SM105K's SHO BIBLE/BUILDS/LIFE

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SM105K

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This thread slowed down, I thought I'd pop in for an update in exchange for a smart ass comment and continue to live vicariously through the guy that wrote the book on maintaining a twin turbo taurus and attends the church of overkill. relatable in the sense of if you are going to do something you might as well do too much, but jealous that he gets the smell of diesel and coffee in the mornings. But more relatable that I back burnered my car to work on my white Ford truck, Wheels and tires, mirrors, halfway through body work, building new headlights, radio, coolant ****** in the center of the engine and of course the good ol "while im in here" mentality so now im scared to start it. Whats new with Betty?!?
This is literally the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me.

Betty Update: I have been slowly working on getting to a point where she is where I want her to be. Last update I sound deadened the doors. That worked pretty good and I did notice a bit of noise reduction.

Last week I put about 1200 miles on her. First, I went Super D/Downhill racing in Boulder City, NV. She ran like a top. I got 3rd overall. Good times. Left Thursday afternoon, got back Saturday night. I raced a cross country race on Sunday. Got 9/10, which I was happy because XC is terrible and I am a way better gravity rider.

This pic was from a Super D race in January at Bootleg Canyon in Boulder City.
Messenger creation 527AB2E8 5703 4A93 86BB 322498A33F0B

On Sunday after the race, I sound deadened the passenger side inner fender well (that was a pain in the ass and took way longer that anticipated) and under the hood. I didn't mess with the driver side, but I will get that done sooner than later.

On Monday I loaded Betty back up and headed the exact way back that I went a couple of days before and then some. However, I added the trailer, the small SUV, and the all of our crap and headed to Zion National Park in Utah. The journey there was good. I was running 70 mph on the highways and 77 mph on the interstate. There were not many big hills, and the ones that were big the truck ran up them at 65 mph+. Stopped at a CAT scale and weighed her. This is the heaviest she has been in my ownership.
Screenshot 20260323 085536 Weigh My Truck

Zion was amazing. We also went to Bryce Canyon as well. If any of you watch "The Fab Rats" on Youtube, you drive right through their town and we got to see Paul and the tow truck. It was pretty cool.
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On the way home I took the scenic route and that probably wasn't the best idea. There were three big grades. All three everything was great except my oil temps. They usually run about 215 normally. The first grade saw my oil temps climb to 233 F in 80 F ambient. The second grade 100 miles away saw my oil temps climb to 241 F in 85F ambient but only briefly. The last grade getting into Phoenix with 100 F ambient saw my oil temps at a sustained 247 F for about 4 mins straight. **** it even shut my AC down. However, there was no where to pull over, and the truck didn't overheat. Once it cooled down she was fine. My EGTS were in the low 1000's, trans temp never went over 180 F during those climbs.

I have switched over to CAT DEO-ULS 15w-40 for my engine oil. I can get a 5 gallon bucket for like $85 at my local CAT dealer. Still running a Motorcraft filter.

I am probably going to change my oil again, just to be safe and it is cheap insurance. There really isn't a clear cut upgraded oil cooler option for the 7.3 PS. So I might just have to live with it.
 

Zpak

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Now that’s how you update!
7BETTY3 hahaha!

I’ve been trying to get my tribe to Zion the last few years. It’s an incredible place and I haven’t been there since I was like 10.
 

SM105K

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Now that’s how you update!
7BETTY3 hahaha!

I’ve been trying to get my tribe to Zion the last few years. It’s an incredible place and I haven’t been there since I was like 10.
Zion is super cool. Parking is a pain in the ass, but the rest of it is amazing.
 
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Okay got an update and 2 hours of sleep lets see how this goes: I guess Betty likes the gravity rides better too, but she put in the work. Thats quite the haul and also quite the vacation! That sound deadening is going to be well worth it when all said and done, as I age I like less rattles and engine noise on long cruises, the fact that both of my vehicles are in the "shitbox" category rattling at stoplights is somewhat bothersome. I'll add that the fact that there isnt a clear direction on an oil cooler upgrade is going to eat at me, not my truck, not my climate, not my usual purposes, and I have a limited knowledge on diesels. But I'm clinging on to this project until there is a bullet proof 7.3 F450 we both can be proud of, regardless of who does the work and spends the money. But, until next time, if anyone has any leads on where the ******* engineer lives that put the IMRC solenoid in the back of a 5.4 3v let me know. every time I wedge my hand back there and move wires out of the way I get some of my power band back and for that someone needs a kick in the nuts.
 

SM105K

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Okay got an update and 2 hours of sleep lets see how this goes: I guess Betty likes the gravity rides better too, but she put in the work. Thats quite the haul and also quite the vacation! That sound deadening is going to be well worth it when all said and done, as I age I like less rattles and engine noise on long cruises, the fact that both of my vehicles are in the "shitbox" category rattling at stoplights is somewhat bothersome. I'll add that the fact that there isnt a clear direction on an oil cooler upgrade is going to eat at me, not my truck, not my climate, not my usual purposes, and I have a limited knowledge on diesels. But I'm clinging on to this project until there is a bullet proof 7.3 F450 we both can be proud of, regardless of who does the work and spends the money. But, until next time, if anyone has any leads on where the ******* engineer lives that put the IMRC solenoid in the back of a 5.4 3v let me know. every time I wedge my hand back there and move wires out of the way I get some of my power band back and for that someone needs a kick in the nuts.
Yeah Betty did put in the work. She did a great job

Funny story...she can do a burn out fully loaded at 21k lbs.

I too have a very bitter spot for the same engineer for the Ford Mod Motor thing as well. FFS. I really hate those motors, but two of my dream cars have them. A 03/04 Cobra, and an 02/03 Lightning.
 

Deezuz

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Didn't know you were an 7.3 guy

3047


I've had mine 15 years now.

Do you have a build thread on it?

I'm not too terribly upset at those oil temps.

Do you have a mechanical gauge to tell you what ect is?
 

SM105K

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Didn't know you were an 7.3 guy

View attachment 96994


I've had mine 15 years now.

Do you have a build thread on it?

I'm not too terribly upset at those oil temps.

Do you have a mechanical gauge to tell you what ect is?
I have been a 7.3 guy since last July.

I do have a build thread on her starting here.....


Entertaining read, but here are the Cliffnotes:

"Betty" 2000 Ford F450 Super Duty - | KC 300X Gen 3 Stage 1 Turbo | Bellowed Up-pipes | Full Force Diesel 180/30 Injectors | Riff Raff Max Fuel Four Line Kit/Block with Regulated Return | AirDog 165 GPH Fuel Pump | Diamond Eye 4 Inch Exhaust | Banks Ram Air Intake | Riff Raff Billet Intake Plenums | KC Turbo Upgraded Intercooler | Mishimoto Transmission Cooler | Mag-Hytec Deep Transmission Pan | Adrenaline HPOP | CNC HPOP Lines | EDGE CTS 3 | PHP Hydra Tuner | Andrew Arthur Tuned |

I don't have one for ECT. I have the EOT sensor on my CTS3.
 

SM105K

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I'm assuming your fan clutch was full lock?
It was. She never gets that warm, but she isnt weighed down at 21K lbs in some pretty good heat all the time either. I would expect that. Also I know the 3.73 gear swap is not helping my case with these big grades.
 

Deezuz

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I'm not mad at all given the circumstances. We don't have any plastic in our systems like 6.0s do, so there is nothing to melt.

You are lucky you are a 2000 though, PMR motors won't last long doing what you did.

I'm PMR sitting at 300k. Original injectors and gtp38r and Tony Wildman tuned.

Have you ever taken oil cooler out and looked at the tubes?

Have you done a VC9 coolant flush?
 

SM105K

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I'm not mad at all given the circumstances. We don't have any plastic in our systems like 6.0s do, so there is nothing to melt.

You are lucky you are a 2000 though, PMR motors won't last long doing what you did.

I'm PMR sitting at 300k. Original injectors and gtp38r and Tony Wildman tuned.

Have you ever taken oil cooler out and looked at the tubes?

Have you done a VC9 coolant flush?
Yeah, if it didn't have the forged rods I will really be bummed. I haven't taken my oil cooler out, but normally she isn't wearing a 5k backpack and pulling a 5.1K trailer up big grades. It is awesome she can honestly. I mean she weighs almost 10k herself. Normally she runs in the 21*'s for oil temp.

I did do a coolant flush, but not a VC9 coolant flush.

I do not beat on her either. I keep the boost in the mid 20s (highest I have seen was 46 psi) most of the time. Rarely does she ever see more than 3/4 throttle (because she has a rock stock 4r100 with cooling modifications) and I know she isn't a rocket ship. I take really good care of her because she is a forever truck for me.
 

Deezuz

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Only thing I hate on that list is the airdog. I don't rely on anything else besides factory fuel to feed these guys. My factory pump is original and I just carry a spare bc.

But I Def recommend ISSPRO for all instrumentation. I have a quad pillar with Trans temp fuel psi coolant temp and boost
 

Deezuz

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I gutted my sending unit, which you should too, and installed the driven diesel pre pump spin on filter kit. It filters prior pump and also had a water seprator built into filter. I still run the factory fuel filter bowl which I love, and I also have the riff raff regulated return so most of the air is going through the return.

I also run Mobil 1 5w40 turbo diesel truck and have had Blackstone give me the OK to run 10k miles plus.


Notice the shifts, if you can.... I rebuilt my trans a few years ago, triple disc and tugger kit...
 

SM105K

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Only thing I hate on that list is the airdog. I don't rely on anything else besides factory fuel to feed these guys. My factory pump is original and I just carry a spare bc.

But I Def recommend ISSPRO for all instrumentation. I have a quad pillar with Trans temp fuel psi coolant temp and boost
I have the expansion sensors for the CTS 3. That is how I can monitor actual boost pressure at the spider, IAT2 in the spider, and both bank (in manifold) EGTS. I need to add another sensor for ECT since there isn't an actual one.

I went Air Dog because of the bigger injectors and because of the fuel bowl delete/Riff Raff Max flow regulated return system.

This truck was bone stock when I got her. So big changes had to be done so that she cold do when I want her too do.
 

Deezuz

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I completely understand your reasoning, I hope your airdog is good for you. We were a dealer with airdog then fass, then just stopped selling them all together. With factory pump and the rr reg return wot I don't think I've ever dipped below 65 psi. They have that reg return dialed in pretty ******* perfect.
 

Deezuz

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As for oil, I've stuck with the TDT because I run it in my LS swapped IROC and it raps out 7k every time I drive it. The lab loves the oil and the package sticks around a very long time. It's available at Wal mart and Meijer. On a 7.3 you can safely go 5k-8k with that oil. Our engines are tight so our oil doesn't turn jet black like Duramax and Cummins.
 

SM105K

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As for oil, I've stuck with the TDT because I run it in my LS swapped IROC and it raps out 7k every time I drive it. The lab loves the oil and the package sticks around a very long time. It's available at Wal mart and Meijer. On a 7.3 you can safely go 5k-8k with that oil. Our engines are tight so our oil doesn't turn jet black like Duramax and Cummins.
Yeah I noticed that in the couple of oil changes that I have done.
 

Zpak

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Resurrected M from her five month slumber yesterday. It’s been a really long winter. Well over 100” of snow.

Battery had nothing left to give. Had to use the key just to unlock the door. It was against the two year threshold when I received it so it didn’t owe me anything. Yanked that and the air filter out, cleaned the filter, and gave the terminals a good scrub.
IMG 8047
Took the positive terminal from ashy to classy. Slapped in a fresh battery, topped off the coolant, the overflow was about 3/4 low. So yeah, that’s still a thing. Fired it up though and took it for a once around to get the juices flowing. Felt good, I really missed driving her.
 
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