Yesterday I graduated from a 00 F-150 SuperCab to a 01 F-350 4x4 CrewCab SuperDuty 7.3L Powerstroke. Seems to be all stock under the hood, and has 156k on her.
A few questions that I have are oil change frequency/type of oil. It's been running Rotella 15w40. I live in the middle of the Mojave so 110-120's are the norm for the Summer with 30's quite a bit in the Winter. I'm open to filter suggestions also, especially air. I picked up a Fram at WallyWorld and at $20 I would rather get a K&N for twice that and have it last forever. I see a lot of complete K&N filter and tube setups. What are the advantages of this over the K&N OEM replacement?

I've got a million questions but I'll start with these for now and see where you guys lead me.

One BIGGIE though, like I said, this is my first Diesel, three times yesterday I hit the key to start, totally disregarding the WAIT light. Should I put on the dunce cap and go sit in the corner or is this a minor no no?

Just like Eeyor I'm all ears.

 

It won't hurt it to start it fast. If it is too cold to start without cycling the glowplugs (what the light is telling you it is doing), it will just turn over and not fire.

 

iffin it aintgot ford deisel or dodge deisel on thefront it aint a good deisel. you will love the torque and power. i chang my oil and filter on my dodge 1ton 4x4 every 6,000 and keep eye on all fluids.if u just bought ur truck chang the gas filter that way u know it. my last ford deisel was an auto f350 long 4 door. i put a bully dog in it at at high setting 14 sec at 99 mph in qtr mile. but on low setting i was getting 19.2 highway. enjoy your new truck i use the stock filter due to the sight glass showing dirty and i dont have to worry about oiling mike

 

DO NOT USE AN OILED AIR FILTER ON A DIESEL! Do use any fram products on engines you plan on keeping around for awhile either. The reason you DONT use oiled filters on turboed engines is, when you accelerate and get the boost up, the turbo is sucking outside, through the air filter into your expensive turbo at a very high rate. When this happens you suck the oil outta the filter and into the turbo. Oil sticks the the tubo vanes and dust and dirt sticks to oil. Turbos spin anywhere from 100,000-300,000 rpms at full boost. A very minute amount of dust or dirt will get it out of balance. Then you could have the compressor wheel going through your hood.
Also K&N filters flow very,very well. What they do very poorly is filter. Any dirt and dust that makes it past the turbo goes directly into your engine. I am currently using an Amsoil nanofiber filter. Supposed to flow just as good as a K&N, and supposed to filter just as good as paper. I like it so for. I always check the vanes and shaft play of my turbo at every oil change. Good so far but I only have about 12,000 miles on it. Its a cleanable reusable filter, clean with 20psi of compressed air. If you dont like amsoil, there is other brands that have dry, reuseable filters also, like AEM etc.
Fram had to pay for alot of Cummins diesels in the 90s, because of poorly built oil filters. Im sure they are better by now, but why take a chance on a $3 filter made in china for your $10,000 engine??

I have a Dodge with the Cummins in it, its not even close to stock, gets abused daily, 40psi of boost routinely. I have had no issuses with the engine whatsoever, but I use good fluids and filters.
At least you bought the only reliable diesel engine Ford ever put in there trucks, but please go to a diesel forum and learn as much as you can about your truck. You will understand it better, get better reliablity out of it, more MPG and power if you so choose also. Congrats on the diesel purchase! I know I will never buy another gasser after I have learned so much about diesels.

 

The stock Air filter is the BEST air filter for a PSD. period.