Did Ford Offer Diesel Engines Before Launching The Power Stroke?

Ford debuted its 7.3-liter Power Stroke turbo diesel engine, widely considered one of the best diesel engines ever built, in its pickup trucks midway through the 1994 model year. The 7.3-liter Power Stroke was based heavily on Navistar International's 444-CI T444E engine. While the current Ford Power Stroke, the third-generation 6.7-liter engine, is solely a Ford design, the diesel engines that Ford used before the 7.3-liter Power Stroke were designed and built through a partnership with International Truck and Engine Corporation (ITEC) that formed in 1981.

Ford began offering diesel engines in its 1983 model year pickup truck lineup a full decade before Power Stroke engines debuted. The first example was an ITEC/Ford 6.9-liter diesel V8. Ford and ITEC followed the 6.9-liter with their first 7.3-liter diesel engine in 1988. The new 7.3-liter featured improved cylinder heads with bigger, better valves, and upgraded valve seals to improve longevity.

In addition to the diesel engines produced through the partnership with ITEC, Ford used small diesel engines from other sources. However, those options were short-lived. For example, the 1983 to 1984 Ford Ranger could be outfitted with a 2.2-liter Perkins diesel, which was replaced by a 2.3-liter Mitsubishi diesel option for 1985 and 1986.

Ford's 6.9-liter diesel engine produced around 161 horsepower and over 300 pound-feet of torque. While that doesn't seem like much compared to the 500 horsepower and 1,200 lb-ft of torque delivered by the latest High Output 6.7-liter Power Stroke, it was more powerful and reliable than the diesel engines that preceded it.

For example, the Oldsmobile LF9 diesel found in some GM cars and trucks from 1978 through 1981 was one of the worst American diesel engines ever. While it produced 120 horsepower and 160 lb-ft of torque in its earliest iterations, its rating fell to 105 horsepower by the end of its production. The first diesel engine used in Dodge pickups, the 243-CI (4.0-liter) Mitsubishi 6DR5 inline-six from 1978, produced about the same power as the GM Olds diesel.

The pre-Power Stroke 7.3-liter diesel engine produced 190 horsepower and delivered 388 lb-ft of peak torque. Ford added a Garrett turbocharger to the 7.3-liter in 1993 but kept the advertised power ratings nearly the same as the non-turbo version. Ford's first real competition in the diesel pickup truck market came in 1989 when Dodge began using first-generation 5.9-liter Cummins diesel engines. The early 12-valve 5.9 Cummins produced 160 horsepower, less than the Ford, but its 400 lb-ft of torque made it the class leader in the late 1980s.