Ford has been a leading manufacturer of Automobiles since the 1960s. The Power stroke has been a market leader over the years. It has improved a lot since the first generation. Along with the performance and technologies, problems also arose in Ford’s Power strokes since the first generation. You fail when you venture into a new area. Ford has faced and came over many problems over the years with its Power stroke. Here are the features and problems faced by Ford’s Power stroke over the years in chronological order.
Ford 7.3 l Power stroke problems in the first generation (1994-1997)
Features:
- The first generation Power stroke was more reliable and stable than most of the later generation Power strokes. This old diesel turbo engine didn’t provide much torque. So the parts did not wear out and last longer. The injectors fired two times per cycle compared to the modern injectors.
- It did not have an EGR cooler and particle filter systems of the current day engines, so there were not many problems in the first generation Power stroke of Ford.
Problems:
- It generated half the torque and horsepower generated by modern-day engines. It was reliable but had very poor performance.
- Ford 6.0 l Power stroke Problems in the second generation (2003-2007)
Features:
- The second-generation engine saw the addition of coolers, filters, and particulate systems. The NOx emission regulations pushed Ford and Navistar forward to develop a brand new engine from scratch. The Power stroke was a success because its torque and horsepower were the best among the competitors.
- The engine geometry and the stroke cycle promised outstanding performance. The system saw many coolers, including the EGR cooler, water cooler, water pump, and an overall cooling system.
Problems:
The second-generation engine had many problems. The signature problem of Ford’s Power stroke originated from this generation.
- EGR cooler has been the first of the major problems faced by the Power strokes. The EGR cooler is small in size and can’t deal with the heat output of the engine. Due to its small size, the cooler is prone to soothing. The engine coolant needs to pass through the oil cooler before reaching the EGR, which may be one of the prime factors in the EGR cooler’s failure. The small size can lead to metal fatigue and overheating of the cooler.
- Water-to-cooler is buried deep under the manifold. It has very small and narrow passages that can be clogged and blocked easily. It results in a substantial rise in oil temperatures. It can even lead to a restricted coolant flow rate to the EGR. The small passages are prone to rupture and can lead to oil losses. It may require the replacement of the cooling system components.
- The water pump used a plastic impeller, which becomes brittle and develops cracks over time due to the repeated cyclic load and heat cycling. It reduces the coolant flow and leads to overheating of the engine.
- The most unexpected problem of this generation was the Cylinder head bolts. The cylinder head bolts were unable to provide enough clamping force to hold the caps. This leads to extensive gasket damage. The cylinder heads crack and leave the gasket useless for future use.
- The radiators of the cooling system are made of plastic and are prone to separation at seams. They have separating problems.
Ford 6.4 l Power stroke Problems in the third generation (2008-2010)
Features:
- The engine serviceability has been reduced a lot from the previous generation. All the parts are assembled in places where they cannot be easily serviced and accessed. The price Ford paid to solve the problems of its predecessor was the serviceability of the engine. It created new and more problems despite solving the old ones.
- It promised to offer better performance when compared to its predecessor. The ECU program changes improved the power output of the engine by a lot. The assembly’s design was so bad that it took hours to access and service apart, making the services costly and time taking.
Problems:
- The Diesel particulate system’s failure causes accumulation of soot in the filters, making the engine go into regen mode. In regen mode, the engine’s economy reduces, and the exhaust temperatures rise substantially. When the filters get soothed, the engine starts spraying diesel out from the exhaust system. It dilutes the engine oil and causes cooler cranking.
- The EGR cooler, which is prone to cranking, is still prone to cranking. Navistar added a second vertical EGR cooler and the first horizontal one of the same size to prevent the cooler’s cranking. The horizontal cooler cranks first followed by the vertical one instead of the preventing the cranking, leading to the same kinds of issues.
- The oil cooler gets clogged easily. It increases the oil temperatures. It is very difficult to change the oil filter because it is buried deep under the manifold. It makes replacing or servicing very costly and difficult.
Ford 6.7 l Power stroke Problems in the fourth generation (2011-2016)
Features:
- This generation engine was designed in-house. Ford broke with Navistar and decided to design the new engine in-house. The new engine had many new features such as reverse flow heads, valves with individual push rods, heat exchanger, and air to water intercooler. It is designed for trucks to improve drivability and performance. The new changes gave a huge reliability boost to the engine.
- The new feature that Ford ventured into during the development of this engine is the EGT sensors. The ECU uses these sensors to monitor the catalytic converter and diesel particulate filter.
Problems:
- The EGR cooler stills remains a problem. It has been modified and got a size increase to cope up with the heat demands. It was moved to an easily accessible place. The shape of the cooler has been modified into a cartridge so that the cooler doesn’t crank. It still does crank often, but the replacement and serviceability have improved a lot.
- The EGT sensors fail due to the extreme temperatures in the silencer. The adhesive used to stick these sensors fails, and the sensors need replastering.
- The oil cooler is less fragile and large enough to withstand the temperatures, but the oil temperatures still soar high.
Ford 6.7 l Power stroke Problems in the fifth generation (2017-2019)
Features:
- The engine is not made from scratch, unlike the previous versions, it is made based on the previous versions by improving the performance and reducing the problems. The new design offers improved torque, exhaust, and inlet flow rates. The F-150 model has been dropped for further changes and is likely to reappear in 2021. Since it is a fairly new engine, we do not know much about the users’ problems.
Ford 6.7 l Power stroke Problems in the current generation (2020-today)
Features:
All the aluminum pistons are replaced with steel pistons of smaller size to prevent an increase in weight and reduce internal friction. The new features include a 2-piece intake manifold and a faster firing injection system. The EGR cooler, which haunted the engines over generations, has finally been resolved with the new H-core EGR cooler. With the fairly new introduction of the Power stroke, we don’t have much details on the problems. Learn more here.
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