Yes I agree thats wahy I never said that the 6.0 was a good or bad engine. The only thing I have against it is it being a V* and haveing electronic fuel pump. Yes I know The Cummins has this also and thats why I think the best engines were the 98- Cummins diesels altho the 24v will spool a turbo faster and burn the fuel with less smoke than a 12v. I just like the ease and cheapness of a 12v compaired to a 24v. Plus the 12v is capable of a lot more HP on #2 only than the 24v because the vp44 can't flow as much fuel because it has one chamber and plunger compaired to 6 on the p7100 pump on the 12v. I don't know a lot about the new pumps on the 03 engines but I have heard that with slight mods you can already get 700hp. How long the pump will last is still to be known but from what I have heard as of right now the common rail pump will become top dog and may be able to pass up 1000hp on #2 only I know there are a few p7100 pumps over that but with a lot of mods to the pump and plunger/Delivery valve.

 

The inline 6 is not the only design for a diesel that provides longevity. That argument is lame.

 

Lame??? prove me wrong.

 

what about those old detroit v12s, there are few around with 1 million plus miles, as well MANY 7.3 litre PSDs with over 600k miles.... So no the I6 is not the ONLY reliable configuration for a diesel.

 

The single most reliable diesel motor ever is an I4. There that settles the arguement. The engine is a VW designed motor and they still use it to this day. I realize that this is a car motor, but we have a few small tractors with I4 diesels, made by Ford Industrial. We also have a 80,000lb truck with an I4, its a Cummins. We also have V8 diesel tractors and ford trucks. There is nothing wrong with a v block diesel, they are all pretty strong. Even though I would never own a dodge truck, I like the Cummins 5.9 I6 motor. We have a few in 80,000lb trucks that use a lot of oil but they run hard. I think that as soon as you get more than 8 cylinders going in a diesel you are asking for trouble with all that moving mass.

 

The 5.9 has some over 1 million on original engine. The cummins is rebuildable up to 6 times. So the block is good for 1.8 million. I found a link to a 7.3 that had a million on it. But it carried the ambiguous statement that it had never been removed from the truck to be repaired. You can do quite a bit without pulling a motor. So in this instance the i-6 outlasts the V config. They are for different purposes though. The cummins is more utilitarian. The psd is faster. The price of those rpms is a shorter lifespan. A rough estimate,based on these numbers, would be that its capable of 40-50% longer life til rebuild. As an example. The 5.9 is capable of handling 600 hp on a stock engine. This, to me, means its incredibly tough. How many engines can you take and triple the stock output without pulling the head? That would be the equivalent of 650-700 hp out of a 7.3. Its just not feasable.

We are comparing apples to oranges. One is a medium duty work engine the other is a light duty pickup engine, with medium duty roots. The cummins has many shortcummings because of its intended application. Its slow and loud as hell. Although I notice it weighs less than the new 6.0. I couldnt find wether the numbers were wet or dry but the 6.0 weighs 1060#s. And the cummins dry weighs 960#s. This leads me to suspect that the 6.0 is a better built engine than the 7.3. More beef.

The old detroits are heavy dutys. Heavy dutys are rated out of the box for 500 thousand no prob. Ive read of only one light duty engine pulling 1 million, without a major repair. defined as head removal. And it was a 5 cylinder mercedes diesel . There is a report of a volvo, also an inline 5 cylinder, way up there, but I cant find if it has been repaired. I see reports of The 300 6 being well over 800k but I cant find similar reports for the 302 351 or 460. The I-6 is notoriously slow but the dividend is longevity. I think the 300 6 for the medium duty trucks is a good find. A man I know just installed one in his box van. He is not overly impressed with its acceleration. But it pulls loads well.

 

Yes the 6.0L is "better"- only when its not in the shop. I wish I had checked these forums before purchase. i would have gotten the Dodge 3500 and given up the 2000 lbs payload difference to have a truck thats reliable. Mine's going on the 3rd week in the shop!

 

RHUNT64, I start to wonder about the credability of wards. They ranked the duramax one of the 10 best engines in the world.

 

Thats kinda like car and driver picking the chevy 350 diesel as engine of the year. LOL. Hindsight is 20/20.

 

Well, that's why I'd never get something in the first year of production. That way the bugs are worked out. The 6.0 sounds nice, but I'll let them make all the fine tuning and adjustments on it before I'd get one.

Same with the Dodge, their automatic has not proven itself to me yet. My dad used to have one and it ate the transmission in less than a month. By the way, manuals do not appeal to me, due to the fact that there are a lot of stoplights on the roads I have to use, and having a manual would be more of a pain in the rear than being "fun", or "better".

 

How about this, we all know chevy shuffles a different diesel engine through their trucks about as often as a casino dealer in vagas. Ford changed in like 88 or 89 (not sure) and again in 93 and then 94.5. Dodge has stuck with the cummins and just pulled more out of it when they needed to keep with the trend. Cummins has been around for quite a long time compared to the others.

Another question. Why is that the semi's have BIG diesel engines that put out around 400-600 hp. Not sure of the torque, though I know it's high. These engine run forever almost. When we start pulling mad HP and TQ our of a smaller engine longevity goes down, proven fact. I'd rather take a 200 HP engine with 300 TQ and take an extra hour towing something somewhere and have it last a lot longer.

When talking just the motor, not the truck both will run a long time, both pull very well, and both have acceptable maintence costs. Flip a coin but I do lean towards cummins for the MPG.

And if you can't spell DIESEL in this forum you should not be able to post. And I'm not talking about typos.

Tyler
95 F-150 302 5 speed
94 F-250 PSD 5 Speed

 

There has been a little talk of the big diesels in tractors (semis). You guys might like to know that those monster I6 engines displace around 1000 c.i. with torque output in the area of 1400 ft. lbs., horsepower ranging from mid 300's to nearly 500. All rough figures, but my old man comes home with lots of neat facts and it can be tough to remember them precisely. He has been a trucker for 30 years. The engine in his Volvo held something like 16 gallons (yes, gallons) of oil and about 45 gal. of coolant. Axle ratios seem to be a consistent 3.50 among the heavy trucks. They achieve about 7 MPG!

By the way, the PowerStroke series is king of the hill as far as light truck applications are concerned! Ford might've had some competition but it appears Chrysler forgot to pump the steroids into its mini diesel, and we all know how the truck around it holds up

 

By the way, the PowerStroke series is king of the hill as far as light truck applications are concerned! Ford might've had some competition but it appears Chrysler forgot to pump the steroids into its mini diesel, and we all know how the truck around it holds up [/B][/QUOTE]
What Mini Diesel are you talking about? And Enlighten me how does the truck hold up. sense you have owned them and used them you tell me I have only used them sense 94. O and Dodge started useing the Cummins in 1989.

 

Chrysler forgot to pump the steroids into it's mini diesel? Sounds like your trucker daddy didn't teach you everything. The "Chrysler mini diesel" makes nearly identical torque compared to the Powerstroke, and it does it with TWO FEWER CYLINDERS! Not only that, but the version in Dodge trucks is a very detuned version. That engine is capable of putting down ungodly power.

Also, I know that the Dodge automatic transmissions are junk, but the 6-speed manuals are the strongest available in any pickup..and that's what's desirable in a real truck anyway. Furthermore, I really don't think I've heard of any 1994 or newer Dodge trucks just falling apart, so where this information comes from I don't know. Carpoint online has given them 5-star durability ratings....something GM doesn't get.

 

I know that the engine that is in my truck could have been had with 180hp 215hp 250hp 300hp and 370hp. the later being in a marine application.