Modern engines put less contaminants in the oil?

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Started driving in the late 1960's .

Are modern engines , generally , cleaner & put less contaminants in the oil , than those of my youth ?
 
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Yes.

Ignition and fuel systems have improved, meaning a more complete and cleaner burn of the air / fuel mixture, among other things.

Then again other things like EGR have appeared which do tend to make life harder for the oil, but overall modern engines do contaminate the oil less.
 
Originally Posted by Danno
On the other hand, DI engines can contaminate the oil more with fuel.


Even more than a 1960's carb? Just curious.
 
I think there were two quantum leaps as far as oil cleanliness.

First of all, the move to unleaded gas (1976 here IIRC) was incredible. The debate prior to this was whether you changed your spark plugs every 10,000 miles or twice a year. More importantly, the elimination of lead in the gasoline has resulted in much better public health outcomes, and is arguably responsible for the drop in crime rate, starting in the '90s.

Secondly, the move to fuel injection helped a lot. It's rare to smell raw gas out of the exhaust of a cold car now, and when I do it's almost always an old carbureted car.
 
I had in mind , sludge . Had not thought about fuel dilution of the oil . Or the absence of lead .

Best I remember , the old cars started missing around 10,000 miles . Time for plugs , points and condenser . Electronic ignition made a world of difference ! :)

I always ran the float as low as I could w/o " running out of gas " and the timing advanced to the point of light pinging under WOT . Both to try to get better fuel economy .
 
Electronic (and computerized) ignition; better machining, gasket technology, and filtering have all contributed greatly to cleaner oil.
Not to mention better oil (detergents and additives) help as well.
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister

I always ran the float as low as I could w/o " running out of gas " and the timing advanced to the point of light pinging under WOT . Both to try to get better fuel economy .

I did the same thing except I'd re-jet the carburetor. Quadra Jets were real fun!
 
Originally Posted by WyrTwister
I had in mind , sludge . Had not thought about fuel dilution of the oil . Or the absence of lead .

Best I remember , the old cars started missing around 10,000 miles . Time for plugs , points and condenser . Electronic ignition made a world of difference ! :)

I always ran the float as low as I could w/o " running out of gas " and the timing advanced to the point of light pinging under WOT . Both to try to get better fuel economy .

My old engines never sludged, but that was in part because I changed oil (mostly Quaker State 10W-30) every 2000 miles. I bet my modern engines are just as clean, running Mobil 1 @ about 8000 km (c 5000 miles) intervals.
 
Originally Posted by ka9mnx
Originally Posted by WyrTwister

I always ran the float as low as I could w/o " running out of gas " and the timing advanced to the point of light pinging under WOT . Both to try to get better fuel economy .

I did the same thing except I'd re-jet the carburetor. Quadra Jets were real fun!


At that time period , I was driving small block ( 289 & 302 ) Ford engines with 2 barrel carburetors . I guess they had interchangeable jets , just never thought of it .

Those were very good engines ! :)
 
there is better + not so much in todays engines. build quality SHOULD be better but use of things like low tension rings among other TECHNOLOGIES TRYING to getter better mpg's + still satisfy the EPA many bad things ARE happening IMO. girlfriends modern 13 malibu DI 2.5 LS is eating more oil at lower miles than her o8 VW 2.5 port injected lump, ber highway mpg's is better but locally where she drives a lot is actually LESS!! almost 60 thou + waiting for carbon issues from all her short trips + gentle driving. the worse part is high cost parts that wear for those keeping their rides past 100 thou!!!
 
Heh heh You had me until gasket technology.
grin2.gif
 
One of the biggest improvements keeping engines clean is the sealing of crankcases. PVC`s and filtered air into the engine along with finer combustion air filtering and eliminating the draft tube mean less abraision and contamination.
 
Originally Posted by Dinoburner
One of the biggest improvements keeping engines clean is the sealing of crankcases. PVC`s and filtered air into the engine along with finer combustion air filtering and eliminating the draft tube mean less abraision and contamination.
The primary reason for replacing draft tubes with PCV systems was to cut air pollution, beginning about 1963.

Engines with draft tubes typically had non-existent* to very mediocre filtering of make-up fresh air entering the crankcase (when the draft tube was actually successful sucking blow-by fumes out, which it was not at low speeds). Early PCV systems still used the mediocre oily-mesh intake filters. Modern systems drag less dirt into the oil by that route.

*The '54 Chevrolet listed in my signature had open slots in the top of the rocker cover to let air in (or blow-by out). The following year, they switched to a rudimentary filter in the oil filler cap.
 
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