I have worked on a lot of different engines from most of the different manufactures through out my life. I was thinking, {which is a usually a problem}, about what is the worst car engine ever made. So.... lets hear what engine, and why it is the worst.
Yeah, off topic stuff fo sho. Caddy had em a few years back, carbon fouling could lead to valves touching pistons
I would imagine that most 1900-1940 engines that were bad aren't even in the dusty attics of members' minds. There were a number of obscure engines after this, but the stuff from the sixties on were mostly good, if laden with some afterthought equipment and modifications. The one that stands out in my mind was the gasoline designed but converted to diesel 350 olds. Was never intended to handle those loads, so it was detuned and still grenaded frequently. You can point to the Vega, but with iron liners, they weren't as bad. Fairly simple aftermarket repair. The 4-6-8 was too ahead of it's time. Others have done it now. EDIT: as mentioned, all are OT.
From the 50’s and 60’s most stuff was bulletproof. Although most had low compression and anemic to some degree would huff and puff smoke and fart but would never die !! Worked on tons of this stuff and it’s “modern” counter parts into the 80’s and early 90’s with not a ton a failures . lots of folks joke about Jaguars un-reliability, their electrical ( Lukas) was junk if you didn’t understand it , and if you did understand it …. Well God help you . But there inline 6’s where amazing engines and the v12 was bullit proof . the 80’s must have been a horrible time to be a mechanic with the push to FWD , emission controls , computers and electronics on everything snd changes happening all the time , it must have been a real pain . There has bern a lot of junk built since the 80’s that had major catastrophic failures and cost a zillion bucks to fix. from 1965 going backwards ? Not sure what would be considered junk .
Had a 1980 Chevy pick up with the olds 350 diesel. Bought it used knowing motor was not good. She blew the bottom out then previous owner had it rebuilt and I bought it . Drove it for 2 more years but grenade d again. Got so bad I had to light a rag and put it over the intake soaked with starter fluid to light her off in the winter. Converted the truck to a gas rig. Nobody wanted the Olds motor for parts. And also had a Vega . Great little car but kept blowing head gaskets. Pulled the nice 4 speed out of that one and scrapped the car.
OT 6.0 Ford diesel. I've been a Ford guy since my first car, a Model A Ford when I was 15. But thanks to the POS diesel no more new Fords for me.
Chevy’ first V8. About 1917 I think. Then there was the Copper cooled Chevy engine from that era. I think they recalled them and scrapped all but a handful that escaped.
The '32 Ford flathead would have been a lemon by today's standards. Ford had to replace many of them. By '33 they had it sorted out. Lots of '32 Fords got new '33 engines swapped in.
That rebuilt SBC I paid only $200 for was a piece of crap! I seem to remember the Cosworth Vega engine having some major problems. Funniest thing... Years later, a fella proudly announced to me that he was involved in its development.
That Austin engine in my 55 Metropolitan with the crank having threads in it where the rear main should be to screw the oil back in the engine rather than having a rear main seal has to be one of those design things that was a fail . I have always wanted a Y block but remember the oil to the rockers issues in the 60's when it seemed that we ended up with a lot of them in high school auto shop because the local shops didn't want to fool wiith them. Most of those later failures like the 350 olds diesel or 6.0 Ford diesel were because someone decided to cut corners to save a buck or two. Both worked ok if you didn't work them hard though. I Knew a salesman who drove one of those Olds powered sedans a lot of miles and loved it but while he drove fast on the long roads he didn't drive hard. On the other hand I missed a seriously nice Chevy pickup with one that was blown up in it when I had a 455 Olds sitting on the engine stand ready to rebuild. By the time I went to the bank and pulled out the cash someone else had bought it.
The diesel 350 Olds engine is NOT a converted gas engine. It actually was designed by Detroit Diesel and built by Oldsmobile. The only reason Olds parts fit was a cost cutting measure. My dad had a 57 Ford that my Great Grandfather bought new in 57. The car could not be driven more than a few miles at a time, it would overheat. It had been back to Ford so many times in the 3 years the family owned it the receipts compressed were over 2” thick. My grandfather thought it was great because he did not have to worry about dad going too far from home.
He thinks this one. Lots of opinions https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/worst-engine-ever-update-on-why-i-dislike-fords.1250727/
OT 1987 2.5 Tech 4. Had a fiber timing gear that was pressed onto the end of the camshaft (as I found out when mine went) instead of being bolted on, the oil filter was mounted upside down behind the block and always made a big mess when I changed it, the center exhaust header port had a sharp 90 degree bend to it (literally cut and welded that way from the factory), had a 4000 rpm redline, rattled like a diesel, slow, sluggish, and the fuel economy wasn't that great. That one blew up, had a new crate motor put in, and that one was even worse. Coupled with some rude GM service people, I was glad to get rid of that car!
the 60s austin/morris/mg front wheel drive cars had an issue with crankshaft breaking at the fourth crank pin. i had one. the 63 cad was a new design short block... lots of problems... i had one. broke a piston. the 64 on is better. the 62 and older were much better. all were great driving road cars. and didn’t pontiac have a problem with the nylon timing gears?
Those two statements are intrinsically linked, I believe. Scroll plus rope seal works. Mostly. When the engine is running. At least the chassis directly behind the engine won't rust, nor will your garage floor.
Depends on intentions. They have a few 239 only parts. Cam and cam bearings. The least desirable of the y-block heads A reground cam, maybe a newer set of heads, . and a better distributor. (I’m not the biggest load-a-magic fan) and have fun with it. The early heads has smaller intake ports and may need harder to find intakes if running a 4v or multiple carbs. The oiling issue on y-blocks are covered here a lot. The search function here will help ya. But if not a restoration, the 292 y-block would be the one I’d spend my money on. That being said, I’m working on talking my uncle out of a very low mile 272. Nice clean standard bore engine. I may use it in a build. I like to cruise. So HP isn’t that important.
Its a nightmare being an auto mechanic today. Everything is overpriced chunks of shit. Working on my drag coupe is like a vacation. During the week, it's mostly all indescribable horror.
The Jalopy Journal
