10 F250 in 2010 with 195K on it, PO rolled it. Motor wise a tune-up with all new CAPS at 210K or so. Late last year had to have the exhaust studs taken care of, rust off. I had it done for about $500. Also, the bed supports under the bed got very rusty so replaced the bed 2 years ago. Replacement was cheap but not that much better. We reinforced it and should be fine for years. My 06 E350 van had the same 5.4 with no motor problems. Sold it with 300K and ran like new using about a quart of oil in 3,500 miles. Never had any plug issues, but I'm told to use nickel based anti-seize. Pick-up gets around 10-11MPG van got 15-16MPG if driven easy.
Good luck and enjoy the truck.

 

03 5.4 , not a plug spitter, but oem plugs were still the multipart units, carbon build up on the end of the ceramic for the electrode is the culprit that cause breakage when trying to remove there is a specific regime to do for the best shot at replacing them- even then sometimes they break. there is a tool for that also. This engine relies on oil pressure for the cam Phasers and cam chain tension system, The VCT solenoid is very sensitive to dirty oil as well as the phasers themselves. Best to change oil every 3k, in that department stick with OEM oil filter as there is a check valve in it to hold oil in block so that at start up oil pressure is immediately applied to the cam chain tension system . Pleases note that this is an interference style engine regarding valves and pistons. In that respect failure in the timing system can be catastrophic. about an 8hr repair for someone like me if a valve doesn't hole through a piston. coil on plug ignition - I do not mess around trying to find which one might be bad I just replace all as a set. This has served me well on my 5.4, v10, and 4.6. PCV lines do go bad notably the the rear one at the intake manifold area- it has a foam cover over formed rubber hose - sneaky to find due to the foam not disintegrating but the internal hose has. Tranny- good unit ,2 things if it hasn't been serviced much There is a valve that is basicly a pressure release unit that likes to stick when changeing between f and R or park and neutral into gear can result in stallng,there is another similar item in the torque converter that can cause same- what alerts you to this is a drop in rpms when shifting to 500/600 from apx 900 at idle and then regains to idle. step on the gas at the wrong moment and a stall can occur. Fuel system the pump control module is located on the frame member ahead of the spare tire the aluminum backing plate is bolted directly to the frame member - there is no code for this when it goes south due to corrosion from deicing materials and the dissimilar metals. $60 part -new ones are rubber isolated, module can cause a No start or dies for no reason- another sneaky one. Oh and the pump is is not the problem in most cases, it is the module even if it looks ok it could have a corrupted seal and the water vapor wipes it out. Can also be intermittent. 14 mpg is about max on the highway at 70. Towing use the tow haul mode - when doing that- saves burning out the overdrive bands. Exhaust manifold bolts- cast iron manifolds on alum. block soft steel bolts - thermal expansion contraction - repair with stainless steel studs- not fun. 18 years of playing with this series of engines and I have likely forgotten a few things here. I have had the 4.6 5.4 and v10 still have a 06 5.4, also have a 04 6.o oil burner but that"s another story. I 'm not into hot-rodding the engines per say but there are some basic changes to improve performance based on needs, both for the Eng. and the transmission. Chris

 

automatic is a 4R100 which is a beefed up E4OD. they hold up great behind a gasser. . manifolds on the other hand are common, its not really the manifold rusting or cracking but the studs breaking. the wrong shop fixing them and you'll easily spend $1000 per side and it may be even worse when you get it back. the right shop that knows what they are doing can do a manifold for $200 and it be done right. there are upgraded studs available but they cost 3-4 times as much as the factory and I havent seen where they last any longer so i quit using them 4-5 years ago and went back to the original style studs...even use the early style studs on later model trucks because of the cost savings.

problems with the plugs is waaaaay over exaggerated if its the early 5.4..... but late 03...everyone i have seen is actually titled as an 04 had 3 valve plus the multi piece plugs. plugs are a pain but the 3 valve is the major flaw. DO NOT use anti seize on the plugs if you do change them.

5.4 does reasonable well hauling heavy loads with a stick but the auto makes them seem gutless.

short version...if its an 03 with a standard 2v 5.4 there isnt many big issues that come up. if its 3 valve, plan on locking out the phasers and adding a tuner right off the bat plus upgrading to the later style plugs/coils to eliminate the 3 piece plug failures. Rear brake calipers seem to like sticking and ball joints only last 50-70k even if you buy good ones. factory lockouts leave a little to be desired but upgrading to a set of superwinch or milemarker is cheap and easy. unlike chevy the rearends and transfer are virtually bullet proof.

 

My tranny complaints...... well I did tow around a 9 ton manlift every few weeks, and there was that load of concrete pipe, I didn't quite do the math right (in my head) and after a few miles I did calculate that I was over 30,000 lbs.

 

Lots to sink my teeth into here - thank you!!

Found out today the truck has a Promar replacement engine and a rebuilt tranny from about 9k ago. Receipts are present, will be checking it out tomorrow hopefully. With the engine having been replaced, hopefully the manifold studs won't be an issue. I've dealt with that on Chevy LT1 engines and it is a pain. If it's got the three piece plugs I'll look into converting asap. Is it just coils and plugs that need replacing?

Thank you again for the other nuggets of wisdom - very helpful stuff coming into this knowing nothing. If I make a deal, I'll be sure to get some pics up. Maybe even action shots, as it's supposed to snow for two days.

 

There's many brands of anti drain back valve equipped oil filters, so you don't need to use mororcraft or ford filters only . I like purolator.


I have a buddy that had 400k on his e350 with the 5.4 and the auto tranny. He had very little issues. He had exhaust manifold issues, but that was really it.