Buying a new tow rig, need some advice?
 

I am looking at a 98,99, or 2000 F-350 PSD/w auto tranny.

Does anyone know of any major (common) problems w/ theese trucks?

Engine failures, tranny problems.............?

You hear about Tranny problems with all of these Diesel trucks
Diesels are TOUGH on trannys !!! all that torgue..

I am very happy with my 00 PSD....First Ford i ever owned....
I have always hated Fords !! But this is a tuff truck....

There were some changes between 98 and 99 and again in mid 99. The Power was increased from 98 to 99 to keep up with Dodge / Cummins. Not a big deal. They also changed the fuel delivery system. In 98 it used a feedback fuel rail system with a check valve at the end of the fuel rail to maintain pressure. This provided constant flow through the fuel system. In 99 they changed that to a dead head system that ends at cylinder 8. Again not a real big deal but did cause some fuel delivery instability that could result in a lopping condition under certian operating perameters. In mid 99 they introduced a new injector to reduce engine noise, it had low mass components in the injector that did not "bang" as hard. And it worked, the mid 99 engines are much quieter than previous motors (no, not on par with the new motor or the duramax). Well......that led to another noise they called "cackle" again the result of the new fuel rail arrangement. It was in the engine since the change in 99, but you could not hear it due to the loud injectors. There is a service bulletin out there to address the noise with a new scroll injector.

Its just noise......that sounds like a rod going bad......but it's just an injector.

Other than general "production" problems that everyone deals with, the PowerStroke is a very solid, reliable motor. It has capacity way beyond its use in a pickup truck.

The tranny on the other hand is a weak link in the set up. I think some other OSO'ers can better speak to those.

I have owned three of these motors, put 100,000's of miles on them with no trouble with engine or tranny.

This is probably more than you wanted to know about the silly injection system but hey.....what can I say:rolleyes: It's a great motor no matter what year you get.

I have a '99 PSD, Auto trans. 100,00 miles and couldn't be happier. The only problem I had was the cam position sensor went bad. Never a problem with the trans. Yes, it is the weak link, but if you drive smart you should not have problems. I tow my 30' Sonic, 16' enclosed trailers loaded, a small bucket loader, snow plowed with it, never had any trans problems.

we just brought home a 2003 ram 2500 4x4 h o cumming 6 speed quad cab short bed and loving it it's quiet as a mouse

Better talk to Audiofn. I think he has a 99 PSD with auto and has had it in the shop LOTS and LOTS of times for tranny problems.

I looked at two 99s at a dealership and noticed that the shaft seal on the rear end seemed to be leaking some?? It was the same on both trucks.

i have a 00 psd dually 4x4...it goes from key west one weekend to the great white north ice climbing (-34F) the next...120k...no problems...good luck!

2002 F350 PSD auto 4x4, first Ford I ever owned. Absolutely love it.

H20Warrior posted very good information. There were some early 99s, prod. dates 7-98 and before that were actually higher HP than the later ones. They were detuned in mid 99 to comply with emission legislation. I would agree with the previous posts on customer satisfaction. I have had 5 and am very happy with them. Yes there are some out there that have had misfortune with them, Audio in particular, and that's a shame. That in itself does not make all the trucks bad though. My 02.