Biggest POS engine
- Thread starter LouDawg
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My worst engine was a Honda. 1986 Honda XL250R dual sport bike. It burned oil badly and leaked from the headgasket badly with about 15000km's on it. The previous owner had the headgasket replaced once since he bought it new. The bike looked like brand new but the engine was shot. Sold it. Later made a mistake and bought a 1984 Honda XL250R thinking my old one was just a fluke or a lemon or something. Only problem was this bike was sold not running with 2 engines. One in it that wouldn't turn over the guy thought it might be a timing chain and it had a 2nd engine sitting in a box. Ended up tearing down both and both had completely blown up, piston, rod, crank and head all non useable. Looked into getting a used engine and low and behold they are not available because "every one of those #@$%! things blew up a long time ago". Wish I knew that before.
2.2 liter in a 98 S dime. Couldnt get out of its own way, all the sensors took a dump between 65,000 and 70,000 miles and the darn thing still didnt run right. That is a mistake I will never make again.
1982 LeCar 4 cyl.Two valve jobs in 50K miles, before I sent car to junkyard. Apparently the French forgot to tell the Americans how to keep these things running.
Now that is a bad engine...not a car engine, but still bad!
Weren't the Malibu engines from that period just the Buick 231 V6? The angled, front-mount distributor would be the giveaway.
On another note, I can't agree with calling the Chevy 2.8 V6 a POS. Once they were fuel injected (TBI in the trucks, MPFI in cars) they were tough little engines. Particularly the Gen II versions with aluminum heads and DIS ignitions; they should run just about forever. And unless I'm mistaken, they probably only had about 1 percent of the leaking-intake-gasket problems the succesor 3100 and 3400 engines had.
1989 Ford 2.9L V6 in a Bronco II. It gave up the ghost at 69K, 3K oil changes with M1, all the best service and care. What a POS. I overhauled it and it went another few years before the plastic camshaft gave out.
Chris
Chris
Ford 360 V8 in a 1971 F250 truck. Valve guides at 20k,45k and engine block at 72k.
Plus 10 mpg anytime. with a load or not.. 10 mpg...
Take care, bill
Plus 10 mpg anytime. with a load or not.. 10 mpg...
Take care, bill
IT is fair to say that many engines of the period 1973-1986 were "poor" as the accessory engine controls for emissions were given the nearly contradictory role of maximizing fuel economy as well. All the big four automakers had problem vehicle/engine combinations.
Certain motors -- like the V8-351 mentioned above -- had absolute #@$%! carburetors. Or, were prone to electrical glitches -- such as the V8-318 also above -- that made consumers hate them. Problems that a thorough tuning would not fix.
In that period, if one could optimize all engine controls and focus on simply bad engine design and/or manufacture, then the CHEVROLET Vega with it's ill-conceived all aluminum engine is the king of all POS engines foisted on the public since WWII, IMO.
And I think that one can track GM's decline with the release of engines/vehicles since 1979 that showed a, "We don't give a d@*^", attitude to which customers responded in droves.
Certain motors -- like the V8-351 mentioned above -- had absolute #@$%! carburetors. Or, were prone to electrical glitches -- such as the V8-318 also above -- that made consumers hate them. Problems that a thorough tuning would not fix.
In that period, if one could optimize all engine controls and focus on simply bad engine design and/or manufacture, then the CHEVROLET Vega with it's ill-conceived all aluminum engine is the king of all POS engines foisted on the public since WWII, IMO.
And I think that one can track GM's decline with the release of engines/vehicles since 1979 that showed a, "We don't give a d@*^", attitude to which customers responded in droves.
I haven't really had 'POS' engines, just annoying glitches with a couple of them:
1985 Buick Skyhawk 2.0 4-cyl. - Leaked oil from valvecover gasket, and it smoked off the engine all the time, making a heck of a smell, etc.. Also had a bad hot starting problem. If you drove it for more than about an hour, then shut it off, don't expect to re-start for at least half an hour!
1986 Honda Civic 1.5 - Never, ever could get it to run right in the wet, period. It had a manual choke, and it would start great, but after a couple of seconds, it would sputter and die. I never could adjust it during warm-up to get it to stay running EVER. Believe me, I tried! I did everything - new plugs, wires, carb adjustment, carb cleaner, water remover. A couple of mechanics told me 'just live with it - that's the way they are'. Even firing it up and flooring it, and revving the heck out of it for the first 10 mins of driving didn't help. Drove me nuts, and up until recently, I said I would never touch another Honda b/c of that car!
1985 Buick Skyhawk 2.0 4-cyl. - Leaked oil from valvecover gasket, and it smoked off the engine all the time, making a heck of a smell, etc.. Also had a bad hot starting problem. If you drove it for more than about an hour, then shut it off, don't expect to re-start for at least half an hour!
1986 Honda Civic 1.5 - Never, ever could get it to run right in the wet, period. It had a manual choke, and it would start great, but after a couple of seconds, it would sputter and die. I never could adjust it during warm-up to get it to stay running EVER. Believe me, I tried! I did everything - new plugs, wires, carb adjustment, carb cleaner, water remover. A couple of mechanics told me 'just live with it - that's the way they are'. Even firing it up and flooring it, and revving the heck out of it for the first 10 mins of driving didn't help. Drove me nuts, and up until recently, I said I would never touch another Honda b/c of that car!
Amen. That's what I was going to say. It wasn't necessarily the engines in many cases as it was the primative emissions and the attempt to maximize fuel economy. Anyone who wants to investigate can just watch engine size and output plummit from what, about'72 on?
Pablo, my 1982 BMW 320i made every bit of 110 hp so don't feel bad with your 130 hp Volvo.
That's very odd...my high school girlfriend had that exact car and it ran like a dream, despite her abuse and neglect. Most of the time it would start right up in freezing weather and go to high-idle without having even mashed the gas pedal first. That amazed me. I bought an 86 Si shortly after, and it was was just more of a good thing. Your story is VERY unusual...normally those cars ran until the wheels flew off. Sorry to hear that!!
You got to be kiddin' me! I had a 1988 Bronco II with the 2.9L and I put 200, 000 miles on that thing with only needing a new water pump and alt. I ran in to the guy I sold it to and the thing has almost 300, 000 miles on it now (I should have keep that Bronco). That was one of the best engines I've EVER owned domestic or forigen!!! In fact I had almost no problems with that auto the whole time I owned it.
1994 Jeep Cherokee with the 4.0L straight 6. That was the worse piston slapping, block ringing, POS I have ever seen or heard. Not mention all the other stuff that was wrong with it.
1995 Neon Highline 2.0L
9K miles - Lost all it's oil. Engine rebuilt
15K miles - Rear main seal leak
18K miles - Oil leaking from rear of engine
20K miles - heater blower replaced
50K miles - AC compressor self-destructed
65K miles - Electrical Issues. Car would stall and not start until cool.
66K miles - sold it.
9K miles - Lost all it's oil. Engine rebuilt
15K miles - Rear main seal leak
18K miles - Oil leaking from rear of engine
20K miles - heater blower replaced
50K miles - AC compressor self-destructed
65K miles - Electrical Issues. Car would stall and not start until cool.
66K miles - sold it.
Oh yeah, almost forgot. My 2005 Dodge Caravan 3.3L by 38K had the following:
EGR Valve Replaced
O2 Sensor Replaced
Power Door Lock Module Replaced
Steering rack went out
That's when I traded it in...wasn't taking any more chances, since it had just gone out of warranty and it appeared to be a lemon. I'd heard otherwise good things about the 3.3L, and granted, these other things weren't necessarily engine-related, but still lots of problems in a short period of time nonetheless.
EGR Valve Replaced
O2 Sensor Replaced
Power Door Lock Module Replaced
Steering rack went out
That's when I traded it in...wasn't taking any more chances, since it had just gone out of warranty and it appeared to be a lemon. I'd heard otherwise good things about the 3.3L, and granted, these other things weren't necessarily engine-related, but still lots of problems in a short period of time nonetheless.
2.2 4-cyl in 82 Dodge K-car, camshaft replaced at 31000. Entire car gave me #@$%! until I got rid of it with 78000 in 1988.
GrtArtiste
GrtArtiste
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