International T444E Diesel Engine

The Navistar International T444E is a similar engine to the 7.3 Power Stroke. Of course, International built the 7.3 Power Stroke for Ford and they use this engine variant in their own applications, such as International trucks. However, there are a few differences. Below are some specs for the Navistar T444E engine. At the end of the article we also discuss differences between the T444E and 7.3 Power Stroke.

Navistar T444E Specs

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 Power Stroke made for Ford trucks. That also applies to the single overhead cam design with 2 valves per cylinder.

B10 life suggests 90% of the T444E engines survive beyond 200,000 miles with 50% of the engines making it to an impressive 350,000+ miles. This is also where the info comes from for the Ford 7.3 PS engine.

International T444E Power & Torque

Different power ratings are for different applications with different PCM software. Power for International T444E engines is less than the 7.3 Power Stroke. However, the Navistar engines offer more torque than the 7.3 Powerstroke in some versions. Again, the overall design of the engines is very similar. However, the Power Stroke variants target a bit more power and less torque.

7.3 Power Stroke vs International T444E

As mentioned briefly with the engine specs the overall design between the 7.3 Power Stroke 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 Power Stroke 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 T444E 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
• Engine paint
  • T444E engines receive blue paint on the block. Otherwise, the blocks are identical
• 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
• Engine sensors
  • Some sensors on the engines are different

There are also some other minor differences between the engines. However, for the most part the Ford and International 7.3L diesel engines are identical. The primary differences come down to PCM software rather than actual mechanical differences. Though, the T444E does use slightly different cams, fuel pumps, etc.

T444E Reliability

We wrote an article about the 7.3 Power Stroke common problems here. Given the similar design the International Navistar T444E is likely to suffer from many of the same issues. Nonetheless, the T444E is a reliable engine overall.

These engines came out before the days of extremely strict emissions laws. Many of the headaches present on modern diesels were not an issue on the T444E engines. Additionally, International T444E B50 life of 350,000 miles goes to show these diesel engines are workhorses that provide reliable ownership for a long time.