r/AskMechanics

First diesel!
1996 F-250 7.3 Power Stroke 🤘
Finally joined the diesel world and picked this thing up. I’m new to the 7.3 platform, so I’d love to hear from the guys who know these OBS trucks.What should I check first? What preventative maintenance is worth doing? Any little tips or tricks that make owning an old 7.3 easier? And what upgrades are actually worth the money versus stuff I should stay away from?Planning on learning as much as I can and keeping this old Ford going.

2016 RAV 4 LE

I was changing the spark plugs on my 17 Altima sr and while tightening one of them it sheared clean off. I bought a spark plugs extractor tool off Amazon but the threads at the tip deform under pressure but they don’t catch if I don’t put any pressure on it. The visible surface of the spark plug is mainly porcelain from the plug except for a space circle thats maybe 3/16 inch in diameter right in the middle. What should I do next?

TLDR: Rebuilt 11mo, 8k miles ago, never felt right. Is this too much metal?

Long read:
Full rebuild with basically all new hard parts done in 11/2025. It’s only got about 8,000 miles on it.

2013 Chevy Express 1500 AWD. I’ve had issues with the trans since rebuild. On a cold start, it doesn’t engage into gear, it slips and after maybe 2-5 seconds, it drives normally. When it’s hot though, it will kinda “spool” from idle and then slam into gear, in traffic it kinda feels like you’re in a manual transmission with a bad driver.

I’ve had it back to the builder (who has good reviews from other local builders and is established) FOUR times and he can’t figure out what’s going on but never told me he saw metal or unusual wear when he opened it back up. He said he’s replaced the TC and checked valve body and everything looks good on the scanners.