Ford’s engineers are mulling a new 4.4-litre V8 diesel engine as a power unit for the company’s F-Series pick-up trucks, and have solicited tooling so far. This engine is substantially different than the new V8 planned for upcoming Land Rovers that will replace the existing BMW-sourced engines.

Insider ripples appear in the wake of news that the company has triggered record sales of the F-Series trucks. Ford sold 126,905 trucks in July 2005, well above the previous record of 102,424 units set in October 2001. Word is that the cylinder block will share the compacted graphite iron (CGI) construction of the United Kingdom-produced Lion V6 engine to achieve class-leading power density.

The potential arrival of a new V8 diesel engine is significant for at least two reasons, according to insiders. First, the new diesel engine will allow the company to become independent of Navistar International that supplies diesels for the F-Series. Navistar is based in Indianapolis and Hunstville.

Second, Ford does yet offer a diesel engine in the popular F150 model, the smallest of the F-Series trucks. Power ranges from 202 hp (352 Nm torque) from the 4.2-liter V6, through 231 hp (396 Nm torque) for the 4.6-liter V8, to 300 hp (494 Nm torque) from the 5.4-litre Triton engine. These are all gasoline engines. A diesel is seen as essential for future sales leadership.

For the F250 and F350 models, Ford can offer only the 6.0-liter Powerstroke diesel engine which produces 325 hp and 770 Nm torque – the other two offerings, the 5.4-litre Triton of 300 hp and the 6.8-litre V10 Triton of 355 hp (615 Nm), are both gasoline engines.

The Powerstroke diesel is manufactured by Navistar International, which has also developed a new V6 diesel engine – the VT275. This is a 4.5-liter V6 turbodiesel. However, it develops only 200 hp – Ford develops this power rating from its smaller, lighter and more compact V6 Lion diesel engine manufactured in the United Kingdom at Dagenham.

This horsepower gap highlights the huge gap that exists in diesel technology in Europe and North America . Navistar had a 4.0-litre V6 diesel, but Ford can easily match it on price and performance. Added to which, Ford and Navistar have had their differences in the past regarding the supply of both V6 and V8 diesel engines. Navistar had planned to ship 4.0-litre V6 diesels to Ford some years back, but the deal unraveled, reputedly on grounds of fuel injection technology.

The significance of Ford’s new diesel engine is its power rating. At 4.4-liters with a turbocharger, the engine will develop 330 hp – ideal for all F-Series passenger and light-duty applications, namely, F150, F250 and F350. Also, it should be capable of at least 700 Nm of torque. This will bring it within nudging distance of Navistar’s 6.0-liter Powerstroke, but in lighter and more compact form.

The arrival of the engine will be good news for Britain . As product planners mull over the options there is a good chance the engine will be built at Ford’s Dagenham Diesel Centre, Essex , UK , where it will be manufactured alongside the existing V6 Lion diesel engine.

However, in order to achieve a power output of 330 hp, Ford’s powertrain engineers will need to use compacted graphite iron (CGI) for the cylinder block, just as they have done for the cylinder block of the V6 diesel engine that is used by Jaguar, Land Rover and the PSA group in France.

Ford’s preferred supplier of CGI cylinder blocks is Tupy SA in Brazil . Tupy heads the four-fold supply chain of foundries specializing in CGI – Tupy also supplies Audi in Germany .

The logistics of the new engine would require the blocks to be cast by Tupy in Brazil , given cubing machining operations at the foundry and then shipped to Dagenham for finish machining and final assembly. The completed engines would then be shipped across the Atlantic for fitment to the F-Series.

Insiders in the UK believe the new 4.4-litre engine would make an ideal power unit for Land Rover’s top class Range Rover models. The current top-of-the-range model uses a 305 hp 4.4-litre V8 gasoline engine built at Bridgend in South Wales .

Speculation in the UK has it that Ford is aiming at a production volume for the new engine of around 130,000 units, of which 100,000 would go the US for F-Series and 30,000 to Land Rover.

Land Rover uses a 4.4-litre gasoline engine in the latest version of the Discovery SUV, the LR3, as well as a 4.0-liter gasoline engine for selected markets. There is also the TDV6 turbodiesel available – but so far only for manual six-speed gearbox versions. So there is potential too for the new 4.4-litre engine to fit into this vehicle.

The new 4.4-litre engine is estimated to be about three years away from production. But with the current roar away sales of F-Series, Ford is likely to miss potential diesel sales. Experience with Ford’s V6 Lion diesel has proved the engine can offer almost gasoline-like performance coupled with huge torque characteristics, although the current trend in North America is for a burbling V8.