2003 Powerstroke Resurrection Thread

Countryboy07

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Let me start off by saying this is going to be a long term, SLOW progressing thread. The truck referenced in this thread is my 2003 F-250 Lariat that I bought from the original owner in 2008. I learned a lot, did a lot of stupid stuff, but most of all had a lot of fun along the way. Let’s start off with story time... My wife and I got married in April of 2011 and drove away from our wedding in this truck. Come July of 2011 I thought I’d sell my toys to put a larger down payment on the house we were purchasing. So I said good bye to the Powerstroke and she went to a new home a couple hours north. Driving out of my driveway that day was the last time I had seen it. Fast forward to September 19, 2019, as I was driving through town, I saw a truck that resembled my old truck sitting on the corner for sale! I immediately circled back around the block and pulled in the parking lot. Upon further inspection, it was indeed my old truck! After talking with the seller, I arranged a time to meet so I could drive it. I told my wife I’d love to have it back, but I’d need to figure out a way to do so. I got home from work on September 20th and shortly there after, I heard a truck pulling up the driveway. My awesome wife had managed to pull off one heck of a surprise and had the truck delivered directly to our house. So, with that said, I now have my truck back that I sold 8 years ago and hadn’t seen since! My goal with this truck is to bring it back from its current state, which isn’t the worst, but could definitely be better, as well as to complete some things I wanted to do to it the first time around.

Here is the first time I had seen it in 8 years sitting on the corner:

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Then one sitting in my driveway after my wife had surprised me:

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One of the owners since I sold it out on these fender flares which will be disappearing soon, but I’m pretty sure they are covering up some bad bed rust. The truck also came with some OEM 17’s so I threw them on to see how they looked.

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Not terrible, but I’d still like to find some Platinum 20’s for her.

Truck also has a ton of clear coat peel on the hood and roof, so eventually, once I have all the rust free parts I’m tracking down, the truck will be repainted.

Again, this is a long term project that will be completed over the course of the next few years as time and funds permit.

Thank you for looking!


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Countryboy07

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Loaded a tune that came with the truck on an SCT X4 and the truck ran great! Plenty of power, low smoke, just made the truck much more fun to drive. Move forward a couple of days, go out to start the truck and have a super long crank, like almost 60 seconds before it even tries to fire. I returned the truck to stock and the issue persisted. I also now have the oil gauge dropping to zero at idle.

Pulled the filter and put a new Ford filter in as well as replaced the anti-drain back valve at the bottom of the filter housing. No change. Pulled the plug out of the front cover behind the balancer. No debris and the plunger came out freely.

With all of that said, I’ve got some more digging/diagnostic work to do to figure this one out. Bought a scan gauge II from Bulletproof to help aid in this, plus I’ve always wanted one.

Lastly, pic of truck on jack stands... Sold the 17’s last weekend and am planning on picking up a set of OEM Platinum 20’s on Saturday.

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Zeb

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Loaded a tune that came with the truck on an SCT X4 and the truck ran great! Plenty of power, low smoke, just made the truck much more fun to drive. Move forward a couple of days, go out to start the truck and have a super long crank, like almost 60 seconds before it even tries to fire. I returned the truck to stock and the issue persisted. I also now have the oil gauge dropping to zero at idle.

Pulled the filter and put a new Ford filter in as well as replaced the anti-drain back valve at the bottom of the filter housing. No change. Pulled the plug out of the front cover behind the balancer. No debris and the plunger came out freely.

With all of that said, I’ve got some more digging/diagnostic work to do to figure this one out. Bought a scan gauge II from Bulletproof to help aid in this, plus I’ve always wanted one.

Lastly, pic of truck on jack stands... Sold the 17’s last weekend and am planning on picking up a set of OEM Platinum 20’s on Saturday.

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I take it that this is a 6.0?

If it is, your extended crank/gauge dropping at idle is probably the ball blown out of the side of the hpop.
I’ve seen that multiple times on 03-04 trucks. They have 2-5 psi low pressure oil pressure at idle when that happens and iirc it takes 7-10 psi to trip the low pressure switch for the dash gauge.
 

Countryboy07

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I take it that this is a 6.0?

If it is, your extended crank/gauge dropping at idle is probably the ball blown out of the side of the hpop.
I’ve seen that multiple times on 03-04 trucks. They have 2-5 psi low pressure oil pressure at idle when that happens and iirc it takes 7-10 psi to trip the low pressure switch for the dash gauge.

Thanks for your reply Zeb! Yes this is a 6.0. I’m trying to rule out everything before pulling the HPOP, but I’m figuring this is the case as well.
 

6.0 Tech

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I take it that this is a 6.0?

If it is, your extended crank/gauge dropping at idle is probably the ball blown out of the side of the hpop.
I’ve seen that multiple times on 03-04 trucks. They have 2-5 psi low pressure oil pressure at idle when that happens and iirc it takes 7-10 psi to trip the low pressure switch for the dash gauge.
Damn it zeb, beat me to it.

I agree with him, there aint much on an 03-early 04 that will mess with the hpop system. Mostly pumps, icp sensors, and injectors. With it starting, its most likely not an injectir top o ring blown out, which leads down to the hpop/icp sensor. Id do the sensor and pigtail while youre back there, as it will be a **** load easier. And as zeb had put in a post awhile back, use a late style sensor, as they dont seem to fail as often. At least according to him, I havent tried it yet. Lol.

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Countryboy07

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Spacers aren’t a requirement, but do make the newer wheels sit nicer on the leaf spring trucks. However, at this point, newer wheels are on hold... went to look at 3 sets and they have all been sold before I could get there. Still in the works, just need to find the right set.
 

Countryboy07

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update(s)?



Not a ton going on at the moment. Tore the truck down over the winter and found that the check ball had in fact blown out of the pump.

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Tapped and plugged then reinstalled with all new gaskets. Truck runs great! Haven’t found the little ball yet either...

Pulled the flares and they were indeed covering up rust. Not as bad as I’ve seen, but more than I’d like, more about that later.

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Sold the 17” wheels and put the stockers back on. Also pulled the Walmart tint I had put on the truck almost 12 years ago.

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Then for my birthday, my wife surprised me with a quality tint job! 20% on the sides and 50% shield.

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And lastly, to bring us up to date, I tracked down a rust free bed in the same color as my truck!! Super excited, needs a little bit of work, but it will get me by until I’m ready to repaint the entire truck.

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Still a lot to do, but making steady progress!


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Countryboy07

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Added another piece to the puzzle yesterday. Picked these wheels up a couple months ago, pretty rough, had some deep curb rash, but picked them up pretty reasonable.

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But cleaned up pretty well

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Then picked up a set of 305/70/16 tires, had the wheels polished, and mounted them up. Turned out pretty good! Slight difference in size from stock wheels on 265/75/16.

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Countryboy07

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Had an airbag light on, horn didn’t work, neither did the cruise control. Bought a clock spring and replaced it yesterday. All functions work again!

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toybreaker

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I have an airbag light on (code 27) and my cruise does not work anymore (on button fault code {do not remember the specific code}). Clock spring is not going to fix my issues, and the code 27 is a bulb that is integral to the passenger airbag on/off switch...... $.37 bulb
Need to replace a $70 switch


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Countryboy07

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Been a while, celebrated 1 year of ownership in September 2020, and still loving every minute!

Thought I’d update everyone:

August 2020

Bought a set of duals for $100, still not sure if I like them, and definitely need a set of 6” tips.

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End of August I removed the bed, cleaned up the rusty frame, and put the new box on that I bought in June.

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I also changed out the dull old eBay Harley lights I put on back in ‘09 for a set of OEM chrome housing headlights. They are used, but cleaned up well and were only $20.00

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November 2020

My drivers side mirror had been broken since I bought the truck back. So, I purchased a set of 08+ mirrors and installed them. I also installed a set of switchbacks in the mirrors and headlights. And lastly, I installed a set of smoked cab lights with LED bulbs.

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January 2021

The last thing I have done was purchased a set of paint matched door handles off of an excursion and put them on. I personally think it cleans it up a bit. Sorry, no outside pictures.

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That brings everything up to date, one thing I did forget is that my amazing wife surprised me with a set of weather tech mats for the truck for Christmas, although I didn’t take any pictures of those.

Thank you for tagging along in this rebuild process!


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