International T444E – 7.3 Diesel engines

Description

International T444E diesel engines

The T444E was manufactured from 1994 to 2003, replacing the 7.3L IDI V8 designed by International Harvester. As a result of its inability to meet California noise regulations, the T444E was discontinued midway through the 2003 model year.

The Navistar International T444E is a similar engine to the 7.3 Powerstroke. Of course, International built the 7.3 Powerstroke for Ford and they use this engine variant in their own applications, such as International trucks. The Navistar 7.3L was commonly used in school and coach buses, dump trucks, and various other commercial applications.

Applications

• 1994–2003 International 3400/3600/3700/3800 bus chassis
• 1996–2003 International 3000 bus chassis
• 1994–2003 International 4700/4900 cab/chassis

The T444E engine name comes from a few things. T stands for turbocharged. 444 represents the 7.3L engine displacement in cubic inches, and E stands for electronically controlled. As with the 7.3 Powerstroke, the Navistar 7.3 variant uses a cast iron block and heads. International T444E engines use a slightly over-square design with a longer stroke than bore. This is the same exact block and cylinder designs as the 7.3 Powerstroke made for Ford trucks.

7.3 Powerstroke vs International T444E

As mentioned briefly with the engine specs the overall design between the 7.3 Powerstroke and T444E are very similar. They use the same block design, material, bore and stroke, etc. A few of the primary differences include:

• Powertrain Control Modules (PCM)

  • International T444E and 7.3 Powerstroke engines use different PCM’s. The tuning is different for the various applications. Ford trucks are tuned for more power, but International offers examples with higher torque. A lot of these engines were used in school buses where additional torque is needed, but power is less important.

• Turbochargers

  • To help facilitate the various needs, the International Navistar T444E uses a different turbocharger design.

• Mechanical fuel pump

  • Fuel pumps on the Navistar T444E are mechanically driven, which also means the engine receives a different camshaft than the Ford 7.3 Powerstroke.

• Engine sensors

  • Some sensors on the engines are different

There are also other differences between the engines. However, for the most part the Ford and International 7.3L diesel engines are identical. Primarily, the differences come down to PCM software rather than actual mechanical differences. Though, the T444E does use slightly fuel pumps and different cams.  Following continued increases in emissions regulation, the T444E engine was retired in 2003.