"Blown" 5.7 V8. 186k miles Point Premier 5W30

Status
Not open for further replies.
P

pickled

Joined
Feb 14, 2008
Messages
2,098
Location
The Rocky Mountains
Long term low level coolant contamination and fuel dilution can be very ugly. This is why UOA's are an important part of conditional maintenance verification. This vehicle a 1995 Chevy 1500 literally left the service bay with an oil change and came back 3 days later with a wee bit of deep thudding. Dropped the pan and found a spun bearing on the #5 rod and some tell-tale coolant leak sludge. We pulled a UOA just for grins...yup VERY ugly for 100 miles.

Blown57V8.jpg
 
Copper's not too bad! It's not flagged!

Joking aside, it held viscosity well for all the fuel/anti-freeze that was dumped into it. Also, a lot of that metal probably isn't wear for 100 miles, but rather stuff liquifying out of the sludge with the new oil.

Poor engine.
 
LOL...yeah copper was normal! RIP stocker...a Jasper fills the hole now! I think that the point premier is going to prove out as a pretty good bulk oil for this shop.
 
Based on the lovely appearance of the factory intake gaskets, the thickness and prevelance of the sludge in the pan and cylinder heads, and the general block staining/deposits I would estimate for quite a while (maybe 18 months or more). The leaking throttle body injector didn't help him out either!
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
186k on a motor ain't bad, even if it could have gone longer with the gasket fixed.


Sounds like someone has grown up around GM? I'd be [censored] if my motor blew at 186k miles, lol. But, I realize this engine was destroyed because of a coolant leak.
 
186K isn't too bad, could be better of course. My friend sold his 94' Chevy 1500 w/ the 5.7, 300K on the clock. Still ran just fine.
 
My father has a 1997 Chevy 1500 4x4 with 386k on the clock running WITH THE ORIGINAL SPARK PLUGS!!!!!!!! I told him when it starts to misfire he might as well have a crate motor ready because they aren't coming loose. He is a retired diesel mechanic and is not enthused about performing PM's on his own family fleet. All his truck saw for oil was Delvac synthetic diesel oils of various grades changed at 10k mile intervals. It still runs good and has wore out 2 transmissions, 2 fuel pumps an alternator and a water pump so far. His truck definitely wasn't assembled on the day after the factory issued payroll checks that's for sure!
 
No amazingly not...I've never seen anything take a beating like his vehicles. He has awesome Karma from all the love he gave to Detroit Series 60 engines I guess
21.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Jaymus
Originally Posted By: addyguy
186k on a motor ain't bad, even if it could have gone longer with the gasket fixed.


Sounds like someone has grown up around GM? I'd be [censored] if my motor blew at 186k miles, lol. But, I realize this engine was destroyed because of a coolant leak.


GM or not, I'd be happy with an engine that went 180k miles (300k km) in Canadian stop-n-start conditions. That's what I'm hoping to get from my '02 Cavalier, but I truthfully don't see it happening. Rust, tranny, or electrical failure will get it long before then.....
 
To be truthful, not as bad as it used to be. But some models are just worse than others for their 'weak spots', and the bottoms of Cavalier/Sunfire doors are the WORST. IF you don't stay on top of them, you've got rust 'wrapping under' the door at 7-8 years.

Mine's just started, 2 more years, they're Swiss cheeze. I never took the time to do any preventative work on them, and now.....
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
Originally Posted By: Jaymus
Originally Posted By: addyguy
186k on a motor ain't bad, even if it could have gone longer with the gasket fixed.


Sounds like someone has grown up around GM? I'd be [censored] if my motor blew at 186k miles, lol. But, I realize this engine was destroyed because of a coolant leak.


GM or not, I'd be happy with an engine that went 180k miles (300k km) in Canadian stop-n-start conditions. That's what I'm hoping to get from my '02 Cavalier, but I truthfully don't see it happening. Rust, tranny, or electrical failure will get it long before then.....


I'd be disappointed at only getting 300,000Km out of an engine....
 
As I said, if I did a lot of highway driving, I'd expect more than 300k km. But with 60-70% city, short trip driving, in the climate we have, I don't expect that much from an engine.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the engine may run fairly well but eventually it won't pass the smog check. That would be another 'car ending' event, unless it was easy to fix.
 
Originally Posted By: addyguy
As I said, if I did a lot of highway driving, I'd expect more than 300k km. But with 60-70% city, short trip driving, in the climate we have, I don't expect that much from an engine.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the engine may run fairly well but eventually it won't pass the smog check. That would be another 'car ending' event, unless it was easy to fix.


There was a 2003 Crown Vic (taxi) in the Toronto Auto Trader last year, 780,000Km on it, certified and E-tested
wink.gif


The E-tests are a joke. My Mustang passed with no cats and 300,000 on it for God's sake. They are a money-grab and nothing more.

Maybe I've been spoilt over the years, but anything I've ever owned has passed the 300K mark with relative ease, though, probably like you, I know many cars that haven't.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top