Spinning an engine

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I have a new to me 2006 Scion xB, 5-speed manual with the 1NZ-FE 1.5L motor with a chain drive camshaft and VVT on the intake side.

My question is about spinning that engine. I just finished a hot weather desert trip (90-105F) of 500 miles on open roads at speeds from 65-85 mph with the a/c on full blast. That meant that this little engine was spinning at 4-5K rpm for quite a while. I got 36 mpg for the trip and the level moved on the dipstick such a tiny amount it was difficult to measure. The oil is left over Red Line 0w-30 from my other vehicles and the oil filter is a Mobil 1 103.

I'm just wondering how long this engine will last spinning like that.
 
The engine(2.5 I 4) in my 2017 Fusion turns about 2200 RPM at 75. Your engine seems to really revving high for an average Interstate MPH.
 
As long as you keep oil in it, should be fine. Those little motors have to spin to make power and that's what they're designed to do.

You could UOA and see what you see after 5k
 
I am not sure if I understand the question? I took a long (2k miles) while sustaining 3-5k rpm most of the time with a heavy payload. This truck had 240+k on it and it is still going, wasn't worried about the engine one bit. My wife was driving the sienna maintaining pretty high rpms on the same drive and the van has over 280k miles. Didn't skip a beat running high rpms during the trip.
 
Originally Posted By: tig1
The engine(2.5 I 4) in my 2017 Fusion turns about 2200 RPM at 75. Your engine seems to really revving high for an average Interstate MPH.


I'm guessing that at cruise he's around 3200 rpm for 85mph.

It's a 5 speed and I think he's talking about winding out the gears to get up to speed
 
probably a good while...i would think a car can travel interstate speed continuously..if not thats quite a design flaw. seems most vehicles cruise the highway 65 or so at their torque peak, which is usually half their total rpm before redline.
my fusion turns 3k doing 70, but redlines at 6500
my truck turns 1800 doing 70, redlines at about 4000 (old style ford 300)
streetbike turns 4500 doing 70, redlines at 9500.

seems odd that scion would scream like that at interstate speed, when im sure it doesnt redline 9k.
 
Originally Posted By: SilverFusion2010
Originally Posted By: tig1
The engine(2.5 I 4) in my 2017 Fusion turns about 2200 RPM at 75. Your engine seems to really revving high for an average Interstate MPH.


I'm guessing that at cruise he's around 3200 rpm for 85mph.

It's a 5 speed and I think he's talking about winding out the gears to get up to speed


I had a '05 xB with the 5-speed MT and it ran a steady 3500 RPM at 70 mph. That engine/trans combination was not designed for loafing at highway speeds. Even the 4-speed automatic in the first gen xB runs about 3400 RPM at 70
 
Originally Posted By: yesthatsteve

I had a '05 xB with the 5-speed MT and it ran a steady 3500 RPM at 70 mph. That engine/trans combination was not designed for loafing at highway speeds. Even the 4-speed automatic in the first gen xB runs about 3400 RPM at 70

The 2.4 auto does the same. Not sure off hand what the RPM's are @ 70, but I know it is above 3000.
 
Wouldn't sweat it, Toyota Corolla with the 1.6L and 3 spd auto here. Spins about 4-4.5k on the expressways. 266k and still going strong.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I have a new to me 2006 Scion xB, 5-speed manual with the 1NZ-FE 1.5L motor with a chain drive camshaft and VVT on the intake side.

My question is about spinning that engine. I just finished a hot weather desert trip (90-105F) of 500 miles on open roads at speeds from 65-85 mph with the a/c on full blast. That meant that this little engine was spinning at 4-5K rpm for quite a while. I got 36 mpg for the trip and the level moved on the dipstick such a tiny amount it was difficult to measure. The oil is left over Red Line 0w-30 from my other vehicles and the oil filter is a Mobil 1 103.

I'm just wondering how long this engine will last spinning like that.
My '05, in my sig, is exactly the same-75 MPH is 4000 RPM. I've pushed it over 100 MPH several times, for short bursts, and it's had many decent length interstate runs of 70+ MPH, sometimes even hauling 4 adults in summer heat with A/C, and it has really had ZERO oil consumption, running M1 EP 5W30, roughly 9500-10K miles/OCI. If I ever kill the clutch or transaxle, it's getting the 5th drive & driven gear out of a Corolla transaxle, to get the highway RPMs down. Amazing you got 36 MPG, usually my mileage drops like a rock over 60 MPH.
 
High RPMs are not necessarily harmful to an engine, with or without load. Lack of maintenance is. The car is designed for usage at highway speeds, it will be fine. I owned a 1986 Toyota Tercel 4x4 wagon with a 1.5L 4 cyl and 6-speed manual. The 1st gear was a granny (avail in 4wd only) and the other 5 gears were super short spaced, such that you were doing 4k rpm @ 80. I was hesitant to drive at that speed at first, but it did fine. My '85 F250 with a 460 V8 runs about 3500rpm @ 80 and it too, does fine, albeit with terrible gas mileage.
 
One thing that may be helping my fuel mileage while spinning the engine would be the exhaust system. There are a DC 4-1 exhaust header and a TRD exhaust system.

I don't know the difference because this xB came with all this already installed. The engine has 132K miles on the clock so it's at least well broken in and loose yet does not burn oil enough to show up on the dipstick.

So far I like the seating position and steering wheel placement and with the TRD shift kit, the throws are short. It's fun to drive and I do enjoy the manual gearbox.
 
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
I have a new to me 2006 Scion xB, 5-speed manual with the 1NZ-FE 1.5L motor with a chain drive camshaft and VVT on the intake side.

My question is about spinning that engine. I just finished a hot weather desert trip (90-105F) of 500 miles on open roads at speeds from 65-85 mph with the a/c on full blast. That meant that this little engine was spinning at 4-5K rpm for quite a while. I got 36 mpg for the trip and the level moved on the dipstick such a tiny amount it was difficult to measure. The oil is left over Red Line 0w-30 from my other vehicles and the oil filter is a Mobil 1 103.

I'm just wondering how long this engine will last spinning like that.
Had a new 67 VW Beetle,1500cc engine, same size engine as the Scion, ran it for 5 years hard, and sold it with about 100k miles and did well...you will be ok..
 
This seems to be a trend with newer manual transmission vehicles. Our '14 Crosstrek is geared to rev higher at hiway speeds than I'd like. I understand wanting to keep the engine in it's powerband but an 800 rpm difference at 70mph with only different transmissions is a lot.

Manual transmission vehicles used get better gas mileage but with better autos and the manufacturers gearing the manuals to rev higher, the autos are now usually more efficient.
 
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