Ever seen an oil-related engine failure?

[ledslinger]

I have worked on and been around a lot of equipment for 40 years. Was an automotive machinist, auto electrician, and now a marine mechanic. I have never seen an engine failure due to oil. Seen many due to overheat.

The closest is that my Dad had Trop-Artic sludge up on the highway in his Cadillac in the 60's. The engine didn't fail but lost oil pressure due to it.

Anyone ever seen a true oil related engine failure? I am thinking that they are very rare.

 

[saberz]

In all the time I have been driving(11 years, not long) I have never seen, heard or experienced an oil related failure myself. I have read about the 2.7 Chrysler Motors, the 1.8T Audi's sludging up due to poor oil recommendations from the factory.

That's why I didn't buy into the Jeep Dealer's unlimited time and miles power train warranty as it is only covering lubrication failure, but in order to "keep" it, you had to get your oil, trans fluid etc all changed there. They did a pad slap job on the brakes before selling my car, so I didn't want them servicing my vehicle.

I have the GM power train for a few more years and I take good care of my cars.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Well, not exactly what you were thinking of, but my father's motorcycle engine seized up after it had been in the shop for an oil change and they forgot to fill it with fresh oil. I suspect there are a fair number of engine failures in cars and trucks each year due to letting the oil get too low.

 

[ahoier]

Oil/heat it's all kind of related. If the oil has lost all lubricity and additive pack I'd imagine it could take a toll on the engine, causing it to overheat, likewise, not keeping up with coolant changes could have an affect too.

I know Kia and possibly Hyundai, it's 60k for the first flush/change of coolant, and every 30k after that.

We've all heard of crazy maintenance stories, cars running on nothing by "top off" oil for thousands of miles..lol, or simply no oil changes at all for a significant amount of miles (the Toyota story posted a couple days ago, used for delivery services).


I'm guessing that's why so many oil manufacturers are putting long warranties and guarantees on their oil fills; Edge has a guarantee, Valvoline does, Pennzoil does (though kind of half-assed...lol, OCIs every 4k for synthetic? pfft), and obviously Mobil 1 and their various line-ups touting 5k OCIs, 15k OCIs, etc...

I think engines nowadays are made to be beaten

 

[L_Sludger]

Yes, rod knock. Mobil 1 oil, racing event. Oil starvation. Very unpleasant.

 

[Ben99GT]

Oil related failure? No. Oil related drivability issues and oil related issues requiring repairs? Yes.

For example, I just did a service on my uncle's ~80,000 mile '06 F150, going 7-8K on various dinos and Fram filters, and lo and behold the engine is sludged up and he has low rpm VCT rattle. Pennzoil Ultra to the rescue, but if it can't clean that oil passage screen in the cylinder head that feeds the VCT he will eventually have to crack open the cam covers.

If you haven't seen oil related issues (usually bulk oil), you just aren't around enough vehicles.

 

[gathermewool]

Friend of mine ignored the oil in her last-generation (can't remember the year - maybe 2003) Honda Civic SI for 4X,XXX miles until the engine seized up on her. The car was towed to her apartment and subsequently stolen while she figured out what to do, so I don't know whether the oil was low or just old - 4X,XXX is a lot of miles on dealer bulk oil.

 

[Burt]

Define engine failure. I have had or seen cars that used excessive amounts of oil after 100+ k miles. However, most of these were in the pre-fuel injection days. Used to be that you changed the oil and within a few hundred miles, the oil looked dirty. Now with modern controls, tight tolerances and improved oils, it is hard to ruin an engine. You have to really go out of your way to do so.

 

[Kestas]

The only oil-related failure I've seen is where the oil passage of a turbo was completely coked up and blocked oil flow, ruining the turbo. This was on an early 80s Chrysler 2.2L engine running regular oil, and still under development at Highland Park. Many modifications were made before production.

I tore down my 1971 Olds 350 rocket motor with 165K. Some of the hydraulic tappets lost their crown and were dished. Is that a failure?

Both vehicles saw proper oil maintenance.

 

[saaber1]

I've had several. About 3 saturns, 2 pontiac, 1 olds, 1 chevy, 1 dodge, 1 nissan, 2 volvo turbo, 1 jeep are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. I've had over 400 cars so you are bound to hit some I suppose. Plus I used to buy a lot of cars from the auction (a lot of times just from photos/no inspection) so you get quite a mixed bag.

 

[ledslinger]

Oil manufacturers warranty against oil-related failures. How do they define it.

I would say that it is a fairly sudden engine stoppage, that is caused by wear beyond normal, sludging that caused pressure loss, or mechanical break blamable on lack of lubrication.

If nobody can define "oil-related failure" then claiming to warranty it is a joke.

 

[CATERHAM]

Yes I've seen lots of oil-related engine failures.

As a kid it was common for British bikes to seize up in the cold weather since single grade 40wt and 50wt oil was used. Multi-grade oil was recommended for temps under 10C. My neighbour's son seized his Triumph Bonneville twice by starting it on a cold night (around freezing) and roaring up the street with a stone cold engine. He got about half a mile before the engine locked up.

Two strokes were notorious for "tightening-up". You could actually feel them about to seize. One solution was to run "bean oil".

A automotively clueless friend of mine seized up the engine in his brand new Windstar with less than 20,000 miles on it. He never changed or checked the oil.

I was just at a track day this past Good Friday and a guy in a Subaru WRX STi spun a bearing likely due to oil starvation. Oil starvation related damage is common with street cars at the track particularly when running sticky DOT rubber.

I have lots of other examples but most are related to some sort of gross maintenance abuse.

 

[Mark72]

My friend'ss nice new turbo Mitsubishi...loved that car. easily crused at 120mph. For some reason his engine siezed after a couple blocks of noticing a line of oil down the street as he was driving. Must have been due to his forgetting to put the oil drain bolt back on before dumping the new oil in. LOL!!!! Guess it had to do with lack of lubrication...LOL!!!!

 

[ledslinger]

I wouldn't call not following change intervals, maintenence of oil level, or oil starvaion due to g's on a track oil related failure.

 

[Silber Igel]

Yes. If 'oil related' means NO OIL...

Years ago ... like YEARS ago... heading North up I-95 around Ashland VA. I stopped to help a lady and her small tikes that were stopped at the side of the road in an AMC car. A Hornet?

There was a long, black oil slick from the center of the 'bumper' lane leading directly to the back of old bus filled with kids, toys & belongings. She had driven it for many miles with the oil pressure light on. It did, of course, run completely out of oil. I don't know how long that old 'stove bolt' in line six soldiered on but it was a very, very long way before it finally collapsed with a gnarly hole in the lower block due to a rod letting go.

More's the pity.... a friend had loaned her the AMC to make an emergency trip from PA to FL.

 

[ledslinger]

Silber Igel- Unless the oil caused itself to prematurly discharge, I wouldn't call that an oil-related failure.

 

[Silber Igel]

"the 1.8T Audi's sludging up due to poor oil recommendations from the factory...."

A correction here Anies... I'm not trying to be contrary, but.... VW-Audi did recommend the correct grade and spec oil for the 1.8Ts from the git go. The problem was two fold as I recall it.

First, the Audi/VW dealers blew off the recommendations and put in an 'anything as long as it's bulk' when doing factory pre-paid OCs. One can wonder why they did that??? $$$$ They were later caught out by VW-Audi corporate when warranties started to add up for coked and sludged engines. VW-Audi put out an All Hands letter to dealers and owners that very specifically identified by brand and weight the type of oil specified for the 1.8T.

The second part could be VW-Audi's operator manual. Although specifying a 5W40 they wrote that 'if 5W40 is not available a 5W30 is OK in an emergency ... or something along that line.' Something lost in translation to english? Probably. But 'emergency' doesn't mean 'I can't find the right oil!! So owners would OC with 5W/10W30 oils that were not meeting VW's 505.xx specification.

The 1.8T was a fantastic power plant with a range of horsepower, depending on programming, intakes and headers. I sold my '01 Turbo Beetle about 15 months ago with 70+K miles on it. Nary a hint of sludge ... but I used 0W-5W40 oils meeting the VW specs.

 

[saaber1]

Remember this classic top gear where Jeremy killed a Maserati by driving with no oil pressure?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNbGFGF0ICk

 

[ProStreetCamaro]

Depends on what you call an oil related failure? We had 3 ford engines sludge up and cause the pick up screens to get clogged causing no oil pressure. 2 were 300 I6 engines and 1 was a 302. In our 93 F-150 I helped a friend (he owns and operates a shop and is very good) disassemble the engine. When he pulled the valve cover he walked over and grabbed a chisel and hammer and handed it to me and told me to find the head bolts. The oil was so hard it was like concrete in the head.

Now this was when I was younger and didn't maintain our cars and trucks myself. My father would just let it ride a lot longer than he should have. BUT the reason he did this was because in all of his GM cars and trucks he never once had any engine troubles from poor maintenance and he absolutely dogged those 283',327's and 350's like you would never imagine.

 

[lexus114]

Originally Posted By: ProStreetCamaro
Depends on what you call an oil related failure? We had 3 ford engines sludge up and cause the pick up screens to get clogged causing no oil pressure. 2 were 300 I6 engines and 1 was a 302. In our 93 F-150 I helped a friend (he owns and operates a shop and is very good) disassemble the engine. When he pulled the valve cover he walked over and grabbed a chisel and hammer and handed it to me and told me to find the head bolts. The oil was so hard it was like concrete in the head.

Now this was when I was younger and didn't maintain our cars and trucks myself. My father would just let it ride a lot longer than he should have. BUT the reason he did this was because in all of his GM cars and trucks he never once had any engine troubles from poor maintenance and he absolutely dogged those 283',327's and 350's like you would never imagine.


The 283 was absolutely bullet proof ! And the other two were stout motor`s as well.