Post your self-destructing engines...

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We've had lots of threads about bulletproof, ultra-reliable engines. Lets go the other way.

Post your engines you either know to be unreliable, or ones that self-destructed on you, and you will always SEE as garbage.

Vega 4-cylinder...pretty self-explanatory.

Early 1980's Honda 1.3L - the base engine in the Civic in 1984 was a 'new' 1.3L I-4, and it was junk. The 1.5L was bomb-proof, but he smaller base engine was junk. Mom had one of these quit after about 5 years.

Chevy 305 V-8. Don't care what you say, have seen more of these have problems than I can count. They 'carboned up' really bad, and barely ran after a few years. Whether this was related to the camshaft problems I don't know, but that's what happened.

Ford 3.8L V-6...I think it was almost a 100% guarantee they would blow the HG's at some point. Also, for how 'big' an engine they were, there were pretty gutless. Might as well toss the GM 3.4L in here, almost a 100% guarantee the IMG's will go as well, which OFTEN killed the engine outright.
 
Renault 1.4L 4 cylinder found in mid-80s AMC-Renault Alliance, Encore, and Le Car models. How do you say "pile of junk" in French? Even when they ran they didn't make any power. The 1.7L 4 cylinder optional upgrade was bulletproof in comparison.
 
Toyota 3VZ-E in late 80's early 90's Toyota 4Runners and Pickups. More specifically the exhaust manifold design where the the left exhaust manifold converges with the right manifold and out a single exit. It causes the cylinders in that area to become super hot where the head warps and creates a head gasket leak. One way to resolve the issue after a fresh rebuild is to install long tube headers and custom exhaust.

My 90 4Runner must be the lowest mile example at 74K when it started with a no start. Cams were seized from the water in the oil. Now it has a Lexus 1UZ-FE in there.
 
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Buick 3.8L V6. I owned two, a 1975 and a 1987 and both ate their timing sets.

GM 2.0L OHC engine found in my ex-wife's Pontiac Sunbird. Went through 2 head gaskets in less than 90K miles.
 
GM 231 Odd fire 3.8 V6 (3800 predecessor)
The Atlas i-5 they put on the H3, And Colorado platform pickups
Mitsubishi 6Gxx engines, head/valve problems lead to ridiculous oil consumption
Chrysler 2.7 (obvious reasons)

Ford's 3.8 (Think T-Bird/Windstar) were real pieces of work

Toyotas sludge prone early 1MZ series
 
Toyota 7M-GE engine. Incorrect torque specs for the type of head gasket used caused head gasket leaks. No TSB or recall were issued and there are a lot of DIY's in the internet to fix the issue.
 
Originally Posted By: Chris142
The 4.1l Cadillac ate cams and distributer gears.the north star is almost guaranteed to pull the head bolts out of the block. Even on the updated ones.


Oh, that horrible HT4100 DFI thing? With the aluminum block and iron heads?

Bad time for GM vehicles, you could have the 4100, or the Olds converted 350 Diesel POS.

Makes a smogged down 305 look good.
 
The 2.5L Iron Duke. Nothing says reliable GM powerplant like the rod snapping, Fiero burning 2.5!
 
Back in the UK I would always see any French car (Citroen, Peugeot and to a slightly lesser extent Renault) at the side of the road with the hood up. My parents had a Citroen AX when I was very young and the head warped badly at just 22,000 miles despite being driven and maintained properly. They swapped that for a brand new Peugeot 306 TD and the turbo and other things kept blowing. In just over a year it had 2 new turbos and the 3rd time round they sold it back under warranty!

Grandparents had a 1997 Ford Fiesta with the ancient (1950s!!!) 1.3 Kent engine back in the UK too and that siezed up at 33,000 miles. That got replaced under warranty and the mew engine was falling apart at 56,000 miles with only 23,000 miles on the new engine!

Just like someone else up there I also had a Mitsubishi 2.6 blow on me but that was the head gasket at 299,000 KM (upset it didn't roll 300k!) but that thing was using more oil than fuel by that point anyway... Just like the other 3 Mitsubishi's we have had - it always left massive smoke screens at every set of lights!
 
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Buick 3.8L V6. I owned two, a 1975 and a 1987 and both ate their timing sets.


You mean the engine in the Grand National and T-type Regal, that could take 25 pounds boost and run 10 sec quarters

I don't think so.
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Buick 3.8L V6. I owned two, a 1975 and a 1987 and both ate their timing sets.


You mean the engine in the Grand National and T-type Regal, that could take 25 pounds boost and run 10 sec quarters

I don't think so.



I don't know if that really constitutes an unreliable or grenading notion. Plus they are non interference so new timing chain, gears, time it and run it. Wasnt GM notorious for plasticy timing gears in this era too? There's the problem.
 
GM's current product lineup.

Whenever I see an Equinox in the service department, it's a safe bet that it's in for a timing chain under warranty. I mean, I really can't overstate how many timing chains are getting replaced on these motors. They also burn oil like crazy. If you follow the IOLM and assume that your brand new Chevrolet won't burn oil (?!), you might have ~1 qt in the sump when it's time for your oil change - we've seen exactly that. And those same 2.4L engines also sometimes lose all their oil in your driveway on really cold nights - you start it up to go to work and the engine blows. At least you get heat really fast...?

When I see a tech pulling a 3.6L out, it's another crank job. They just love to eat cranks.

Gen IV v8s eat cams like candy.

If it weren't for brand loyalty, I'd be out of a job.
 
Ford 3.0 Vulcan V6 in my Mom's Ford Taurus. It was always strictly maintained by me, since I worked as an ASE Master Tech at the time. Oil changes, coolant changes, transmission service, etc. all performed on time with high quality fluids.

The lifters started sticking at about 20k.

The main bearings developed excess clearance with some audible knocking at about 23k.

Too many water pumps to count.

Not the engine itself but other parts failed often too.

Power Steering pumps.

A couple power steering racks.

Numerous factory Alternators.

The trans was rebuilt at 30k, 65k, and finally at 95k.

A headgasket finally let go at just over 100k, and I told my Mom it was time to stop throwing good money after bad.

I got her a Camry. It has had exactly zero problems in the last 13+ years. It still runs as good as the day it drove off the lot. A marked contrast to that POS Taurus.
 
Originally Posted By: turtlevette
Originally Posted By: javacontour
Buick 3.8L V6. I owned two, a 1975 and a 1987 and both ate their timing sets.


You mean the engine in the Grand National and T-type Regal, that could take 25 pounds boost and run 10 sec quarters

I don't think so.



He's recalling the ones with the shat Delrin timing gears.

1. VW 1.8T These things love to eat camshafts more than fuel

2. 13B-REW Rotary by Mazda: Take a simple concept, overload it with garbage, under cool it, poorly tune it, and put it in your halo car. Brilliant.

3. Powerstroke 6.0 - Diesel; with none of the reliability, longevity, or durability.

4. Jaguar anything.

5. Ford Triton 5.4 3v - Cam phasers, anyone? Or perhaps leaky injectors? How about spark plugs harder to change than most cylinder heads?

6. BMW engines with Nikasil liners
 
I bought a '72 vega new and had no problems until the rear control arms rusted off the car in '79 with over 100k miles.
My untouched 305 in the '85 El Camino now has 150k miles-no problems at all=burns no oil, no drips, or noises.
My turbo 3.8 in the '89 Trans Am pace car=100k miles now has some rear main seal leakage (boost!)and nothing else.
'64 Ford Falcon with 170 six=not enough main bearings=should have cause problems the way I drove it, but didn't.
Wife's MG with not enough main bearings=lost rear main, but caught it (oil pressure gauge)before journal damage.
 
2.7 Chrysler LH (Sebring), sludge from leaking cooling into the oil.
Surprisingly, you can pull the engine and replace it with a 3.2, and get better mileage...

350 Olds Diesel, let's take an engine, double the compression, and not add more headbolts...
 
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I bought a new Dodge truck slant 6 in 78. With only 5K on the engine had to have the Crank shaft replaced because of balance issues that caused engine vibration.
 
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Ford 3.0 Vulcan V6 in my Mom's Ford Taurus. It was always strictly maintained by me, since I worked as an ASE Master Tech at the time. Oil changes, coolant changes, transmission service, etc. all performed on time with high quality fluids.

The lifters started sticking at about 20k.

The main bearings developed excess clearance with some audible knocking at about 23k.

Too many water pumps to count.

Not the engine itself but other parts failed often too.

Power Steering pumps.

A couple power steering racks.

Numerous factory Alternators.

The trans was rebuilt at 30k, 65k, and finally at 95k.

A headgasket finally let go at just over 100k, and I told my Mom it was time to stop throwing good money after bad.

I got her a Camry. It has had exactly zero problems in the last 13+ years. It still runs as good as the day it drove off the lot. A marked contrast to that POS Taurus.


I had the same engine in a Ranger truck and put 354K on it and never had to remove the valve covers. Engine still ran great when sold.
 
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