Ford Barra 190 I6 engine – Australian Car.Reviews

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Introduction

Ford’s Barra 190 was a 4.0-litre inline six-cylinder petrol engine that was introduced in the BF Falcon in October 2005. The Barra 190 engine retained most of the attributes of the Barra 182 engine which it replaced, such as its cast-iron block and aluminium alloy cylinder head with double overhead camshafts and four valves per cylinder. The Barra 190 engine, however, introduced:

Dual Independent Phase Shifting (DIPS) variable cam timing (referred to Ford Australia as ‘dual independent variable camshaft timing’);
Revised camshaft profiles;
The introduction of an additional knock sensor for more sophisticated ignition timing and spark control;
Revised piston crown profiles for a higher compression ratio;
A revised air intake;
A revised exhaust system with a new front resonator and retuned centre and rear mufflers; and,
Lower viscosity 5W30 GF3 engine oil (previously 10W30 GF2) to reduce internal friction.

Furthermore, ‘transient’ rpm limits were introduced which momentarily allowed engine speed to exceed the prescribed rev limit during upshifting – this enabled wide open throttle upshifting to occur at an engine speed closer to the rev limiter than was otherwise possible.

For the Ford FG Falcon, the Barra 190 engine was replaced by Barra 195.
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Model	Engine	Trans.	Peak power	Peak torque	Years
Ford BF Falcon	4.0-litre petrol I6	5sp man., 4sp auto	190kW at 5250rpm	383Nm at 2500rpm	2005-10
Ford BF Falcon XR6	4.0-litre petrol I6	6sp man., 4sp auto	190kW at 5250rpm	383Nm at 2500rpm	2005-08
Ford BF Falcon XR6	4.0-litre petrol I6	6sp auto	190kW at 5250rpm	383Nm at 2500rpm	2006-08
Ford BF Fairmont	4.0-litre petrol I6	6sp auto	190kW at 5250rpm	383Nm at 2500rpm	2005-08
Ford BF Fairlane Ghia	4.0-litre petrol I6	6sp auto	190kW at 5250rpm	383Nm at 2500rpm	2005-07
Ford SY Territory	4.0-litre petrol I6	4sp auto, 6sp auto	190kW at 5250rpm	383Nm at 2500rpm	2005-11

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Block

Like the Barra 182, the Barra 190 engine had a cast iron block with 92.26 mm bores and a 99.31 mm stroke for a capacity of 3984 cc. The Barra 190 block had cross-bolted main bearing caps to increase rigidity and a cross-bolted alloy sump.

The Barra 190 engine had a gravity-cast, aluminium alloy cylinder head which which was mounted on a single layer steel (SLS) sheet metal gasket. The water jacket for the Barra 190 engine featured deflection vanes to squeeze coolant past hot spots – such as the exhaust valve seats – at higher velocities to achieve more even temperatures throughout the cylinder head.

Camshafts and valvetrain

The Barra 190 engine had double overhead camshafts that were driven by a single-stage roller chain. To minimise weight and improve durability at higher engine speeds, the camshafts were roll-forged and had bored centres.

The Barra 190 engine had four valves per cylinder that were actuated by roller finger followers; hydraulic lash adjusters maintained zero valve clearance, while a clip held the lash adjuster to the rocker for durability. To limit in-chamber tumble and provide good seating, the valves had a domed head and no lip.
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Barra 190 valvetrain specifications
Rocker arm ratio	2.04:1
Camshaft lobe lift (intake and exhaust)	5.39 mm
Valve lift (intake and exhaust)	11.00 mm
Intake valve diameter	35.0 mm
Exhaust valve diameter	32.0 mm

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Dual Independent Variable Cam Timing (DI-VCT)

The Barra 190 engine had a vane-type VCT phaser – produced by Aisin – on each camshaft that provided continual variable adjustment within a 60 degree range (10 degrees advanced or 50 degrees retarded from the initial pin lock position). Each camshaft phaser was hydraulically controlled via an oil control valve that was mounted on top of it.

Significantly, the variable cam timing system for the Barra 190 engine was Ford’s ‘Dual Independent Phase Shifting’ (DIPS) which enabled the intake and exhaust camshafts to be varied independently of each other. In contrast, the Barra 182 engine had Dual Equal Phase Shifting (DEPS) in which the intake and exhaust camshafts could only be advanced or retarded by the same degree synchronously such that valve overlap was a constant 25 degrees.

Valve timing for the Barra 190 engine is given in the tables below. From these, valve overlap could be varied from -35 degrees to 85 degrees, intake duration was 256 degrees and exhaust duration was 256 degrees. Furthermore,

On low throttle openings, timing would be retarded by up to 50 degrees to improve fuel economy;
At idle, the intake camshaft was retarded by 18 degrees for improved combustion and a stable idle; and,
At higher loads, timing would be advanced for greater power.

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Barra 190 engine – valve timing: pin lock position
Intake	Open	27.5° BTDC
Intake	Close	48.5° ABDC
Exhaust	Open	78.5° BBDC
Exhaust	Close	2.5° BTDC

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Barra 190 engine – valve timing: 10 degrees advanced
Intake	Open	37.5° BTDC
Intake	Close	38.5° ABDC
Exhaust	Open	88.5° BBDC
Exhaust	Close	12.5° BTDC

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Barra 190 engine – valve timing: 50 degrees retarded
Intake	Open	22.5° ATDC
Intake	Close	98.5° ABDC
Exhaust	Open	28.5° BBDC
Exhaust	Close	47.5° ATDC

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Intake

Like the Barra 182 engine, the Barra 190 had a dual resonance inlet manifold. Ford’s ‘Intake Manifold Charge Control’ or IMCC system used a butterfly valve in the intake runner for each cylinder that was controlled by the Powertrain Control Module (PCM) via a vacuum actuator. In normal operation, the butterfly valves were closed to create a longer intake path to increase the pulsing effect of the intake air, draw more air into the cylinder and increase torque. At higher engine speeds (i.e. above approximately 3800 rpm), the butterfly valves would to create a shorter intake path which reduced intake resistance and allowed a greater volume of air into the cylinder for top-end power.

The Barra 190 engine introduced a revised air intake system which, according to Ford, reduced noise levels and provided a ‘purer engine tone’ during acceleration.

Injection and ignition

The Barra 190 engine had electronically-controlled sequential fuel injection. The ‘speed density’ fuel injection system used the engine speed, intake air temperature and manifold absolute pressure sensors to calculate intake air mass and therefore the fuel required to be injected for combustion. This quantity of fuel was then adjusted according to feedback information from the Heated Oxygen (HEGO) sensor, providing close loop control of fuel injection.

The Barra 190 engine had distributorless, coil-on-plug ignition with individual coils mounted above the spark plug. The long-life spark plug was positioned in the centre of the combustion chamber roof between the four valves. For the Barra 190, upgraded spark plugs were introduced which had a 0.5 mm finewire centre electrode (the smallest then available) and platinum pad ground electrodes. According to Ford, the spark plugs were optimised for idle stability and helped prevent misfire.

For the Barra 190, the ignition system featured adaptive and variable dwell (the time required to charge the ignition coil) for more efficient ignition control. Specifically,

Adaptive dwell accounted for battery voltage and the temperature of the coil windings in the ignition system to provide a more reliable, consistent charge; and,
Variable dwell provided maximum coil energy when high voltages were required (e.g. wide open throttle) and minimum coil energy when cruising or at idle.

Due to the introduction of revised piston crown profiles, the Barra 190 engine had a compression ratio of 10.3:1 (compared to 9.7:1 for the Barra 182 engine); the new pistons were also stiffer and had a new pin bore for quieter operation. Furthermore, the Barra 190 engine had a 1-5-3-6-2-4 firing order.

Knock sensing and spark correction

The Barra 190 engine introduced an additional knock sensor which, according to Ford, enabled a change in ignition timing strategy for more accurate spark control, improved fuel economy and greater refinement. Specifically, the Powertrain Control Module had four forms of spark control:

Individual/averaged spark correction: a performance mode which used 50 per cent of the individual cylinder correction and 50 per cent of engine average spark correction for more consistent performance at higher engine speeds and under heavy loads;
Individual ‘fast only’ spark correction: reacted to detonation noise and retarded the spark for the next firing event on the same cylinder. This method provided optimum fuel efficiency because spark was only retarded when detonation was detected by the system;
Individual slow/fast spark correction: applied in addition to the ‘fast only’ mode, slow correction recorded the spark advance used on previous combustion cycles and gradually reduced spark advance if knock was not detected for a few seconds, providing greater refinement; and,
No spark correction: used at low engine loads when detonation was not possible. As a result, optimum spark timing was applied.

If using premium unleaded petrol, spark advance enabled greater power and lower fuel consumption.

Exhaust and Internal Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR)

The Barra 190 engine complied with Euro III emission standards and had an internal exhaust gas recirculation system whereby late closing of the exhaust valves – during the downward induction stroke – would cause some of the unburned exhaust gas in the extractors to return to the intake.

To reduce exhaust noise, the exhaust system for the Barra 190 engine had a new front resonator and retuned centre and rear mufflers.