edselford

I guess we will have to Wait to see if 6.8 only has port injection???? I do not disagree with your statements on RAM, or 6.8 in F150. RAM has been the big winner so far based on volume increases versus just a few years ago. At first, I thought the volume was coming out of Chevy/GMC. It may warrant a closer look with F150 volumes too. Also before the Coyote 5.0 V8 came out, there was a prior generation 5.8 DOC V8 in the Mustang., talk deck 5.4 bored out to 93.5mm in aluminum with PWT bore coating.

Sometimes, UAW contracts limit what companies can do to optimize their cost structure. Continuation of the 6.2 may be one of these items until contract runs out or replacements are found or plant gets closed. Seems that the 6.2 SOC V8 was practically dead on arrival as IC engines go. The 6.8 is Ford’s answer to the GM 6.6 V8 and maybe nothing more. It would be easy to do a 5.8 version of the Coyote 5.0 at about 600 hp for Mustang. edselford

Think of a direct injected and port injected 6.8liter V8 having the same hp and torque numbers as the current 7.3! Probably most of the F350/350 customers are going to be happy with better mpg and less susceptible to engine knock! For F450/550 6.8 as base and just maybe 7.3 DI/Port injection as an up option with approx 8% more torque than current 7.3! or 7.3 goes away completely. edselfird

There was a recent article in the Windsor Star newspaper that said ford would be making IC engines at least to 2040. The article mentioned the 5.0 V8, the 7.3 V8 and the upcoming 6.8! It seemed to indicate that the ongoing chip shortage has delayed the 6.8. Maybe, the 6.8 will be built on a refurbished 6.2 line when the equipment is moved to the Windsor facility? Also, if the7.3 V8 cylinder head fits on the existing 6.2 block with the cylinder head bolts in the same place, it is likely the 6.8 will be a reworked 6.2 block but with a single cam in block design. I expect a 106.75 mm bore and a 95 mm stroke like the existing 6.2. If it is a cast iron block, expect it to slide into the Super Duty. If it is used anywhere else, expect an aluminum or CGI block material. edselford

Bob Your Point on cost of the 3.5 ecoboost is a very good one on f150. Then if you want to add the hybrid system to that, the costs are much greater than a gm hybrid system utilizing a 5.3 V8. Maybe the 6.8 is designed for future hybrid f150 where they run in an Atkinson cycle and utilize the electric motor to fill in the loss in torque of the V8 due to the more efficient Atkinson cycle. utilizing the 5.0 V8 with its 32 valve doc would not be as cost efficient! edselford

Jpd80, If the Raptor R gets a version of the sc 5.2V8, where does the 6.8 V8 get used? edselford

Awills I am sorry to hear about your experience with 2021 Explorer. I leased a 2021 Explorer XLT from ford in December 2020 and have had over 17,000 miles of trouble free service. Except for two oil changes and tire rotations , I have had no reason to visit my local ford dealer! The handling is outstanding and highway fuel economy is about 28.5 mpg which for a large vehicle is great! performance from ecoboost 2.3 s better than most competitive vehicles but engine noise during acceleration should of been lower! Transmission feel and downshift characteristics change with each driving mode and is still somewhat confusing to me. eco settings seems to be the nicest compromise for me even though tip in response is reduced compared to the normal setting! I do not care for all the skipped shifts and would prefer shifting thru each gear! base radio is the worse radio I ever had since I began driving in a 1966 Galaxie XL. (About 55 different vehicles) Ride quality at highway speeds or full load is good but unloaded vehicle seems to be over damped. Basic structure of this CD6 platform is great but vehicle could use a higher level of refinement. good luck to you edselfird

It just have a “feeling” that the 6.8 V8 Mustang for 2024 will only come as a hybrid!. It would be significantly less expensive to build than an 3.5 ecoboost hybrid! edselford

Be cautious! The step up height on the 2021 Explorer with 20” wheels is pretty tall. Have your wife get in and out a few times before you buy. Vehicle could use a side step! edselford

Stroke is 3.74. These are metric engines so 7.3 has bore and stroke of 107.2 X101 mm 6.2 is at 102X95 mm Do the math in metric and then convert to cubic inches by multiplying by 61.02 cubic inches per liter. I just wonder if 6.8 with direct injection will replace the 6.2 boss in F250/350? Maybe pushing the 7.3 into F450/550 only? edselford

Well taking the 7.3 bore and 6.2 stroke gives you 418.56 cubic inches or 6.859 liters. Wouldn’t this be called a 6.9 liter V8? Yes, taking the 6.2 SOC V8 and opening up the bores to 106.75 mm with the 95 mm stroke gives you 6.80 liters or 415.06 cubic inches. edselford

Does anyone know why this engine is 6.8 liters? The news release from the Canadian union at Windsor talked about 6X. Or it’s derivatives. What does this mean? More different displacements? edselford

Can someone describe technically what changes when you choose different drive modes on a 2021 Ford Explorer four wheel drive? what happens to the transfer case electronic clutch? Transmission shifting, and skipping gears? throttle response etc???? I have noticed that the eco mode drives better than the normal mode, seems like eco mode shifts at higher engine rpm’s and doesn’t lug the engine at light throttles. Also, is there a way to change the default mode from normal to say eco? Thank You edselford

Hi slemke, thanks for the info on new ci block. Very interesting. Another approach is to utilize aluminum 5.8 doc block with 5.0 liter bore and 4” stroke. Rod length to stroke ratio would be about 1.7 to 1 with higher deck block at about 256 mm. edselford

Maybe ford could do. 5.5 liter DOC V8 version of a 5.0 liter with a higher deck for a special Mustang? Take the 5.0 heads and use a 4” crankshaft, you get 5.5 liters. Would need to have about a 249 mm deck height block with unique con rod length. Don’t need the deck height of the old 5.4/5.8 liter engines at 256mm edselford

Yes, the rod to stroke ratio of the 7.3 is 1.589 to 1. This is probably the lowest of any ford V8! The FT series truck engines had problems with heat that was never fixed . The fix was the 370 V8 from the 385 series I think ? edselford

Mary, Do you think the comments on the heat issue regarding 7.3 liter is due to the limited amount of coolant flowing through the fly cut between the cylinder bores and the cylinder head or could it be due to a deck height that is somewhat short for a 101mm stroke? Thanks edselford

Maybe the current Edge will be replaced by a updated version of the Everest? Once the initial demand for the Bronco is satisfied (hardtop issues completely eliminated) the volume is most likely in the 50 to 65,000 unit/year range. This will take about 18 to 34 months! Adding Ranger volumes will not completely fill the Wayne assembly complex. Everest just might be in the plan edselford

I would not worry too much about aluminum block melting in medium duty. I think the real issue is fatigue life! Cast iron or CGI is vastly superior for fatigue life! There must be more with Ford choosing 6.8 over 7 liter like 429 cid for such small volumes in F150 and Mustang? 429 versus 414 cid is almost insignificant except from a marketing perspective, 429 would of worked better! I just wonder if CO2 footprint of the 6.8 with dynamic skip cylinder deactivation is equal to the CO2 footprint of the high output 3.5 Ecoboost???? Also the rod to stroke ratio is about 1.57 to 1 on the 7.3 It is unlikely the 6.8 deck height will be any different than the 7.3. edselford

Does anyone know how Ford came up with 6.8 size V8? Why? For most of the high performance vehicle days, all significant domestic OEM’s were sitting around 7.0 liters. ford 427FE (actually 425) ford 428FE (actually 427) Chevy 427, Chrysler 426, Olds 425, Pontiac 428, ford 429, Lincoln 430 ,Buick 430. edselford

Yes we are guessing but maybe when ford introduces the 6.8 with DI and the current port injection, the vast majority of the volume will be in F250 and F350 series trucks. F450/F550 could stay with the DI version of the 7.3 liter fast to production with cast iron blocks. The mustang and F150 volumes would be so low, these may not happen or if the did, the five liter V8 would be gone! It take a little more time to do an aluminum block and test it! edselford

Yes that is the pressure from the environmentalists. I lost track on regulations on vehicles above 8500# GVW??? Have those also been revised? Regulating carbon emissions is regulating fuel economy! A cost effective hybrid is probably the way to go as a interim solution to get to full electric! It might be similar to psi on fuel injection ie higher voltages for EV will help achieve range and shorter charging times, may become real short. After 50 years in the auto industry, it is still fascinating and interesting to see the small steps in technology be put together to make a significant contribution to humankind! When I started in the late 60’s we had two or three speed automatics, carburetors, 8 tracks. Look how far we have come. edselford

The comment from SoonerLS about a hybrid 6.8 makes allot of sense. I just wonder if there will be much engine shuffling at ford during the next two years for both F150 and the Superduty 250/350/450? A hybrid 2.7 ecoboost could replace almost all current 3.5 ecoboost. The 6.8 NA could replace the high output 3.5 ecoboost on F150’s. With a 6.8 light duty hybrid as the up option. the heavy duty version of the 6.8NA engine could be the base F250/350 engine with a heavy duty 6.8 hybrid replacing the current 7.3NA V8. the 7.3NA and 7.3hybrid may go into the F450/550’s. We are in some very interesting times with dynamic cylinder deactivation and new electronic technologies edselford

Stray Kay, you are right on in what you have said! Good engineers can come up with very compromised designs when the basic assumptions are wrong or miscalculated. the Conentental fwd 4.6 V8 was not that good and volumes did not justify 100 mm bore centers for truck, mustang and crown Victoria. we started down the wrong road with GM switching basically everything to front wheel drive! Roger Smith thought everything should be fwd! Then we got fwd torque steer, throttle body injection and more!. Now everything is going electric but it may make more sense to use cars and trucks with IC engines to clean the air as they pass thru it!, something like a catalytic radiator? over the years, I have had vehicles with the following engines: 352fe 390fe 255, 351W, 231V6, 305, 2.6MMC, 318, 360chrysler, 2.4, 3.0V6, 360amc, 454, 350 Chevy, 364 Chevy, 4.6 doc Cadillac, 4.6doc Buick, 5.4 ford, 3.5 ford, 3.0 ford, 1.6ecboost, 1.5 ecoboost, 2.0 ecoboost and current 2.3 ecoboost. out of all these vehicles, the Galaxie 352fe , the suburban 454, the Seville 4.6 and the Explorer 2.3 ecoboost ran the best! I have learned over the last 45 years, have a backup! Maybe the 6.8 is part of the backup plan? edselford

There is a very simple strategy to get to the 6.8 liter windsorV8. pour the block out of CGI and machine it down the same line as the 7.3 liter by just changing the cutters.(weight pretty close to aluminum) Reduce bore to 103.4 mm and use the same stroke as the 7.3 maintaining the current 7.3 deck height. Engine would still have ability to rev to 6800 rpm and low end torque would be better than larger bore with shorter stroke. Greater cylinder wall thickness so it can be used on low volume supercharged vehicles without issues, possibly with full water jackets and ability for .040 over in rebuilt. High volume when it replaced the hybrid 3.5 ecoboost engine on F150 edselford