Powerstroke Diesel 7.3

The Powerstroke Diesel was the product of a cross-manufacturer collaboration over a period of many years: The Ford and International diesel Powerstroke Diesel engine program would end up presenting to the American public some of the most advanced diesel engine technologies that the automotive industry had seen. At later stages of evolution, completely new and innovative designs that would not only make the Powerstroke Diesel engine far more civilized, but also remarkably increased its power output to create and maintain the Powerstroke Diesel legend.

Diesel Powerstroke Powerhouse

The very first fruit of this collaboration between Ford and International (part of Navistar) was the 420 cubic inch 8 cylinder engine with a vee configuration with a displacement of 6.9 Liters or 6900 cubic centimeters which was a far cry from the modern Diesel Powerstroke engine in every way. This pre Diesel Powerstroke engine produced 175 brake horsepower and 318 foot pounds of torque running on a compression ratio of 20.7:1. This engine featured indirect diesel injection or IDI, a very different system than the Powerstroke Diesel. This engine was distinguished by a mechanical nozzle injection system. The way this system worked was in a very different manner than today's Diesel Powerstroke. In that engine metered fuel would be entered into a tiny pre-chamber that was cast in the engine head and then it was injected mechanically into the combustion chamber at a point just a couple of degrees before top dead-center. Again different from the Powerstroke Diesel.

7.3 Powerstroke Diesel Was The Dawn Of A New Age

The road to the ground breaking 1994 introduction of the 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel was long and arduous. The engines offered by Ford a decade earlier were continuously improved as in 1984 the compression ratio reached a very high 21.5:1. This increase in Powerstroke Diesel compression ratio brought the torque up considerably a full 20 foot pounds to 338 foot pounds, however there was no additional horsepower gained through by this change to the Powerstroke Diesel. These high compression ratios would be relied upon until the premiere of the 7.3 Powerstroke Diesel.

The Lineage Of The Powerstroke 7.3 Diesel

These early Ford International diesel engines gained a remarkable reputation for durability and could easily exceed 300,000 miles with proper regular maintenance... however, the Powerstroke 7.3 Diesel was now just around the corner. The evolution of this early diesel engine continued in 1988 as the displacement was increased to 7.3 L or 444 cubic inches by increasing the bore from 4 inches to 4.11 inches while leaving the stroke alone as it was prior in the 6.9L engine at 4.18 inches, and thus the seeds of the Powerstroke 7.3 Diesel were sown.

More Power In The Powerstroke Diesel 7.3

The large displacement of the Powerstroke Diesel 7.3 allowed the brake horsepower to jump 10 to 185 horsepower at 3300 rpm but in this case the torque the rating which stayed identical. Fortunately the torque moved down in the power band in this larger displacement Powerstroke Diesel engine, therefore at lower speeds there was a lot more available torque. This change in the Powerstroke Diesel 7.3 power band curve increased off-idle response but did not cost in the fuel economy rating.

Epic Failures Of The 6.0 Powerstroke Diesel

The 6.0 Powerstroke Diesel engine which replaced the 7.3 ended up earning one of the most abysmal reputations in the American automotive industry. Some observers state that the 6 Liter Powerstroke Diesel reputation was well earned, and others insist that it was a reputation that the smaller but more powerful Powerstroke Diesel engines doesn't quite deserve. Many members of the automotive press and the pickup truck buying public asked this question of Ford over and over again: Why didn't you just keep producing the 7.3L Powerstroke? With 20/20 hindsight the Ford Motor Company could wish that it had never brought out the 6.0 Powerstroke Diesel as the problems it created were absolutely epic.