Post your self-destructing engines...

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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.


Abused car? Let's see:

"The lifters started sticking at about 20k." You changed the oil, really?

"The main bearings developed excess clearance with some audible knocking at about 23k." Excess load and rpms do that

"Too many water pumps to count." Excess rpm gives that

Not the engine itself but other parts failed often too.

"Power Steering pumps." Not engine related, just bashing the car

"A couple power steering racks." same here

"Numerous factory Alternators." Redlining all day long gives you that

"The trans was rebuilt at 30k, 65k, and finally at 95k." Full throttle takeoff launches gives that.

"A headgasket finally let go at just over 100k, and I told my Mom it was time to stop throwing good money after bad." Low grade gasoline on abused car gave you that.

About the Camry, let me guess: You weren't driving neither maintaining her cars anymore.
 
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
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...?

+1 The 2.4 is a garbage engine. My sister in law had a 2010 GMC Terrain and it was constantly having problems with the timing chain and oil consumption.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think the Jeep 4.0 is overrated. Cracked piston skirts and bad cylinder heads. My uncle has a 1998 Grand Cherokee (which isn't even one of the problem years) and it threw a rod at 169k miles. It was never abused and always maintained well too.
 
301 Pontiac.The newly lightened small block had a weight diet off nearly every part.And could not take abuse.Rods snapped easily.Blocks cracked.A turbo 301 Trans Am? They had to thicken the block to take the abuse.
Tempest Trophy-4.Half a V8 (like the IH Scout base engine),seriously unbalanced.Would break motor mounts and accessory brackets at will.Wonder why the engine only lasted 3 years?
Cadillac V8/6/4-For an engine of its size,severely underpowered,coupled with the untested electronics of cylinder deactivation,never really amounting to any gained fuel economy.And when the electronics failed a few years later,they got parked due to nobody knowing how to fix them,and parts being a 1-year only item,only moments from being "discontinued".
 
I know of one guy (a salesman) who bought a new Grand Cherokee with the 4.0.Drove it for 80K miles,along the way it developed serious clattering sounds.They got worse and worse until he told the dealer to put in a factory rebuilt.A couple weeks later the clattering started coming back.The dealer told him "that's normal for that engine".He unloaded the thing at a loss,bought a smaller car,and unfortunately passed away shortly thereafter.
 
A fella I know worked at a Jeep dealer. Years ago I commented on the clattery 4.0 engine. He chuckled and said, yes, but they just go and go. There were also some issues with rear carrier bearings around year 2000+or-. My wife's is at 160k miles with a slight rear main leak and in recent years burns a tad of the Rotella 5-40. I think she'll probably drive it til the end-wonder how many years off that's going to be?
 
Originally Posted By: Pontual
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.


Abused car? Let's see:

"The lifters started sticking at about 20k." You changed the oil, really?

"The main bearings developed excess clearance with some audible knocking at about 23k." Excess load and rpms do that

"Too many water pumps to count." Excess rpm gives that

Not the engine itself but other parts failed often too.

"Power Steering pumps." Not engine related, just bashing the car

"A couple power steering racks." same here

"Numerous factory Alternators." Redlining all day long gives you that

"The trans was rebuilt at 30k, 65k, and finally at 95k." Full throttle takeoff launches gives that.

"A headgasket finally let go at just over 100k, and I told my Mom it was time to stop throwing good money after bad." Low grade gasoline on abused car gave you that.

About the Camry, let me guess: You weren't driving neither maintaining her cars anymore.




I'm glad you never told any of my cars that full throttle launches or high RPM would kill them in less than 100k miles!!!
 
My vote for most destructing engines would be the V8 in the B6 Audi S4. Massive timing chain problems (if I recall correctly there were 5 chains), the chains were up against the firewall and required an engine drop to address.

4audis4repairdenver.JPG
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: Lapham3
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.


Note that one of the toughest engines ever built was, like your 170, a 4-bearing six!
 
Originally Posted By: Lapham3
A fella I know worked at a Jeep dealer. Years ago I commented on the clattery 4.0 engine. He chuckled and said, yes, but they just go and go. There were also some issues with rear carrier bearings around year 2000+or-. My wife's is at 160k miles with a slight rear main leak and in recent years burns a tad of the Rotella 5-40. I think she'll probably drive it til the end-wonder how many years off that's going to be?


The 4.0 is simply noisy. My Cherokee was pretty raucous...sold it running perfectly with ~220,000 miles.

The most common reason for a "rattle" in them is actually external: a cracked exhaust manifold!
 
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
My vote for most destructing engines would be the V8 in the B6 Audi S4. Massive timing chain problems (if I recall correctly there were 5 chains), the chains were up against the firewall and required an engine drop to address.

4audis4repairdenver.JPG


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Holy over-complication! What were the designers thinking/smoking/drinking?
 
Originally Posted By: exranger06
Originally Posted By: Ethan1
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...?

+1 The 2.4 is a garbage engine. My sister in law had a 2010 GMC Terrain and it was constantly having problems with the timing chain and oil consumption.

I'll probably get flamed for this, but I think the Jeep 4.0 is overrated. Cracked piston skirts and bad cylinder heads. My uncle has a 1998 Grand Cherokee (which isn't even one of the problem years) and it threw a rod at 169k miles. It was never abused and always maintained well too.


210k miles on mine, not a hint of blowby, and I drive this thing like it was meant to be driven.

Granted, some years suffered from a bad cylinder head design and shallow piston skirts, but seriously? For the amount of time this engine was out there, it showed very few issues.
 
+1 on the Vega, HT4100/4500. These engines were not really repairable when they blew up and they did that at the drop of a hat.
Other than that gang i cant think of another engine the couldn't be fixed.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
Originally Posted By: 02SE
Ford 3.0 Vulcan V6 in my Mom's Ford 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.


The 3.0 engine he had must of been a Monday morning/Friday afternoon-manufactured lemon. I've had several 3.0 engines that all made it to over 250K with no mechanical problems.
 
I know a lot of people are posting "I've had a (year, make, model) with XXX amount of miles that was junk", and that's fine. But let's just remind ourselves that it can happen to any make or model. A couple of years ago, my wife rented a Toyota on a business trip that left her on the side of the road. The tranny went out of it with less than 2K miles on it. I also have a neighbor who just bought a brand new 2015 Ram truck that threw a rod with 900 miles on it. It had plenty of oil and he wasn't hotrodding it.
Things just happen.
 
The 1.4 litre Rover engine in my Rover 214. Went through three head gaskets and two cylinder heads before I got rid of it.

The engine would randomly overheat, which would blow the head gasket and often take the cylinder head with it. The problem was so common that, one time, there was a multi-week backlog on replacement parts.

From what I gather, someone later found there was a valve somewhere in the cooling system which would stick and cause the overheating, and the long-term solution was to remove the valve, which wasn't really needed anyway.
 
As stated earlier, EVERY mfgr makes lemons. No exceptions, just the rate is debatable.

Own enough cars and you'll get one one day...
 
Iron Duke in my first car. Something let go one cold winter's day, and filled the crankcase with antifreeze. The rest of the car was plagued with terminal rot anyhow, so that cemented the car's getting towed to the junkyard.
 
Originally Posted By: CBR.worm
My vote for most destructing engines would be the V8 in the B6 Audi S4. Massive timing chain problems (if I recall correctly there were 5 chains), the chains were up against the firewall and required an engine drop to address.

4audis4repairdenver.JPG


GERMAN ENGINEERING!
 
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