New engine from Ford Power Products: spark-ignited 1.6 L is successor to 1.3; six CARB emissions-compliant configurations to be available - Industry News

Diesel Progress North American Edition, Jan, 2003 by Mike Brezonick

In its first significant introduction since it became part of Ford's global Powertrain Operations early last year, Ford Power Products has announced a successor to its existing 1.3 L industrial engine. The TSG-416 is a 1.6 L, spark-ignited engine available in gasoline, natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas configurations. The in-line, four-cylinder engine offers a maximum intermittent rating of 63 lip on gasoline (see related chart) and meets the California Air Resources Board (CARB) 2003 emissions standards for large sparkignited engines, the company said.

"The 1.6 L engine boasts more horsepower, better fuel efficiency, increased durability and more torque than its predecessor," said Paul Moore, director of sales and operations at the Dearborn, Mich., company "It will be a very versatile and reliable engine for our customers to use in a variety of applications."

The TSG-416 engine is targeted toward a range of industrial applications, including sweepers, scissors lifts, high lift equipment, generators, wood chippers, concrete saws, turf mowers and burden carriers. Like all of Ford's industrial products, the new engine, which was designed in the mid-90s, and went into production in 1999, has an automotive heritage and is currently used in several Ford vehicles sold throughout the world, including the Ikon sedan and Fiesta. With a bore x stroke of 82.1 mm x 75.5 mm, the TSG-416 engine has a cast iron cylinder block with die cast aluminum head. The single overhead camshaft is chain driven with a service-free hydraulic tensioning system, along with low friction, finger-type roller followers.

"The 1.6 is a more technologically advanced engine than the 1.3," said Dwayne Mattison, product engineer at FPP.

The industrial engine incorporates a range of features not found on the automotive version and it's significant that the changes are primarily accommodated during the engine build, according to Todd Soper, also a product engineer at FPP. "We get an industrial engine code from a vehicle engine plant, which is one of the benefits of high volume production," he noted. "We do not take the engine after it's finished and make all the changes. That would add cost and we're able to avoid it from the start by having the engine industrialized at the plant."

Among the most significant changes made concerned the cylinder head and fuel system. "The heads have valves for dry fuel applications, because operation with dry fuel produces more valve wear than gasoline," said Soper. "The valve seat material has been changed, and we're using valves with hardened seats," sald Soper.

The dry fuel systems vary from the standard sequential port fuel injection system used in the gasoline version. A mechanical, carbureted fuel system, with a closed loop dithering solenoid, is used for the natural gas and LP models. The Engine and fuel systems are controlled by the Ford Engine Performance Module (EPM), which was introduced in mid-2002 (see August 2002, DPNA).

"Engines will be sold in six different configurations, including gasoline emissions certified; LPG only emissions certified; NO only emissions certified; LPG/NO dual dry fuel emissions certified; gasoline and LPG bi-fuel certified and gasoline/NO bi-fuel certified," said Soper.

"Along with the fuel systems, significant changes were also made to the intake and exhaust manifolds," noted Mattison. We've designed an aluminum intake manifold to replace the plastic manifold that is standard on the automotive version. The aluminum manifold is more durable than the plastic in dry fuel applications."

On the exhaust side, the manifold was redesigned to make connections more accessible for industrial applications. "Our design has better flow," noted Soper. "We tested it on a flow bench and it had better flow than any of the automotive designs available."

"In addition, we designed the HEGO sensor into the manifold. Placement of the HEGO sensor in the exhaust manifold simplifies the assembly process."

Other changes include the addition of a fan mounting system to the front of the engine, along with mounting feet. "The automotive engine is used in front-wheel drive vehicles," said Soper. "So we took an east-west engine and north-southed it, so to speak, to make it fit into the standard industrial applications."

"We have a two-belt arrangement. The inner belt drives the cooling pump and alternator off the crankshaft inner pulley. The outer pulley drives the fan."

"The engine in an automobile is tilted back so they can get proper access to the exhaust manifold to run the tail-pipes. The engine is actually canted about 12[degrees]. When we industrialize it, we remove this inclination and recalibrate the dipstick."

The engine also comes with one piston cooling jet per cylinder," said Soper. "That lowers the piston temperature, thus lowering the combustion chamber temperature. In certain applications, this allows us to increase the spark advance and the torque of the engine. These jets basically increase the overall durability of the engine."