The new 6.4 diesel is still made by Navistar. It is the MaxxForce 7 in Navistar speak with the MaxxForce 5 being the new V-6 Ford keeps talking about putting in the half tons. I've already heard of some problems with it, but that's inherent to any new engine design. Just ask Toyota with their snapping camshafts in the 3UR-FE Tundra motor.
I have to agree, Pete. What is the point of a DOHC V-8 diesel? If you look at the dyno graphs you will see that while the Powerstroke matches the competition in torque and horsepower output for the most part it does so at a much higher RPM.
Is it to give guys that seat of the pants kick? Is it to make it more able to crank out bragging rights horsepower? I'm not sure. It really doesn't make for a working truck engine though.
The problems now with ALL the makes are generally electronics related. Yes, a blown head gasket certainly is a mechanical issue, but what caused it to blow? Was it a faulty boost regulator on the variable turbocharger? Was it the computer overleaning or overenrichening the mixture? Was it the whole host of emissions stuff? It really is hard to say and hard to track down the problem.
We are fortunate in that our buses are all mechanical for the most part. I can't think of anyone on the site that has an electronic engine other than MAYBE someone floating around with a T444E. Our mechanical diesels (the 6.6 Brazilian included, Chuck.
) are stupidly simple and very reliable. The emissions aren't as low, the mileage not as high, and the output (stock anyway) not as high per cubic inch as the more modern diesels, but they hold together for hundreds of thousands of miles.
I'm not going to say that electronics are bad. They really are the wave of the future, but there is a learning curve that must be dealt with. The current horsepower and torque wars in the diesel market are great in that the industry is getting a great influx of R&D money and we are seeing better and better things. But what about reliability? I have a hard time believing that Ford did what I would consider sufficient testing of the 6.4 based on the fact that the 6.0 was released just two years prior. Their energies were going into designing that and then designing the fixes. Were they really working on the 6.0's replacement before it was even released? I highly doubt it.
We as consumers have become a testing grounds for the automanufacturers. It is easier for them to swallow a few engines than it is to release a truly reliable product. There is also a lack of governement support for the consumer. Sure, we have lemon laws and recall laws, but the companies can get around that.
I could go on for a long time bitching and moaning, but this whole thread was about some buses that are for sale with an engine of unknown origin. Meanwhile the rest of us are fortunate enough to have time tested powerplants in our rigs.
