This is just something I thought about. I first started working on cars in 2007, and of course always strolled Craigslist and now Facebook market for cars. I can say it's anecdotal, but I feel like I've seen more blown engines in modern cars than in the past. Way more cars listed with dead engines. Cars are pushing the envelope now in power levels that used to only be achievable with aftermarket parts and tuning, and doing it dead stock on commuter vehicles. Of course there's direct injection and all that comes with it, too.
I feel back when I first really worked on cars, it was somewhat rare to find a car with a blown engine, as in, thrown rods, smoking blue, etc. The most common failures I personally remember were cooling system failures and blown head gaskets. If an engine was blown it was usually due to driving with a blown head gasket for hundreds or thousands of miles, or the head gasket failing and contaminating the oil with water. Not just "oh, it broke one day." Reading about say, Hyundai engines throwing rods all seems very weird to me, same with timing chain failures at low mileages. Of course more engines are moving to chains, but on the older V6 pushrod engines that were relatively easy on the oil, I would say chain failures were incredibly rare (though it's a simpler design for sure) but even on the older OHC/DOHC there didn't seem to be common failures.
Of course consumer knowledge is definitely worse now. Most people don't seem to check their oil ever, and some people legitimately don't know how. My sister said her boyfriend with a newer Corolla has never once opened the hood to check his oil, he only changes it at 5000 miles. His mechanic put way too much confidence in him saying "These things only ever need brakes and tires." Toyota is reliable, but not that reliable.
For Toyota's own specs, acceptable oil consumption is 1qt per 1000 miles, so on a 4.5qt sump car that would be negative half a quart of oil at 5000 miles. Manufacturer oil change intervals are longer, too, and though oil is better than the past I'm not really convinced it's wise.
So anyway, I'm wondering if it's my imagination, but are oil related failures more common now like I'm anecdotally observing? I just didn't remember nearly as many back when I first started working on cars almost 15 years ago. On the flip side I feel like cooling system failures and head gasket failures actually are a lot lower than in the past, at least I see less cars listed with overheating issues and blown head gaskets.
I feel back when I first really worked on cars, it was somewhat rare to find a car with a blown engine, as in, thrown rods, smoking blue, etc. The most common failures I personally remember were cooling system failures and blown head gaskets. If an engine was blown it was usually due to driving with a blown head gasket for hundreds or thousands of miles, or the head gasket failing and contaminating the oil with water. Not just "oh, it broke one day." Reading about say, Hyundai engines throwing rods all seems very weird to me, same with timing chain failures at low mileages. Of course more engines are moving to chains, but on the older V6 pushrod engines that were relatively easy on the oil, I would say chain failures were incredibly rare (though it's a simpler design for sure) but even on the older OHC/DOHC there didn't seem to be common failures.
Of course consumer knowledge is definitely worse now. Most people don't seem to check their oil ever, and some people legitimately don't know how. My sister said her boyfriend with a newer Corolla has never once opened the hood to check his oil, he only changes it at 5000 miles. His mechanic put way too much confidence in him saying "These things only ever need brakes and tires." Toyota is reliable, but not that reliable.
For Toyota's own specs, acceptable oil consumption is 1qt per 1000 miles, so on a 4.5qt sump car that would be negative half a quart of oil at 5000 miles. Manufacturer oil change intervals are longer, too, and though oil is better than the past I'm not really convinced it's wise.So anyway, I'm wondering if it's my imagination, but are oil related failures more common now like I'm anecdotally observing? I just didn't remember nearly as many back when I first started working on cars almost 15 years ago. On the flip side I feel like cooling system failures and head gasket failures actually are a lot lower than in the past, at least I see less cars listed with overheating issues and blown head gaskets.
