3.2L Diesel Duratorq engine in Ford Transit

[jacwjames]

My wife has decided she want a smaller transit type van to go to dog shows in.  She wants a hightop so the common choices are Sprinter, Ram, Ford.  It needs to have rear air to keep dogs cool while in transit.  No doubt I will be outfitting it with "stuff"  

Yesterday she found a Ford Transit van https://www.carmax.com/car/23868770

When I looked at I saw a 3.2L engine listed and after searching found it was a diesel made by Puma called a Duratorq (European).  More searching and found that Ford quite using these in 2019

Spent a couple hours doing more research.

1. Based on VIN I found on the Ford website it still has 3 out standing recalls (even though the NHSTA says it doesn't have any). It also has a power/engine warranty till June 2019 so that's good.
2. Ford only used this engine from 2014 till 2019, it seems there wasn't a high demand for a diesel Transit van.
3. This engine is used in Europe and Africa.
4. Since the engine isn't produced or used in new vehicles in USA parts may be an issue but haven't got into it enough to know if it would be an issue. Since Ford offered this in their vehicles I believe they are obligated to have parts for 10 years but that doesn't mean you won't have to wait for them.
5. Based on the VIN there is still +1 year of engine/drive train warranty. 

Also found the article on the engine  https://yourmotorguide.com/ford-ranger-3-2-engine-problems/

The one thing that looks concerning is the oil pump issue, if you do a service they caution against letting the pan drain for more then 10 minutes otherwise it will drain oil out of the oil pump and it is not selfpriming.  So all's it would take is a tech to pull the plug, walk away for too long and it would be toast. 

Does anyone have any knowledge of these engines???

[Rikadoo]

Walk Away…. Run if you can!!!

i worked on them when they came out, reason is only ford can do major service ONLY FORD! Cause EVERYTHING needs a special tool, ford quit using them cause all the techs and dealerships were bitching so bad cause the time factors were thru the roof. You will notice there is no doghouse to remove to accec the back of the engine, well the engine mfg put the EGR cooler right in the very back of the engine, almost IMPOSSABLE to change, plus im sure the parts availability will be $$$$$ due to they dropped the engine family. Sorry didnt respond sooner, i was having issues opening the website…🙀runnnnnn!

[jacwjames]

9 minutes ago, Rikadoo said:

Walk Away…. Run if you can!!!

i worked on them when they came out, reason is only ford can do major service ONLY FORD! Cause EVERYTHING needs a special tool, ford quit using them cause all the techs and dealerships were bitching so bad cause the time factors were thru the roof. You will notice there is no doghouse to remove to accec the back of the engine, well the engine mfg put the EGR cooler right in the very back of the engine, almost IMPOSSABLE to change, plus im sure the parts availability will be $$$$$ due to they dropped the engine family. Sorry didnt respond sooner, i was having issues opening the website…🙀runnnnnn!

Rick,

Thanks for the great feedback, exactly what I was looking for!! 

I kind of figured there were underlying problems but found limited to no information from USA sources.  The article I posted was from Europe.   The issue that bothered me was the oil pump siphoning dry during an oil change if you let the plug out for more then 10 minutes.  

I'll tell my wife not to even bother looking at it.   I'm pushing her to look at a Chevy conversion fan with a proven engine.  Even the Fords with Ecoboost engines have problems. 
 

 

Much appreciated

[Guest Ray Davis]

3 hours ago, jacwjames said:

the oil pump siphoning dry during an oil change if you let the plug out for more then 10 minutes.

Sounds crazy,  who would build something like that?   At least a check valve should be used,  I would think.

[jacwjames]

It is crazy and probably result in a lot of engine failures. 

Not going to worry about it now, with the feedback Rik provided we aren't even going to consider it.