Ford Diesel Engines
Since Ford makes automobiles, it is safe to say that they have been making motors since the first cars have been made, in other words, they have been making motors for exactly 100 years, since the original Tin Lizzie in 1908. Starting from 1983 they have been producing a great line of diesel engines called the Ford/Navistar Diesel V8 line. So far it has undergone six variations, so let's take a short look at the history of these motors.
>6.9, the beginning
The original 6.9 L IDI indirect injection was introduced in 1983 and ran for four years until the end of '87. Many people think that this has been one of the best engines ever, like a commenter on the dieselpowermag forums:
"the toughest diesels ford ever put in a truck we have an 85 6.9 and with the exception of eating glow plugs it has been solid as a rock"
According to some accounts on the ford-trucks.com forum some people have got more than 300.000 on their odo, on factory built models, so if nothing else, this shows how extremely durable this motor is.
6.3, a bit of a mishap?
The next step (or rather next two) was the 7.3 IDI and the 7.3 IDI turbo was produced from 88' to 93'. Actually most people see this as an inferior model, which although seems more powerful, is less dependable in the long run. Again, take a look at this thread from the ford-trucks.com forums, you'll see that lots of enthusiasts recommend the 6.9 over the 7.3.
7.3, the powerstroke era begins
Until 1993 we could call the motors pre-powerstroke. However, from 1994 Ford introduced its famous powerstroke line, starting with the 7.3 L DI powerstroke. The popularity of this motor can be tracked through production statistics. Starting with 175 a day in 1994, the production was increased up to almost a thousand by 1996. This powerstroke model was produced until 2003 (a 10 year production time says a lot!), and like its 6.9 predecessor is considered one of the best diesel engines ever.
6.0, New and improved powerstroke
From the second half of 2003 Ford introduced the new generation of powerstrokes, the 6.0 L DI. In 2003 when it firs entered the market it claimed top of the market status with its output torque of 560 lb. ft. at 2,000 rpm. It boasted a new five-speed TorqShift automatic truck transmission, which was the product of $81 million in R&D.
The 6.0 was a solid model with few problems. Typically there are some who really hate it, but in reality most problems are due to lack of maintenance. Perhaps the "problem" of this motor is that it is very susceptible to oil problems. The oil fired injectors don't take well to old or dirty oil, so changing the oil as instructed is a must for this engine.
6.4 The newest powerstrokes
The last in the line, with production started this year is the 6.4 powerstroke. Since it is relatively new it is hard to deduce anything that is a long-run problem, but there are some immediately obvious properties we can talk about.
Ford will be replacing the 6-4 in two years, and this may indicate problems, but in reality it seems like they either just don't get along with the manufacturer and have put an end to their contract or they have to replace the engines because of the emissions regulations. Who can really know what's really happening, but one thing is for sure, users on the ford-trucks.com forum praise the engine on this thread. To me it seems that this is a great placeholder motor, but will never become iconic like the original 6.9.
Overall, to me it seems that the line of engines I have just shown you is worthy of Ford's name. The only mishap seems to be 7.3 IDI, but right after an iconic model this happens very often. It's a testament to Ford's engine production capability that they corrected the error with the following first powerstroke engine, and while quality may have gone down somewhat, the prestige of the line is hardly tarnished.