2000 7.3L Excursion Show-Off Thread

[kolgeirr]

I'm glad the Other Builds forum exists, because I love to show this thing off. Earlier today I posted a thread on my 96 2-door Tahoe, the smallest "full-size" SUV of this era. Now it's time to throw one up for the largest and heaviest full-size SUV of the era.

This is my 2000 Ford Excursion with a 7.3L PowerStroke, 4x4. Previous owner kept it garaged most of its life and only used it to haul is family and camper around, until it blew two injector cups and his wife had him trade it in for a minivan. Picked it up in 2021 for $13k with 160,000mi on it. Completely rust free with a nearly pristine interior.

The list of things I've fixed & improved is too long to remember, but the bigs ones are: new injector cups & an injector rebuild, fuel tank pick-up and fuel lines replacement, 4" turbo-back exhaust system, gauge pillar w/ Pyrometer/Trans Temp/Boost gauges, Ford bullet-hole wheels and a set of KO2s.

Discovered a pretty severe boost leak on the passenger side up-pipe to the turbo 9 months ago, and have all of the parts to replace the pipes with bellowed ones from RiffRaff diesel and delete the EBPV from the turbo pedestal in the process. I plan to get around to that once it's not as hot as the surface of the sun outside, and after I order a nice topside creeper. No way am I removing this turbo while standing in the engine bay. It was awful doing the injector cups without one, not doing a turbo job without one, hard stop. Will post up on this thread when I get around to doing the work.

 

[Drunkcanuk]

Nice, those things are beasts!!!! Awesome to see.

 

[95burban]

Love me some 7.3 powerstrokes. Have you looked into a hydra chip? They are awesome, had one in my last truck and had custom tunes in it.

 

[kolgeirr]

Love me some 7.3 powerstrokes. Have you looked into a hydra chip? They are awesome, had one in my last truck and had custom tunes in it.

Yup, I have a Hydra in it just forgot to mention it in the post. It's actually why I added the 4" turboback exhaust and the Pyro gauge, to try and avoid melting some aluminum piston heads. Love that thing. I have two daily driver tunes (40HP and 80HP I think?) and three towing ones, plus 1200 and 1800 high idles, and the No Start. Really wish I could put Hydras in my GMT400s...

 

[95burban]

Very cool. Sweet rig!

 

[kolgeirr]

In the last few months I've done more work to the Excursion than either of my GMT400s.

The Ex got a new set of bellowed Riffraff Diesel up-pipes and, while the turbo was out, I threw a new high flow EBPV-delete exhaust housing, an EBPV delete pedestal, and a wastegate actuator on it. Also installed a set of fuel railer crossovers, new fuel pressure regulator, ICP and ICR, and a high-pressure oil crossover on. It runs better than ever - way more boost than before on account of the fixed up-pipe exhaust leaks and a bit quieter under the hood.

Though it's still not running perfectly. Fixing the other stuff has revealed how tired my HPOP has become over the years. It's still the original unit, and just cannot deliver the pressure necessary to drive the injectors hard enough under heavy load. As a result, I trip check engine lights running up hills with a trailer on due to insufficient injector pressure. Also, turbo surge is worse than before in these same situations, likely due to the higher boost. I'll probably throw a new HPOP, an ACS ported compressor housing, and a new fuel pump at it in the next few months. Would love to be able to set the cruise at 65 and leave it there while towing without the engine and turbo trying to disassemble themselves.

Also snagged a new toy to tow around with the Ex. Attached is a picture of this diesel Ex in its natural habitat.

And yes, I did replace the headlight housings since this picture was taken, and they're back to clear again.

 

[Sean Buick 76]

Cool rig!