Free: Contests & Raffles.
Here's an easy/cheap recipe with good bang for the buck. I've done this more-or-less to three vehicles...an F350 stickshift 7.3 and two 7.3 excursions. 1. Gauges...get a boost gauge and pyrometer. These are not optional if you get a tuner or tune of any kind. 2. Turbo as follows: a.) Not optional: new compressor wheel. Wicked wheel 2 from dieselsite or similar from kcturbos. I've used the BD billet compressor wheel and the kcturbos (which is very similar to the WW2) and the WW2 or KC unit is a bit more responsive down low. Do this regardless of the rest of the options.b.) Optional: new turbine wheel: KCTurbos has one. More blade area than stock...more responsive down low. I've done two of these and like them. c.) Not optional: wastegate controller: I bought the Turbomaster and like it a lot. No more mystery about are you bypassing exhaust before you should be. d.) Optional: or leave stock...this works too...we left my BIL's stock and it works fine. 3. Up pipes: new up pipes from KC or even dorman aren't too expensive. The stock up pipes with their slip joints kinda suck. Removing/replacing these is a tough job. I've done 2 and am happy to not do any more. You know you have an issue if you see soot around your up pipes; up by your turbo. 4. Exhaust: look up how to replace your stock muffler with the Walker 3.5-inch "big truck muffler" or BTM. That's all you need to do for anything your stock or stock-modified turbo can do. 5. Intake: Once you have a tuner and turbo mods, you'll pull more air than your stock airbox with a paper element can provide. Cheap way is to do a DIY 6637 type filter. On my excursion with turbo mods/tuner/exhaust and stock airbox, I routinely pull the little vacuum gauge out of range. 6. Tuner: the PHP hydra is super easy to get loaded and going. Since your excursion has an anti-theft PASS key (probably), you'll need to be sure you check that option when you program your tunes, and learn how to reprogram all of your extra keys after you load the tune. The canned PHP tunes work great. I've used the 65hp daily and heavy tow tunes on my stickshift truck, and both 40hp daily and tow tunes on the excursion. Hard starting is a glow plug and glow plug relay show. Glow plugs can be tested by unplugging the plug that goes through the valve cover gaskets and Ohm testing the right pins...no need to remove valve covers. If you replace some plugs, do yourself a favor and get new valve cover gaskets from ford/motorcraft. This is all very much worth doing, and you'll regret not having done it sooner.
First thing I'd do is start running Archoil ( https://www.archoil.com/products/power-stroke ) after a few tankful's of it you decide you still need to do something then call/text Cody Toner out of post falls. Send me a PM and I'll pass on his number to you.
