Can anyone tell me what you know about this engine? I've heard talk of a V-6 PSD added to the 8000 lb gvw lines in late 2002. (F-150,Expedition,Econoline,etc) Just curious. I have a 99 F350 PSD Supercab DRW. I want to trade for a '02 Crew Cab Longbed SRW. Is this engine worth waiting on or should I just go get a new Ford and get on with my life.

 

New engine and 5 speed auto tranny developed for 03, I understand. May want to think about it for a year or two and let someone else work the kinks out. Also heard they will start out with low HP and torque and bring them up over several years.

 

The latest, as I understand it is that the V6 is on hold for now due to a vibrational concern. We should be ready to go with the 6.0L Power Stroke in late 2002 for the 2003 model year. The latest word on horsepower is 325 and 700 ft. lb. of torque at peak torque (we'll see).

 

Joe,
You said in an earlier post that you were to have some training on the new engine in Oct. Any new engine features? I was going to buy a 7.3 but got cold feet! Have you heard about "cackle"? It seems to be a hot topic.
Bryan

 

The new engine is going to be totally new. It will be smaller, lighter and will have second generation injectors (the concept will be similar to the 7.3L). It is supposed to be quieter but I haven't been able to verify that yet. If you need a truck I wouldn't hesitate to buy a 7.3, but if you want to go with the new technology (and can wait) then the 6.0L would be the way to go.
Yes, I have heard about the "cackle" problem and have actually heard the cackle myself. Our engineers have attempted to put a "band aid" fix on the "problem" and it has not worked in my opinion. Without going into a long drawn out oratory about it, I'll say just this: Our diesels WITH cackle are much, much quieter than the Dodge Cummins diesel (but probably not the GM Duramax). Also aside from being an annoyance, it dosen't hurt anything that I'm aware of. We all know that diesels have a "rattle" when they run -- if that is a problem for the buyer, then they should buy something else. I've never bought any vehicle without test driving it first and I don't understand the concept of buying a vehicle that rattles then complaining about the rattle under warranty! Either I'm missing something here or else some people are just plain stupid.
I expect that we will eventually find a way to make diesels run quieter. Our engineers are working on it right now but I don't know if that technology will be utilized on the first year of the new 6.0L Power Stroke. They don't report these things to me and many times when I ask a direct question I get a non-answer. We've got a 6.0L dyno "mule" in our Audit department but we haven't had it running yet so I haven't seen the power numbers or heard it run yet (it came from our engineering lab either in Ft. Wayne or Melrose Park). I'll let you all know when there is something to report.

 

Thanks for the update and keeping us posted. Can't wait to hear your thoughts on the running engine!

 

This new engine is a VERY strong design. But, I have to tell you that I'm not really comfortable with getting into a horse power war with the competition. Torque gets the work done. Horse power adds a time factor to the equation. Spinning the engine faster makes more H/P (even if the torque is falling). Admittidly, I'm not an engineer but I don't see how you can get more grunt out of a smaller engine. It seems to me that we are going to have to run this engine faster at both peak torque and peak horse power to be able to get the kind of power they are claiming. If anybody has a better understanding of this horse power thing I'd be interested in hearing it. I'll keep you all apprised of any new information that comes my way.