The 2020-2022 Ford Super Duty pickups use the third-generation of Ford’s first in-house designed and built V8 diesel engine, the 6.7-liter Power Stroke. In the 2021 F-250 we’ve tested here it’s rated at 475 horsepower and 1050 pound-feet of torque and comes mated to Ford’s in-house designed and built 10-speed automatic transmission.
Several improvements were made to the engine for this latest version to get to it’s new-found power level. These include a new 36,000-psi fuel injection system and a new Garrett GT37 variable-geometry turbocharger that sits between the heads in this hot-vee setup.
Unfortunately you really can’t see it. Your first look into the engine bay tells you this thing is complex, and it is. As large as the engine bay is you really can’t see the engine at all through all of its intake and supply components.
I’ll do my best to make some sense of what you’re looking at. Following the airflow, the intake air comes in through a snorkel just above the grille and into a large air filter box at the passenger side just ahead of battery number one. From there it heads into the pre-intake manifold and into the turbocharger buried deep in the engine’s valley at the rear of the engine bay. Trust me, it’s there.
It’s worth noting that this is unique, The engine’s hot-vee design places the exhaust outlets on top of the heads, feeding into the turbocharger mounted on top of the engine and between the heads. This shortens the distance and reduces ducting for less turbo lag and improved thermal efficiency.
So. from the turbocharger, the intake charge heads over to an air-to-water inter-cooler mounted on the drivers side next to battery number two before heading back to the complex intake system of the engine. There it flows through a new aluminum intake manifold that feeds the cylinders through intake passages cast into the top covers of the heads.
Also fed into this intake system is a portion of the exhaust that was routed through a large cooler on the passenger side of the engine and routed back into the intake charge. This cooled EGR system contributes to cleaner emissions and again better thermal efficiency.
Having just walked through all of this you might be thinking this thing is a nightmare to work on and to maintain yourself. Well, you will certainly need a step ladder which explains our overhead views here. But when it comes to maintenance, here are the main spots to touch on are actually easy to find.
The air filter box is located at the front passenger side with a gauge provided to give you a quick look to check the filter’s condition. There are two 12-volt batteries, one on the passenger side next to the air filter box, the other on the driver side at the front.
The reservoir for the secondary cooling circuit serving the air-to-water turbocharger intercooler is at the rear of the main radiator near the center. Windshield washer fluid is right up front next to the radiator and the power steering reservoir is just behind it ahead of the engine. Further up close to the driver’s side firewall is the main coolant reservoir, behind that the brake fluid reservoir.
Checking engine oil is done at the top and back of engine, you can see the bright yellow dipstick handle. The oil filler cap is there at the top of the engine just to the right of it. The oil filter is at the bottom of the engine near the transmission. Checking the transmission fluid with an engine-bay dipstick is a thing of the past with this sealed transmission.
