Are K & N filters good to put in?
Do I need to get a chip or tuner, if so what is the best?

My truck is a '03 7.2 with 70,000 I just bought it the other day, to pull a camper with. Camper loaded weighs around 7700. Any help or ideas on what I need to do will be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

K&N is a good filter to put in if you don't like your turbo. In other words, don't.

Anything you should do? Change the oil. You'll need 15 quarts. I use Motorcraft 15w40, and a Motorcraft filter, FL-1995. Make sure you prefill the filter (2 quarts). Change out the fuel filter and air filter. Carry a spare CPS ($25 from the dealer) in the glove box, along with a 10MM wrench.

The tuner is up to you, but make sure you have gauges. I'm running an Edge Juice with Attitude.

Oh, and your motor is a 7.3.

 

They don't just stop at the turbo, try the whole engine. The K&N filters allow dirt to get past the filter media in turbo applications because of the higher pressures and wind velocities. This dirt will do some damage to the turbo, but its actually the least of your worries. The turbo could acutally be run like that without any MAJOR issues depending on condition. The problem is the dirt gets into the cylinders and scores the walls causing low compression. A dusted engine would require a complete teardown and rebuild.


I stick with Rotella 15W40 oil, Motorcraft usually sells for a premium price. Rotella can be bought for about $8/gal at Walmart, plus they started carrying it in 5 gallon buckets.


If you want a chip don't just buy some off the shelf module or programmer, none are really that good. I've got 2 trucks at work running Superchips and I used to have the Edge Evolution and the Juice with Attitude. All were pretty much junk. My DP chip is by far the better of the options. You're much better going with a custom chip like this as its taylored to your specific truck, driving habits, and setup for what you're doing with the truck. The big thing is since you have an 03 you have PMRs in it, so cylinder pressures and timing is a huge deal. That is unless you actually like throwing rods through the side of the block. Jody at DP has actually invested the time and money in CP testing, so his programs for the PMR engines are some of the most powerful and safe out there.

 

thanks for the feed back!
so where do I look at DP chips? do they have a website?
also this guy I ran into at the store yesterday said I needed to put Aimsoil in my truck, I have never heard of that is it any good?

 

Amsoil is a very good and dependable oil and I have enjoyed it in my gas engines for years!. Hey diesel folks...any info on using this oil in your engines?

 

Motorcraft 5 quart jugs are $9 at Advance Auto. Cheaper than Rotella...

 

5 quart jugs? Sure they're not 4qt? Advance here sells Motorcraft oil, but they want $11/gal for it. No WAY is dino oil worth that price tag. If you look at what the trucking industry at large uses Rotella is very high up the scale. It is also certified to meet the API-CI4 specs. I don't know if they've reformulated it to the CJ4 or not.

You can run Amsoil, just make sure that it meets API-CI4 specs. With a PSD oil is more critical than others because of the HEUI injection system. Basically the engine oil is driving your injectors, so be careful with what you pick. The problem with Amsoil for me was always finding a dealer for it, but also their prices weren't all that great. For what marginal gains I saw on the oil in previous trucks and the price it wasn't worth it, so I went back to dino. Its all in what you want to pay.


Contact Jody (owner) at www.DP-Tuner.com. You're best off calling him vs. email. Either Jody or his wife Diane are both very knowledgable and are more than willing to talk you through what you need to know to buy the right chip. Heck even if you just have questions call him. He's never turned anyone away, or failed to help out someone.

 

Yes, they're 5 quart. Advance's shopping site is down right now...

 

thanks again for all the info, so I need to ask this question, do tuners or chips hurt your motor in any way? thanks

 

They can, but it is all in how you drive them. If you put in an extremo tuner and run the **** out of your truck, don't be surprised if it isn't super reliable. However, if you just run a tuner for the occasional romp on the gas, then you should be fine.

 

Not sure how true the rumor was last year but I had heard that a truck driver was using amsoil with the premium oil filter(s) and lost the engine and was suing Amsoil. Not sure about it because I googled the information and nothing came about??? I was going to use it but now I'm having 2nd thoughts! That's my 2 cents.

 

Wow...that's a new one on me. I have been using Amsoil for over 20 years in my Mustang, quads, motocycles, and trucks - never a prob. Once again - that's a gas engine experience with me. You mention 'truck driver' so I am guessing it's a diesel.

Powerstroke 73 didn't mention anything wrong with it for diesels and he knows quite a bit. Still, I never heard of that rumor.

My 2 cents with a penny on top

 

thanks for the feed back, I think I will check into it, seems expensive but if its worth it I will pay the difference...