I'm new to this forum and haven't quite figured out how to navigate it very well yet. I hope this post is in the correct place. If not, someone please tell me where to post this!

I'm getting a new (used 2001) Excursion this weekend with a 7.3L Powerstroke Diesel. I will be towing a 5,000# travel trailer on occassion and normal driving most of the time. I've heard a lot about improving fuel MPG, torque and HP by using chips or tuners. I don't want to get anything in the "wild" category but I would like to enhance the performance.

Could someone steer me in the right direction with these after-market products? I'm sure there are some really good ones out there and some that are a joke!

In addition to this, I'm thinking about adding the FIPK from K&N to my Excursion. Any thoughts on this would be appreciated as well.

Thanks!
James Roberts

 

Check out this website www.thedieselstop.com as they can answer all your diesel questions.

 

Hi James,

Welcome to F-150 Online!

And yes, you *have* come to the right place to ask about powertrain programming/tuning products for your Excursion w/7.3L Powerstroke diesel.

We are F-150 Online's oldest supporting vendor, and America's oldest Superchips distributor, so we carry all those products (and much more) and can improve both the performance and the fuel mileage of your PSD Excursion.

For example, in our Superchips Micro Tuner, there are 3 different programs - 70HP gain, 90HP gain, and 110 HP gain - these are *huge* power gains, as you can see. The +70HP program, which adds about 115-120 lbs./ft. of torque, is the one you'll use when towing, and is the program that will give you the best fuel mileage as well. The +90 & +110 HP programs are designed to be used when not towing heavy loads, for when you want maximum performance, and get the best results when using an open intake & exhaust system. The +70 HP program you don't need any other mods to get it's full power gains.

The fuel mileage gains were not something we set out to do deliberately, they are literally just a by-product of the vastly improved tuning. These gains will generally happen when the motor is under a load, such as when towing, for example - you'll see anywhere from 1-4 more mpg when *towing* on the Superchips tuning as compared to the fuel mileage you get when towing on the stock factory program.

Now when you're just putting around town unloaded at 35-50 mph, don't expect to see any mpg gains, as the engine isn't under enough of a load - diesels work differently than gas motors do in this regard. The bottom line is, you'll see the mpg gains primarily when the motor is under a load - so either when towing, or when on the highway unloaded at speeds of about 70 mph & up, then too you'll see mpg gains on the +70 HP program.

And yes, we also carry complete intake systems, simple drop-in air filters, complete exhaust systems, EGT gauges, & everything else you could want to do to improve performance in your Excursion. The Excursion is the heaviest of Ford's SuperDuty series of vehicles it weights quite a bit more than say, an F-250 with a PSD motor, so it can certainly use the additional help - and that's easy to do.

The 7.3L Powerstroke diesel is darn near bulletproof - their only weakness is cam position sensors - generally speaking, you can pound on them forever & they'll perform for hundreds of thousands of miles.

You'll want to drop by our web site at www.TroyerPerformance.com - click on "Shop" once the home page loads, and then you'll see all the individual sections - Intake, Exhaust, Superchips, Belts, Pulleys, etc. - Check out in the Superchips section, our Part# 1705, which is the Superchips Micro Tuner for the Ford Powerstroke Diesel - then in the Intake section, we have drop-in air filters & the best intake kit made, the Air Force One - that's our Part# 16412. And then there are several different configuration of exhaust from Magnaflow in our Exhaust section that you'll probably want to take a look at.

In terms of just exactly where to start first, we recommend going by order of best bang-for-the-buck -- and that means starting off with the Superchips Micro Tuner, as the power gains are huge, the mpg gains excellent when running under a load, and nothing else can touch the amount of performance improvement for it's low cost. From there it's one to intake and then the exhaust - that's the basic order of "bang for the buck," though you can actually do those mods in any order *you* prefer - we also do combo deals, package deals, etc.

This is obviously a lot of material to try to cover on a message board, so please feel free to give us a call at our number listed below to go over all of this in more detail, we'll be happy to help.

At any rate, welcome aboard, & please do give us a shout when you get a chance, there's lots you'll want to know about your new '01 7.3 Excursion.

Thanks for dropping by, & we hope you'll hang out here with us in your spare time - best of luck with your Excursion PSD!

 

Only 5,000lbs behind that 7.3L? Keep checking the rear view mirror to make sure it's there, cause you probably won't feel it. I just got a Micro Tuner and I'm pleased with the results. I "only" have the 5.4l. Your plant will pick up alot more power from the numbers Mike has there.
Congrats on the truck!