The motor dodge is using may well avoid most of the teething issues ford had..others as well...
Apparently it's an Italian affair with 1,400,000 already on the road in other vehicles.

 

i know of plenty of gas engines with over 500,00 miles on them without ever being taken apart.
a properly maintained gas engine will last just as long as a diesel engine.

there are plenty of stations here on the east coast that do not sell diesel fuel. it is still kind of hard to get fuel here if you do not know the area.

and in colder climates, diesel is always more expensive to keep people from using diesel fuel instead of home heating oil in their home furnace.

and you are correct, oil companies love selling diesel fuel. it is cheaper to produce, and they can charge whatever they want, and know the truckers will pay the price no matter how much the bitch about the price.

 

Diesel is fairly well regulated here as far as it's end use.I'm sure there are those using coloured for uses other than the intended as well.
Pricing here is quite variable too.In urban areas,Diesel is generally at or just above the price of gas...outside of those areas,it's usually a bit below gas.
So I guess for America...or at least your part of it,price is the mitigating factor.A little tie with the calculator,with your quoted pricing,still does show an advantage,cost-wise,for diesel...small but there it is....probly not enough to make the initial outlay viable.
I went to Doge's sites and snooped around.Only on the Canadian one do we have the option to actually "build and quote" the new 3L 6 banger in the 1500.It appears they have decided to test the waters north of the 49th.
Key to the acceptance of the fuel and the use of it by yer average consumer is gonna have to change before Americans embrace it.
Up here tho,they gonna sell a ton of trucks with the diesel option.
I will take you to task over the longevity question though.
You gotta admit,the half million mile gas motor is a bit of a rarity.A few Hondas and other off-shore offering are regularly getting that comfortably without a lot of extraneous maintenance costs.
But admit it...would you buy a ford,chevy or chrysler used car with 500,000 miles on it,and expect it to be a reliable drive for your daughter or whatever?
I think not!

 

yup. we bought 2 F-350 5.4 4X4's with close to 500,000 miles on them last year for the body shop.
one needed a front unit bearing assemble, and the other needed universals.
they both still pur like new, and get used every day for deliveries and pickups.

 

Not exactly an average case type scenario is that Tom. Yer in the biz and yer using as shop trucks.
Average guy ain't gonna buy either of those for his wife or kid. I sure wouldn't be comfortable doing it.
But I did buy a diesel golf with huge miles on the single proviso that it was diesel. Wouldn't have touched it otherwise.

 

Macone, just because you are biased towards diesels and somehow think that the engines magically make the rest of the car more reliable, doesn't make it a fact.

Myself, if it was for my wife or daughter to drive, I'd be a lot more concerned with the brakes, suspension and tires instead of the particular fuel the engine uses.

I'm running an F150 with the 5.4L gas engine, and it's my opinion that's it's been more reliable than the average diesel over it's 213,000 kms. I can't prove that, just as you can't prove that it hasn't.

 

Agreed for the most part.
When I am scanning the used listings ,the first thing I look at is mileage.
If its over 175k I see if its diesel( if in fact that's the kind of vehicle I'm looking for)..... If it isnt diesel,then I move on. Mileage is our first consideration in relation to asking price.
I have 3 boys,mostly grown now. Over the last 10-12 years there have been many forays into the used vehicle market, about half the time we are looking at trucks. Over 200k miles,we pass on real quick.should the first test pass muster,then yes....we are on to all the other considerations. Prolly a dozen vehicles in as many years.we are good at this.
My current f150,bought used 3 years ago at 110 k miles,now has 180. Best truck I ever owned. The 2002 VW has about the same miles on it...and a few of the peripherals are starting to need attention...last week was the wiPer assembly.
Then there's the Beemer. A 10 year old z4. Damn well put together car. Nothing ever goes wrong with it. 150k miles and goes like stink. Brakes and tires and oil...that's it.
But after 45 years of driving almost exclusively used gas cars and trucks,it's that golf tdi that wins out over anything...anything! I have ever owned.
Why?
68mpg ,150,000 miles,and it still pulls up the big hills like the day it came out of the factory.
Yes....I am very biased.
Cheers.

 

So does Ford currently produce a 4.4 liter (or close to that size) diesel? If so, where is it used at this time?
IIRC, the 4.4 was no longer made by Ford? It's now used strictly by Land Rover?

 

I have a good reason for asking these questions, but at this time, I need to keep my cards close to my chest.

 

ford never made a 4.4 diesel for american use. it may be made in europe or australia, but not here. ford made the 4.5 diesel for the LCF trucks. basically a 6.0 with 2 cylinders chopped off. the 4.4 was always a out of country /rover engine.

 

Thanks Tom. What about 4.3L? Also, was or is the 4.5 in the LCF trucks turbocharged? Single like the 6.0?

 

Technically Ford never made the 4.5L V6 either; it was simply a rebadged Navistar VT275 that only made it into the LCF trucks. It did have a single turbocharger.

 

Ford builds the 4.4l V8 at their engine plant in Mexico where the make the 6.7l V8 for the USA Super Duty trucks. The 4.4l is the V8 in the Land Rovers.

Phil

 

Ok. I think some things are in the works because I touched some parts recently that were for a twin turbo diesel in that liter range.

 

FordBlueHeart

Good, keep touching those parts, we need this 4.4 or the 5 cylinder diesel thats going in the transit to start showing up in a navigator/expedition/f150 etc