(First published December 29, 2011) Now it shouldn’t come as any surprise that the 1981 Escort SS very quickly became the Escort GT in late 1982. And not just because it didn’t sell well, but perhaps because there was a bit of, um, complaining from another certain party that rather thought of that set of letters as its own? Never mind that the first year SS was nothing but an appearance package, still sporting the 69 hp CVH 1.6. And good luck trying to find any pictures of one: I gave poor google the dry heaves trying. This is it. On to the the diesel:
Just as the second energy crisis was well wound down, in 1984, Ford offered the Escort with a Mazda 2.0 L normally-aspirated diesel, whose horsepower output is turning out to be difficult to find this morning (68 or 69?). Check out those lofty old-school EPA numbers: 46/68 Highway! (adjusted, those are now 35 city/47highway). Despite the mileage, like so many other diesels during The Great Diesel Epoch, it didn’t last; 1987 was the last year. And like many of the Japanese diesels stuffed into American cars, it still has its fans.
Dumb, dumb, dumb. I can’t believe it costs the manufacturer THAT much to keep a diesel option going.
While it may not cost that much to keep building them the fact was that people just weren’t buying them in large enough numbers to justify re-certifying them every year.
i had one 70 miles to the gallon on the highway.ford did a poor job of advertising them no one knew they were available
Ahh, diesel cars in North America; gearheads love them but consumers shun them. That is why we have not seen many.
Never having owned a diesel, but often having wanted one…I have to wonder if the TOTAL cost of ownership outweighs the fuel savings. Oil changes for one…gotta-gotta-gotta change that oil at 4000 miles. At peril of diesel death. Fuel filters…they’re dirty, you no go. All the other niggling little problems that diesel operators, truckers and equipment owners, have to deal with all the time.
The gasoline engine does have an advantage in lower maintenance and lower penalty for deferred maintenance.
just did a change on my Citroen today 10 litres of Valvoline enough for 2 changes $39 oil filter $14.50 fuel filter is $15 I gont run a speedo to avoid tax but change oil and filters every 6 months.
I think the total cost of ownership depends really on the cost of the fuel and any additional charges. Here in NZ diesel is currently NZ$1.58 per litre, 91 octane petrol is NZ$2.07, and 95 octane petrol is NZ$2.15. But we also have Road User Charges (RUC)for diesel vehicles. The charge for my diesel C35 Nissan Laurel (2.8L straight-6 RD28 engine) is NZ$409 per 10,000km. Bryce’s diesel Citroen is probably the same. So that equates to about 4c per km.
I drive 280km to and from my job each day, so 16months ago traded my petrol Nissan Skyline for a diesel Nissan Laurel (they’re the same underneath and mechanically, but the Laurel has the option of the diesel). I keep a close eye on the running costs, and regularly compare them with petrol (the price gap between diesel and petrol has been slowly closing up), so here’s a real-world example for you:
* My C35 Laurel averages 8L/100km of diesel, so costs me NZ$1264 in gas plus NZ$409 RUC, for a total of NZ$1673 per 10,000km.
* The petrol C35 Laurel with RB20DE (2L straight-6) averages 9L/100km, for a total of NZ$1863 per 10,000km.
* Servicing the diesel is NZ$145 per 10,000km (but includes compulsory engine flush)
* Servicing the petrol is NZ$125 per 10,000km (doesn’t include engine flush, is same price as diesel if it does).
* Total diesel Laurel cost per 10,000km=NZ$1818.
* Total petrol Laurel cost per 10,000km=NZ$1988.
* Saving of diesel over petrol per 10,000km=NZ$170.
So, it’s hardly worth it for lower mileage drivers, but for drivers like me who travel very high mileage, the savings are real. Bear in mind too, that the RD28 is old technology (being an alloy-head update of the venerable LD series of Nissan diesels), and isn’t direct injected or turbo. I like it though as the straight-6 nature means is very quiet and smooth for a diesel – considerably better in those respects than a new BMW 4 cylinder diesel. The straight-6 direct-injection turbo BMW and Mercedes diesels would be fantastic alternatives though.
I average 5-6 L per 100 kms but other than that costs are pretty much the same but I do my own servicing.
With modern diesels the added maintenance cost is significant, combined that with a locale where diesel is more expensive than gas and it can be much more expensive to run a diesel.
For example take a newer Ford Super Duty diesel vs gas. (since it is far and away the most common diesel you’ll find in the US)
Oil changes are at the same intervals but the diesel will cost you more than twice as much since it takes more than twice the oil and the filter is about 4 times as expensive.
Fuel filters, Diesel will run you about $70 for both and should be replaced every 10-15K while the gasser’s filter is only around $15 and only needs to be done every 100K
Air filter again you are dropping $100 for the diesel and the gasser is only about $ 25 and the diesel will likely need it more frequently.
In my area in the winter diesel usually peaks at about 20% more and will drop to about 15% more than regular in the summer. So that alone can more than eat up the now slightly increased MPG due to 2010 emissions standards.
Yes that is based on US pricing and certainly it is different for different areas and on many cars there is not a dramatic increase in oil capacity but the filters are still more expensive and the fuel and air still need to be changed at more frequent intervals.
2007+ emissions killed the value proposition for small diesels.
Don’t forget that once you get to 2007+ you have a DPF that can require service to clean or replacement at some point. In colder climes you also worry about the Urea tank freezing on the 2010+ equipment. From a Business/Fleet operation standpoint you also have another unpredictable generator of downtime. The International engines in their own trucks and the 6.4 Powerstroke were really bad for this, you had the phenomena where the newest truck(s) in the fleet generated the most downtime.
If you are an outlier that drives 20k miles on the highway per year or tows for 5k a diesel can still work. For anything new with a normal-ish duty cycle I’m convinced that gas is the way to go for anything under a 1 1/2 ton Truck.
That said as a gearhead a diesel still gives me more Smiles per Gallon.
My sister has driven mostly diesels for years – usually VWs. It makes sense for her, as she has a 50 mile one way commute to work. Oil changes cost as much for gas engine cars, and the tradeoff for fuel filters is the lack of an electrical system, so no maintenance or upkeep on that (other than glow plugs as the car gets older.) She has kept each of them for well over 100K miles, so it must work for them. It probably helps that her husband is a farmer who is intimately familiar with diesels of all kinds.
I have had nine 8th and 9th gen Impalas since ’00. I drive a lot, and some years even more. I got a 2014 Passat SEL TDi in January.
The Impala’s were always ‘just good enough’ in so many ways, this NMS (new midsized sedan) is superb in so many ways. This is not my first VW, I’ve owned at least one VW since ’71 as personal cars.
German cars are designed to have maintenance at regular intervals. Once you accept that, your joy factor goes up.
Not true. I’ve owned diesels for years, and the upkeep and longevity is faaaaar better than a gasser.
Blame two factors.
One, the price of gasoline dropped dramatically after 1982.
Two, the awful Oldsmobile Diesel had destroyed the American passenger-car diesel market not just for GM, but for virtually everyone else, too.
Here’s a fair shot of an SS with aftermarket wheels.
It amazes me that Ford thought they could get away with using SS for…well, anything. Heck it was in use by Chevy *one year before*!
I also don’t recall ever having seen an Escort with a blacked out grille.
Those Mazda 2.0 petrol engines share the same block as the diesel should be fairly durable.
Was afraid to ask what the 0-60 time was on that Escort diesel. Hard to imagine then that today in Europe the diesel Foci is generally regarded as the pick of the range. Though US buyers are still denied the pleasure. Maybe when the Cruze diesel finally show up and somehow sell well?
Ford got smart and went to the best diesel car maker for engines PSA they jointly developed the Peugeot HDI engines and both use them
The gas Euro Focus is the Fiesta’s base 1.6, the US model’s a 2.0. Probably similar real-world gas mileage when in the same car.
How did they sit around at a meeting and say….”Escort SS…yeah, that works”.
Granted Chevrolet was not using SS on any cars at that time, but its so associated with Chevrolet, it would be like Chevrolet using Mach1.
I found an old issue of Motor Trend once with a review of a preproduction 1982 Mustang GT. The car in the photos had “SS,” not “GT” badging.
@Carmine: Maybe GM should have done that. Can you imagine a Camaro Mach 1? That would have sent the lawyers running!
@Buick6: I HAD that issue. Back in 1982. I remember it clear as day.
SS should belong to Jaguar. They descended from Swallow Sidecars, which became SS Cars Limited.One of the cars built by SS Cars, the SS 100, which followed the SS 90, gained the additional model name Jaguar. After WWII, SS Cars took the name Jaguar for the company due to a German outfit that had been using SS as their moniker.
Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes or Porsche won’t be clamoring to use the moniker “SS”, at least not until a few more decades have passed…
I think Chevrolet still use it as an appearance package for the El Camino at that time.
As far as I can tell 1980 was the last year for the SS appearance package for the El Camino, until the ones farmed out to Choo Choo customs in the mid 80’s. But still, that’s only one year previous!
69 horsepower was just a few shy of my father’s 1980 Rabbit 1.6 which was in the low 70s so it couldn’t have been too slow. I do wonder which was better, a Chevette or an Escort diesel? And what kind of MPG was claimed for the Chevette? And why didn’t Chrysler foist a diesel K-Car on us?
Chrysler entered bankruptcy in 1979 so there was not development money available for a Diesel. The reman was not from ground up – think new drill bits in the drills instead of new drills. This is another time they “put the K in Quality” for sure. Add to this the overburdensome California Emissions and we never saw a Diesel Caravan this side of the pond either. They do make Diesel Minivans that get 43 mpg in Europe.
cool, wonder how hard it b to import one 🙂
Yes the 2.8 CRD Chrysler minivans with manual transmissions! These are really cool! Can you imagine a 3-pedal version here in the USA?
http://cars-motor.com/uploads/parse/storage2/c8/55/c4/c855c498abac44d0b19a7d16eed7c6f4.jpg
http://static2.custojusto.pt/mi/play/6639147126-chrysler-voyager-2-5-crd-lx-01.jpg
Renault, VM Motori (Italy), Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz were Mopar’s diesel engine suppliers in Europe throughout the years. The minivans had 2.5 liter and later on 2.8 liter 4 cylinder VM Motori diesels. Also used in the Cherokee / Liberty and Wrangler.
Currently Mopars have either a Fiat or VM Motori diesel, apart from the bigger-than-1500 Ram pickups. Note that Fiat owns VM Motori.
I understand that today’s modern diesels are MUCH less dirty overall than their predecessors.
This is especially true when dealing with the oil changes and the like and the exhaust is much cleaner than before, thanks to technology such as the fuel rails now used and the multiple injections now employed to quiet down the racket and to help make a diesel perform more like a gas engine.
Sadly, to drive a diesel in the US means paying even more than 91 octane premium gas for it though so the cost savings despite the huge increase in the gas mileage for many diesel cars may negate the cost savings over time.
I’d have to disagree that oil ran through a modern diesel is significantly cleaner than older diesels. The fleet I service has 444, T444E, DT466 and DT466E powered trucks and the E ( electronic common rail direct injection) do not have any cleaner oil than the old school non-E mechanical units. Tail pipe emissions are way down though and those that meet 2010 emissions standards almost as clean as a gasser.
In AZ anyway, the spread between regular & Diesel is huge, I don’t see how a 40-60¢/gal difference (this varies a lot) is going to amortize. I think that, & not Oldsmobile’s folly (who remembers except older folks like us with long memories?), is why hybrids trump Diesels in the US. BTW, while I appreciate that Diesels lack ignition systems, they’re a lot less troublesome now than before. Even spark plugs last longer, and what do they cost to re-gap or replace? Thus, that argument may be obsolete; ignition-system maintenance has been below my radar now.
Fuel-grade price ∆ is why I would never buy a car that required Premium. Another reason to avoid high-spec German models.
It had 52 horsepower. After factoring in repair bills and the fact it blew the engine at 80,000 miles, my 1972 Buick with a 455 V-8 was cheaper to run!
All costs aside, if you own a Ford 6.0 D, air/oil/fuel filters are the least of your concerns. These have to be the poorest design motors of all time. EGRs will be the first to go. If you do that right, look at $2,500 for openers. High pressure pumps, injectors, head gaskets are not that far away. We have a five man shop and there is not one day that a Ford 6.0 doesn’t grace our rack. It is the mechanics annuity relief motor.
Ford used that diesel in the Tempo/Topaz and Ranger as well. They are not too rare. I found more diesels than gas engines when looking to buy an old Escort.
where? I sure can’t find any.
Although I was never a fan of this generation Ford Escort, I like the engine options that were offered. I like the idea of a diesel engine offered.
LOL… I once owned an Escort SS, what a pos, among faulty voltage regulators and leaky valve cover gaskets… It was slow as a mofo.
The claim of 68hp was a lil too optimistic… Maybe going down a very steep hill.
I remember I raced a Pontiac T1000(Chevette’s gay cousin)… And lost by 3 car lengths. Talk about embarrassing. 🙁
I had a 1985 Ford Escort diesel and I can assure you it got at least 60 mpg! Man I miss that car!
Easily got mid 60’s out of mine. Best mileage ever was 72 mpg. It had a higher top speed and out accelerated the gas model of the same year.
The spiritual successor of both the Escort SS and the Escort diesel: the new Ford Focus ST Diesel. 185 hp and 295 ft-lb of torque between 2,000 and 2,750 rpm. It comes in the ST-3 trim level standard.
In the late 70’s to early 80’s diesel fuel was about half the price of gasoline. Once the price got up to around the same price as gas, diesel sales took a nose dive. Crappy GM diesels didn’t help things. Dealers would pull the engines from brand new cars and install 350’s just so they could sell them. I never realized the Escort was available with diesel, there must have not been many made. My 85 Yamaha 700 Maxim gets around 50 MPG on the freeway if I take it easy.
I’ve experienced three Ford Escorts in the nineties.
-A 1987 Ford Escort 1.4 with a 5 speed manual. Carbureted, manual choke, 75 hp.
My second car, bought it used in 1990.
-A 1995 Ford Escort 1.8 GT with a 5 speed manual. 105 hp from a 1.8i-16v Zetec engine. My thirth car, bought it new.
-A 1994 Ford Escort Van with a naturally aspirated 1.8 liter diesel, 5 speed manual, 60 hp. I didn’t own it, yet drove it frequently.
Believe me, driving “underpowered” (whatever that may be) cars has its charms. And that 60 hp diesel was an indestructible and tough little camionette.
I didn’t know they sold a 105 hp version of the 1.8 Zetec.
Yup, in the Escort 1.8 LX and the Fiesta XR2i.
I had one just like this, see below, only mine was dark green metallic.
By then the Euro-Escorts and US-Escorts were completely different. No Mazda influences in the Euro-Escort. Between 1990 (introduction of the Mk5) and the arrival of the Focus in 1998 the Euro-Escort was constantly face-lifted and updated.
Quality-wise my 1987 Escort was best, especially the quality of the paint. You could see that Ford was going through a period of costs savings in the early and mid nineties.
The 1.8 diesel was also available with a turbo charger, 90 hp for that one.
I too can confirm that the mechanical 1.8 was a good unit; normally aspirated it was rated here (Austria) at 59 hp not to fall into the next tax class. It taught one about patience – going from Vienna to Tirol there were sections in which I was down to 3rd gear and 70 Km/H (yup) but 50-55 MPG were normal. I did all maintenance myself, so all I paid for were parts which I got cheaply from the Czech Republic… In the end, rust killed it. Living in Vienna, I can at along without a car so off to Gypsyland it went…
Here’s a similar Ford Escort Van, this one also happens to have the 1.8 diesel. It had a very decent and practical cargo compartment with doors. And a headache rack, from the floor up to the roof. Of course it also had a trailer hitch, just like this one.
I don’t know what the (legal) towing capacity was. It really didn’t matter, it towed whatever it had to tow…
I wonder how many Honda Civics this car sold……
Another factor is that in those days almost none of your U.S. suburban OR urban service stations usually carried diesel at the pumps. It was often a case that you had to ‘cross the tracks’ and travel out to a truck stop et al to find diesel, (soccer moms didn’t care for that much) and said diesel fuel often had water in it…no problem if you had good water separators. I don’t know if the Escort had them or not but the Oldsmobiles of the day sure didn’t.
I still drive Diesel
Alfa Romeo Diesel, which is another dimension in Diesel
Avanti, let us chase the sun !
… and extremely reliable if properly maintained and driven; more than 400,000 Km is not unknown and I am aware of a 5 cyl in a 166 which made it to – wait for it – 647,000 Km before dying.
In ’81 you could get an Escort SS wagon as well as three-door hatch (there were no 5-door hatches in ’81 in any trim); from ’82 to the end the Escort GT was 3-door only.
Diesel fuel, which has been more expensive than gasoline in my area for a while, is now the cheapest fuel at the pump. Now is the time to drive a diesel if you’ve got one.
So does VM Motori supply/design the diesel engines for Alfa Romeos, Johannes?
Or is that an “in house” design by Alfa Romeo Lancia Fiat SpA. ?
Btw, nice Alfa, Ramstein.
No, those are FPT engines. FPT stands for Fiat Powertrain Technologies.
Basically it’s the Fiat Group’s division for all their powertrain components. For cars, vans, trucks, buses, agricultural and construction equipment, generators and the marine. The Fiat Group is a HUGE global company, it’s not just FCA.
Website FPT: http://www.fptindustrial.com/en-UK/Pages/homepage.aspx
Currently the diesels in Alfa Romeos are called JTDm engines, previously just JTD (uniJet Turbo Diesel) engines. In the late nineties the first diesels on the market with common rail injection, in the Alfa Romeo 156.
Here’s a picture I posted recently of a 1750 TBi gasoline engine in an Alfa Romeo 159. You can see the FPT logo right there on the cover.
Yeah, “SS” was fifty shades of stupid for Ford. I saw a couple of them in the wild, back-in-the-day. Chevy guy that I’ve always been, of course I saw it as sacrilege.
Although in that time frame I don’t recall Chevrolet having manufactured anything “SS” for several years, the Monte Carlo SS came shortly after.
Thanks, for the valuable info, Johannes.
I’ve owned a lot of different cars… almost 85 or so, but never ventured into diesel territory. I’ve seen a few diesels going for bargain prices… Like W123 Mercedes, VW Rabbits/Jetta TDIs… Even a rare 1982 Isuzu IMark diesel.
You seem very knowledgable on the subject… do you currently own or work on diesels?
Let’s say that I grew up inbetween all kinds of small and big diesel equipment. Note that diesels in cars are very widespread in Europe since many decades. No proper diesels, no sales. Chrysler was smart, they knew that ! And accepted it as a fact.
Currently I own a 2002 Toyota Land Cruiser 90-series with a 3.0 liter D4D diesel engine. 270,000 km on the clock. So barely broken in.
the EU taxes petrol higher than diesel; in the US it’s the opposite. That alone puts a serious damper on US diesel car sales. The very strict American diesel emissions standards, which are even more stringent than the new Euro 6 standard, also result in a $1,000 to $4,000 penalty when buying the car. For many American car buyers considering a diesel engine in their new car, the numbers don’t add up. Only the German manufacturers have made significant headway with diesel in the US, in part because most of them are luxury brands and their gasoline-powered cars require high-octane premium fuel that usually does cost more than diesel, making the diesel alternative more palatable.
That, and the simple fact that most cars don’t even offer diesel engines in the US, mean few diesels are sold here (and the VW debacle is sure to dampen demand further). Only in pickup trucks are diesels quite popular because of their load-carrying prowess and high torque.
We test-drove a diesel. It wasn’t the extreme slowness that was the deal-killer. It was the cost of the pump rebuild it was going to need.
We bought a 1989½ model later. A maroon manual station wagon. The EFI made that car a slightly faster proposition, but that’s still one of the laziest 1.anything-litre engines I’ve ever driven, including my current 1.9TD Golf. The car didn’t have a gearbox, it had a gearbag, out of which you picked a gear by guesswork. That car was, however, hatefully reliable. It would start at -20ºC easily, and make you regret it as the heater would refuse to put out anything but cold air at any temperature lower than 5 above. The front seats would kill your spine, with an inward cant from being broken. The rear seats would kill your entire back, being merely plastic buckets. The back gate eventually needed to be bungee-corded shut, due to the latch falling off from rust. The back brakes were not adjustable, thanks to being welded by a yahoo do-it-yourselfer. The radio worked, but was unreadable, a common fate of the LCD display Ford radios of the late ’80s.
But what do you want for $900? We still put 65,000km on that car in 3 years. Even at the end, the radio worked, the windows cranked down, the heater worked (in the summer), and even the rear wiper wiped. We were much happier, however, in the ’84 Volvo wagon that replaced it, however.
I had a co-worker friend who bought a new Escort diesel in 1984. He and his wife were kind of techno-nerdy-geeky, so having something a little different fit right in for them. To go anywhere out of the immediate area, they carried a telephone book-size directory of all the service stations in the US that sold diesel fuel, and they planned their trips accordingly. That wasn’t so much of a problem if you stuck to interstate highways, but if you got off the beaten path, especially in the Southwest where we lived, you could find yourself without fuel if you weren’t careful. Between that and the starting procedure that involved turning on the key, waiting for the glow plug light, then starting the engine and waiting until it warmed up, etc., it all seemed a little too fussy to me just to maybe save a few cents here and there (or not). As far as I know they never had any problems with it though, because as opposed to the GM 350, it was a “proper” diesel.
Later in 1985 I worked for a big Ford dealer for about a year while waiting for my real choice of professions to open up (thank goodness it did). I remember lots of people that year desperately trying to dump their GM diesels on trade-in for something, anything, because there was already something wrong with it, or they were afraid that something was soon GOING to be wrong with it. The problem was, the NADA book that listed trade-in values (it was pretty much the Bible for car dealerships to determine what to allow on trade-ins), after listing all of the options that added value, for every GM vehicle that could have been equipped with a diesel, said in bold letters IF DIESEL, SUBTRACT $2500.00.
That put many of them hopelessly “upside down” on their car loan payoff, but even aside from that, my dealership wouldn’t accept a GM diesel on trade under any circumstances, for any price. Like many (most?) other dealers, they just flat out didn’t even want them on the used lot because because no one would buy it, and even if they somehow managed to re-sell it, the dealer didn’t want to assume the liability and headaches of P.O’ed customers bringing them back and demanding that they fix them. We had so many people come in who had bought an otherwise very nice, highly equipped and expensive vehicle that was still nearly new, and on which many times they still owed a lot of money, only to be told it was basically worthless. Some were so desperate they were willing to trade for anything but they couldn’t find a dealership that would even talk to them if trading a GM diesel was part of the deal. Many were retirement age people who had spent a lot of money on an expensive new Olds or Caddy only to have major problems with it and then be told it was worthless as a trade. I felt sorry for them, and I would be surprised if any ever bought a GM again.
I had a 84 and a 97 escort both ran well always started when really cold living in Canada I remember on the 84 they had cylinder head problems and valve covers I never had the problem with the cylinder head but changed valve covers often i did over250.000 Kim’s with both great little basic car on the 97 I never changed rear breakers did 90% highway driving
My dad drove a diesel escort that he bought new. He put 200k miles on it from Indy to DC and back in just 2.5 years. Only ever had to drain the filter to get water out of fuel. Once took it to get oil and lube done. After, he demanded to see the grease fittings because they charged him extra to lube it. They never found any and gave him a refund. That escort did not have fittings. When he bought it, he remembered that they said it was sealed. My brother put another 75k miles on it, gave it to his girlfriend who kept it when she left. Only problem it had was the rear hatch was heavy and the hinges rusted at the mounts. I have a DT360 now and love driving it. So easy to work on and cheap on parts.
I Have an ’84 Escort Diesel Wagon. Great shape, accept for the tailgate bottom rust, drain holes were filled with rust-proof from Zbart, and held water. I need one! My question is, can I bypass the fuel pump, in the injection pump, with and in line pump. It seems the in line pump won’t pump thru the factory pump to get fuel to the injection system. Please help!!!
Just came across this article – believe it or not I had a 1981 black escort SS wagon! Didn’t know it at the time, but that must of been a rare beast. It was black on black including all the trim, and for a wagon it was good loking back then.
My parents were those cutting edge urbanites with wacky cars as well. From a Mazda rotary pick up truck to a Nissan Sentra XE hatchback coupe and that f.o.r.d.
I remember my mom’s 84 Regatta blue Escort GL diesel wagon quite well, considering it made regular trips to Richmond Ford’s service department. The car was always being repaired under warranty but shaking it self to death from all that torque. It definitely wasn’t the 52 hp from the Mazda B series truck sourced diesel. It was very loud in everything it did: from dashing me to the bus stop to wiping the rear window and blasting and heat.
It was replaced by something similarly quirky but functional: an ‘87 Honda Civic RealTime 4WD wagon.
Someone just bought this one today. Posted on a Facebook group