Another Poll, Engine shot at less than 50,000 miles attributable to oil

[Ed]

Just wondering how many people experienced catastrophic or severe engine damage that you blame on oil type , brand, additive, or stretching the change interval beyond normally accepted value.

 

[crashz]

Funny you should ask this, as I've never seen or even heard of it. Not as common as one would expect when you think about it. I have heard of an older gentleman who decided 4 qrts was not enough for his Buick Century and filled the crankcase full of oil. Right to the top of the valve cover! I thinki this it the only oil related engine failure I've ever heard of.

 

[haley10]

Many years ago. 1965 Ford with 289. Severely sludged at 50,000 mi. It was necessary to do a partial teardown to clean it up. I attribute it to 10W40 motor oil easily breaking down. It had been changed regularly with QS SuperBlend. This engine was a mess. I knew the owners and they did change it.

 

[Patman]

quote:

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Originally posted by crashz: Funny you should ask this, as I've never seen or even heard of it. Not as common as one would expect when you think about it. I have heard of an older gentleman who decided 4 qrts was not enough for his Buick Century and filled the crankcase full of oil. Right to the top of the valve cover! I thinki this it the only oil related engine failure I've ever heard of.

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Technically speaking that is not an oil related failure though, but an idiot-related failure

 

[Patman]

One more point. A friend of mine is a service advisor at a GM dealer, and we got on the subject of neglect one day, and he said he's had a few engines come through his service bay that were totally seized up. In every case though, these engines never had a single oil change! He said they usually had between 70,000 to 80,000 km on them though, so they were out of GM's 60,000km powertrain warranty (not that GM would've covered those claims anyhow, considering the severe neglect) Once again though, not an oil related failure, but a boneheaded owner related failure!

 

[haley10]

I think emission controls have actually helped engines somewhat. It's only of historical importance now, but I think many engines in the 60's and early 70's suffered from some of the then recommended 10W-40 oils. Oil breakdown and sludge seemed to be a problem then.

 

[garyb80]

My mother's Isuzu Imark engine had an oil/additive related failure when it was 2 years old, I'm not sure of the miles. She was running 20W-50 with STP in the middle of a cold Oklahoma winter because someone at work told here that was way to do it. One cold morning, the bearings on the overhead cam seized up on startup and broke the timing belt. Of course the pistons then did a number on the valves. It was not under warranty, but Isuzu still bought her a new engine. I don't think she told them about the STP though.

 

[pmt]

Back in my younger days I replaced the timing chain and gears on a buddy's 1966 GTO. The car had 30,000 miles and I was shocked when we pulled off a valve cover and discovered about 1/8" to 1/4" of waxy deposit covering the head. I can't remember what oil he used or how often he changed. But I think he did regular oil changes and he was as shocked as I was to see the sludge. He traded the car off shortly after we got it running again. In contrast, my 1970 Impala had 263,000 mi on it when I junked it (frame rusted out). I could scrape my finger across the top of one of the heads by reaching in through the oil fill hole. All I ever came up with was a film of clean oil.

 

[BIGJ552000]

TWO WORDS: DODGE DURANGO Here's why: Engine Failure I'm also sure there are many more out there between car makers

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

quote:

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Originally posted by Patman: Technically speaking that is not an oil related failure though, but an idiot-related failure

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1991--- a 1990 full size Bronco with a 351 drove (!) into our shop with 31K miles. Factory gray-colored oil filter still on it. He received a new engine since he "didn't know" that he "had" to change the oil at any given interval. To top this all off, the owner worked at the local assembly Ford assembly plant. To this day, I've never seen more sludge in a motor than THAT one. Other than the owner's incompetence, I've never seen an engine come in the shop due to oil related failure...

 

[Jelly]

I've seen/heard of it a few times, and each time it was because the owner didn't change the oil, thus the thing sludged up. Results of last one like this that I saw - rod thrown right through the block.

 

[Robbie Alexander]

quote:

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Originally posted by Jelly: *-*-*-* Results of last one like this that I saw - rod thrown right through the block.

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That must be a COOL sound. Threw a rod through the oil pan once, and man, WUZ that COOL sounding.

 

[RobWest]

quote:

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Originally posted by BIGJ552000: TWO WORDS: DODGE DURANGO Here's why: Engine Failure I'm also sure there are many more out there between car makers

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Good! I'm sick of those Dodges. We MUST have the highest Durango per person capita in the US! And NOBODY knows how to drive those SUV's. Most people think they are racecars!

 

[Motorbike]

quote:

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Originally posted by haley10: Many years ago. 1965 Ford with 289. Severely sludged at 50,000 mi. It was necessary to do a partial teardown to clean it up. I attribute it to 10W40 motor oil easily breaking down. It had been changed regularly with QS SuperBlend. This engine was a mess. I knew the owners and they did change it.

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Those along with other engines of the era used down draft tubes for crankcase evacuation . A engine using that type system would have difficulty efficiently removing the lighter hydrocarbons unless driven mostly at hiway speeds . The advent of the Positive Crankcase Ventilation System " PCV " greatly improved both emmisions and light carbon under the valve covers . Better motor oil came with API SE in the 70's

 

[ekrampitzjr]

About the Dodge Durango engine sludging and failure stories: Once again I'm seeing where Chrysler is sliming its way out of covering what is obviously a design problem by blaming its customers. Before this, it was Neon head gaskets and drivetrain vibrations, and minivan struts failing due to a design fault and breaking the rear hatch glass (service departments to customers: the glass breakage is your fault, since you should have noticed the strut problem before you closed the hatch). Another example: incurable balancing problems with some of the optional, expensive chrome wheels on certain sedans that has led to their replacement by the cheap stock wheels by dealers, with no refund to the customer. All of these have been documented on the Internet, in car magazines, and in newspaper car care columns. From a number of accounts, Chrysler has simply become expert at finding ways to weasel out of warranty coverage. In my opinion, Chrysler has been coasting for far too long on an overblown engineering reputation. I remember back in the 1970s and 1980s when it couldn't build a car that didn't leak around the windows. Daimler-Benz bought a bill of goods when it took over--whoops! merged--with Chrysler. It's really a pity, as Chrysler builds some great-looking vehicles. Too bad the engineering and drivetrains often aren't up to the standards that the designers set. This sludge problem causing engine failure at remarkably low mileage is yet another example.

 

[Spector]

Not 50,000 or less but I had a 1985 Volve 240, changed the oil with Castrol 10W30 every 3000 miles. About a year before the main bearings failed I stated to use the additve Tufoil and although the mpg increased I firmly believe, obviously cannot prove, that this additive caused the bearings to fail at 85,000 miles. Pretty low mileage IMO. Dumped the car and vowed never to own another Volvo or use any more snake oil. Part of the reason I was so reluctant to try the RX etc. So I never will own another Volvo. Maintenance nightmares but that's my opinion.

 

[oilyriser]

1982 Olds Omega, V6, 2.8L? -- camshaft wore out 2500 miles past warranty. why? probably from using the recommended 10w30 oil, instead of 5w30. The manual said it was ok, even in winter, but the engine knew otherwise.

 

[labman]

quote:

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Originally posted by oilyriser: 1982 Olds Omega, V6, 2.8L? -- camshaft wore out 2500 miles past warranty. why? probably from using the recommended 10w30 oil, instead of 5w30. The manual said it was ok, even in winter, but the engine knew otherwise.

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I wouldn't be too sure on that. I think I had 140K on my Pontiac Phoenix with likely the same engine when I traded it at 11 years old. Mixed short trips/long trips, some below 0 winter weather, 6 month OCI, mostly Pennzoil 10W-30 dino, and AC/Purolator filters. I did have a sludge problem, but I blamed that on using Quaker State for a few years. I can't swear I never used a Fram filter on it either. I did put the Grand Am that replaced it on 3 month OCI and eventually went to the recommended 5W-30.

 

[widman]

I've seen several that would have gone completely if analisis hadn't caught the problems and gotten the owner's to change brands. We have lots of brands here that will shear down from 14.0 to 8 or so in 2000 km. I've also seen 8 truck (Kamaz) engines that failed when the sludge built up in the crankshaft and clogged the passages through the bearings.

 

[geeeman]

1999 Honda Civic SI Engine replaced at 60 000 km (38 000 miles). Customer did not change oil even one time in 4 years. Short trips, winter, lots of idling... Said she didn't have time...and she "thought" a gas station guy checked it "once or twice...". Needless to say, Honda did NOT! pay for repair. This woman now tells everybody who will listen what a POS her Honda was, and how the dealer "ripped" her off by not fixing it under warranty.