A massaged 5.4 mated to a 6 speed auto would be plenty of power, the 5.4 is so choked now. The diesel should get close to 20mpg pulling a load (?), as apposed to the 8 or 10 I see with my 5.4 though.

 

the 4.4L TurboDiesel already exists.... it's not a new design, the numbers won't change much

 

It would depend on the specs. I am familiar with the 4.6, 5.4, & 6.2. But the 4.2 V6 ??? and i assume the 4.4 Turbo Diesel is an I6 with ??HP & ??TQ?? I think having a diesel option in a half ton would be awesome. It sucks that you have to get a 3/4 ton to get it as an option. It would give ford a nice edge over everybody else, maybe even offer it in some SUVs.

 

Chevy caught wind of this diesel in the 1/2 ton, and they already said they're going to do it too.(which they already did this around 98, but it didn't turn out to well).

 

Fuel was not 3 bucks a gallon back in 98'. It seems if the resale numbers hold up as they have in reguards to the Superduty trucks with the diesel engines, then a 30% savings in fuel cost would make perfect since in todays market.

I read in truck trend that Dodge is now looking to MB to help them out with a diesel for there new redesigned 2009 half ton trucks.

 

I'll be curious to see how the F250 sales figures will be effected if/when the F150 receives a diesel. I know quite a few people that don't need the towing capacity of an F250, but purchased one simply for the diesel. I'm not sure the F150 diesel will effect F350+ sales, but I would venture to say you'll see many people opt for the F150 diesel rather than the F250.

Just my thoughts, could be totally off base with this one.

 

No, chevy did this in like '82 in all of their CK truck and blazers and suburbans. They finally stopped using a variation of this engine in 98 and when they soon thereafter came out with the duramax, they only put it in their heavy duty trucks. They started with the 6.2L diesel, which had bad heads until 85 or so if I recall, then in the early 90's they turbocharged it and punched it out to 6.5L. These weren't bad engines per se; they were just bad for being diesels. They weren't that powerful, around 150 hp, and they were slow to accelerate. You could tow more with a 454.

These engines had a bad rep for several reasons:

1. Everyone confuses them to this day with the 5.7L oldsmobile v8 that was a converted gas engine. (not the same engine) This engine was wholly unreliable.

2. Early models had bad heads (legitamate)

3. Injector pumps on all of them needed replacing every 80k miles or so. I never really thought this was that bad of thing. Preventative maintenance?

4. They were low on pickup. most of them weren't turbocharged, the ones that were still weren't that quick to accelerate, especially when loaded to gvwr. Not that the engine wouldn't pull a load - it would. It just wouldn't do it quickly. After the cummins came out, and ford upgraded from their 6.9 to the 7.3 idi and then the powerstroke, chevy's diesels looked silly in the power department. They were still kings in the mileage dept, though.

In a half ton or a blazer, the 6.2 would get you well upwards of 20mpg highway, something that I've still yet to see with modern diesels. Even in heavier rigs, suburbans and such, they got good mileage. At a time when suburbans were returning 8 to 10 mpg highway, the 6.2 was fetching 18-22.

If Ford, Chevy, Dodge, Toyota, or Nissan put half the engineering into a fuel economy diesel as they do gas engines or "power" diesels, there is no reason we shouldn't be seeing 30 mpg+ out of our 4wd half tons.

 

I hope they do come out with a Diesel 1/2 ton suburban again and not that deal they were doing at the last back in around 95-96 you could get a 6.5 turbo and they called it a 1/2 ton but it was really pretty much the 3/4 ton with 1/2 ton stickers on it. The odd thing I reacall about that was that you could get a 6.5 turbo in a blazer/tahoe that was a real half ton chassis. That never made since to me.

I remember the 5.7s and the 6.2s they were very very slow. The 6.2 was much better than the 5.7 but both were slugs. The 6.5s were not to bad as I recall they did not feel much different than the 350 gassers back in the mid 90s. I think the 6.5 was quicker than the pre vortech 350 gass trucks. Fordmtnman, that was a very good summary of GM diesel history at least this past 30 some odd years anyway.

 

I am currently chomping at the bit to get a New truck... I have compared the '07 F150 to the superduty and even though I can get a REALLY good deal on the superduty, the extra 3,000 lbs is not helping it gain my favor....

 

No, chevy did it for a very limited time right around 97-98 in their half ton trucks.
But you are right about the rest, but again it was done around that time also.

 

Fordmtnman is right, GM had 5.7L diesel conversion engines in 1/2 ton trucks in 1979 - 1980 and skipped a year and came out with the Detroit 6.2L in 1/2 ton trucks that lasted from 82-87. I think the 6.5 turbo detroit was 1st put in the 1/2 tons in 93 or 94.

My grand dad had a 1979 5.7 diesel Cadilac and a 1980 diesel 5.7 1/2 ton truck , then traded the 80 for a 82 6.2L . Oddly enough the 5.7s in the caddi and the p/u never gave him any trouble, but the 6.2 had a the verey head problems that fordmtnman was talking about. I remember driving those 5.7s and 6.2s when I was a teenager and man, slow is an understatement.

I later had a used 82 GMC 1/2 ton pickup that had the 6.2L and had to rebuild the fuel pump just like fordmtnman mentioned.

My dad had a 94 6.5 turbo 1/2 ton pickup and a 95 suburban with the 6.5 turbo. The truck was a real 1/2 ton the Suburban just said 1500 in the side it was really a 3/4 ton with 1/ 2 ton decals.

 

I did not make this up. My dad had a contracting business from 85-95, and we literally had a fleet of diesel chevy pickups, from 1/2 ton to 1 ton, and a suburban. My cousin still has an 84 K5 blazer with a 6.2 and 4 spd manual. He averages 25 mpg highway, and he has a lead foot.

 

I hate typeing things.
I tried to say, you are right about the diesel engines in hose years, but you said they weren't in the 97-98 year I said. They put a diesel in that year truck for 1/2 tons(option of coarse), but it didn't last.

 

I see. I must have misunderstood you then, although I fail to see where I said that 97s and 98s dont have 1/2 ton diesels... I'll make it clear.

I don't count the 5.7... it was a converted gas engine.

The 6.2 came out in 82 or 83 in every truck based product except s10s and el caminos. 1/2 tons too. They later made this into the turbocharged 6.5., with the same applictions. They quit putting diesels in half tons when they quit producing the old style 6.2/6.5 and came out with the duramaxes. My position is that they didn't put duramaxes in half tons, but the put the 6.2/6.5 in half tons for like 15 years there.

 

Ok, then we both misunderstood each other.