dnewton3
Staff member
The venerable 4.9 Ford. A stalwart. Except for those few years some moron decided plastic timing gears were a good idea.
crazy engine designs
- Thread starter Rick in PA
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Meanwhile my Dad's 3.0 V6 in his van still runs fine being close to 15 years old. It does have leaky valve stem seals but not horrible.
I actually think the VR6 was a really good design. Get V6 power in a compact car, a maintenance nightmare perhaps but then again so are most transverse FWD engines.
I can only think of once engine that just seems a bad idea for the public. I worked on one and said f it.
I actually think the VR6 was a really good design. Get V6 power in a compact car, a maintenance nightmare perhaps but then again so are most transverse FWD engines.
I can only think of once engine that just seems a bad idea for the public. I worked on one and said f it.
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
Maybe GM should have asked OMC for help? LOL!
http://www.snowgoer.com/snowmobiling-fea...ry-engine/0225/
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
Maybe GM should have asked OMC for help? LOL!
http://www.snowgoer.com/snowmobiling-fea...ry-engine/0225/
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
Maybe GM should have asked OMC for help? LOL!
http://www.snowgoer.com/snowmobiling-fea...ry-engine/0225/
GM allegedly solved the fuel consumption problem but stated that they could make a reciprocating engine for less.
I read somewhere that GM could manufacture the Pontiac 151 completely - castings, machine work, assembly, manpower...etc... for $600
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
Maybe GM should have asked OMC for help? LOL!
http://www.snowgoer.com/snowmobiling-fea...ry-engine/0225/
GM allegedly solved the fuel consumption problem but stated that they could make a reciprocating engine for less.
I read somewhere that GM could manufacture the Pontiac 151 completely - castings, machine work, assembly, manpower...etc... for $600
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
Maybe GM should have asked OMC for help? LOL!
http://www.snowgoer.com/snowmobiling-fea...ry-engine/0225/
GM allegedly solved the fuel consumption problem but stated that they could make a reciprocating engine for less.
I read somewhere that GM could manufacture the Pontiac 151 completely - castings, machine work, assembly, manpower...etc... for $600
Sure, they may have made the rotary more fuel efficient, but how well did they control smog? I was sure that Mazda stopped selling the RX-7 in the USA in 1995, because they couldn't make one pass California smog.
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: artificialist
I didn't like the Millenia engine either. At that time, you could buy a Nissan Maxima for a lot less, and get similar power, MPG, and build quality.
Some countries have small dense engines because cars are taxed based on displacement. Japan works that way, maybe over there a Mazda Millenia was a better value than a Nissan Maxima.
Just Mazda flexing its technical prowess. Mazda made the Wankel Rotary work when GM and Mercedes gave up on it and NSU couldn't make it work for more than a couple hundred hours of run time. The Miller Cycle looked like a good extension of that.
Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly reliable and not many knew how to work on it. Kinda' like NSU's rotary
But it's similar in operation to an Atkinson Cycle engine. I wonder how much most hybrids owe to Mazda in development?
Maybe GM should have asked OMC for help? LOL!
http://www.snowgoer.com/snowmobiling-fea...ry-engine/0225/
GM allegedly solved the fuel consumption problem but stated that they could make a reciprocating engine for less.
I read somewhere that GM could manufacture the Pontiac 151 completely - castings, machine work, assembly, manpower...etc... for $600
Sure, they may have made the rotary more fuel efficient, but how well did they control smog? I was sure that Mazda stopped selling the RX-7 in the USA in 1995, because they couldn't make one pass California smog.
Chevy Vega engine. They were shot at 50,000 miles or less. One odd quirk was that an electric fuel pump fed a carb. But the pump wouldn't run unless the oil light was out. Normally this wasn't a problem because the carb had enough gas in it to start the engine and turn the oil light off.
But if the carb was out of gas, no amount of cranking would start the engine since the electric fuel pump would never start and fill the carb.
But if the carb was out of gas, no amount of cranking would start the engine since the electric fuel pump would never start and fill the carb.
The engine most deserving of a still birth was the Renault/Rambler Rotary.
Ramler Rotary
And a close second
Sarich's orbital engine
When I was about 12, I designed what I considered then, to be the best actual rotary out there (well two of them actually).
Based on a vane compressor, the first would have run as a four stroke, with either flap or poppet valves providing the induction and exhaust...worked out that the valves would have to function n/2 times per revolution (n the number of chambers in the vane compressor)...that sort of valve operation would never work...
abandoned the sketches at around 14, and started thinking of a pancake stacked twin rotor, with slotted ports, uncovered by the vanes. Front one was the compressor, which fed through a combustion can to the rear one, the expander....just like a brayton cycle (Gas turbine) but with physical working volumes other than a moving space like a GT...worked out pretty quickly that with no cooling of the expander by cold gas coming in, it was severely temperature limited (and unlubricatable), would have to run super lean (like a GT), and therefore waste considerable energy compressing air that's along for the ride.
My last strong idea was an internal combustion stirling cycle V-8. Take advantage that the V-8 opposite cylinders are 90 degrees out of phase, and connect them with a chamber, containing both a recuperator (stacked plates that store and hold heat), and a spark are/combustion chamber...the cold side had inlet and exhaust valves, and the system would function as a stirling, but the heat addition instead of being external would be on the hot side of the recuperator, in the working fluid.
See here for the "alpha" style...cold" end.
I was very heavily influenced by Ford's experimental Stirling engined mustang, and the driving tests that described almost silent, high torque.
Some of the Stirling engined vehicles here.
Ramler Rotary
And a close second
Sarich's orbital engine
When I was about 12, I designed what I considered then, to be the best actual rotary out there (well two of them actually).
Based on a vane compressor, the first would have run as a four stroke, with either flap or poppet valves providing the induction and exhaust...worked out that the valves would have to function n/2 times per revolution (n the number of chambers in the vane compressor)...that sort of valve operation would never work...
abandoned the sketches at around 14, and started thinking of a pancake stacked twin rotor, with slotted ports, uncovered by the vanes. Front one was the compressor, which fed through a combustion can to the rear one, the expander....just like a brayton cycle (Gas turbine) but with physical working volumes other than a moving space like a GT...worked out pretty quickly that with no cooling of the expander by cold gas coming in, it was severely temperature limited (and unlubricatable), would have to run super lean (like a GT), and therefore waste considerable energy compressing air that's along for the ride.
My last strong idea was an internal combustion stirling cycle V-8. Take advantage that the V-8 opposite cylinders are 90 degrees out of phase, and connect them with a chamber, containing both a recuperator (stacked plates that store and hold heat), and a spark are/combustion chamber...the cold side had inlet and exhaust valves, and the system would function as a stirling, but the heat addition instead of being external would be on the hot side of the recuperator, in the working fluid.
See here for the "alpha" style...cold" end.
I was very heavily influenced by Ford's experimental Stirling engined mustang, and the driving tests that described almost silent, high torque.
Some of the Stirling engined vehicles here.
Originally Posted By: artificialist
Sure, they may have made the rotary more fuel efficient, but how well did they control smog? I was sure that Mazda stopped selling the RX-7 in the USA in 1995, because they couldn't make one pass California smog.
That model, and many others, never made it out of 1995 when they failed to justify the cost of re-engineering for OBD2. By the mid 90's the sportscar was dead, and everyone knew it. The Supra and 3000GT, the last to go, ended in the late 90's.
Sure, they may have made the rotary more fuel efficient, but how well did they control smog? I was sure that Mazda stopped selling the RX-7 in the USA in 1995, because they couldn't make one pass California smog.
That model, and many others, never made it out of 1995 when they failed to justify the cost of re-engineering for OBD2. By the mid 90's the sportscar was dead, and everyone knew it. The Supra and 3000GT, the last to go, ended in the late 90's.
Originally Posted By: Kruse
My brother has a 2008 or 2009 John Deere combine. (For those of you who don't know, a combine is a machine that harvests agricultural crops) Just a couple of months ago during harvest, the engine lost power and died without warning. The dealership loaded it up on a semi trailer and took it in. The engine completely destroyed itself. The head was beyond repair and the block had major damage also. My brother and I are cousins to the shop mechanic, so we got the scoop on repairs. It turns out that this same mechanic fixed three identical combines during harvest that all had the same problem. All three combines were about the same year and each one had about 1500 hours on it. Each combine had cylinder #4 destroyed. John Deere has yet to admit anything.
The cost of his repair is $16,000. Yep, sixteen grand.
Just like Toyota Motor Corporation and head bolt (thread) failure on the 02/06 I4 engines. I believe TMC has finally admitted there is a problem and stepping up to pay part of the cost of repair(for which TMC has a repair kit).
My brother has a 2008 or 2009 John Deere combine. (For those of you who don't know, a combine is a machine that harvests agricultural crops) Just a couple of months ago during harvest, the engine lost power and died without warning. The dealership loaded it up on a semi trailer and took it in. The engine completely destroyed itself. The head was beyond repair and the block had major damage also. My brother and I are cousins to the shop mechanic, so we got the scoop on repairs. It turns out that this same mechanic fixed three identical combines during harvest that all had the same problem. All three combines were about the same year and each one had about 1500 hours on it. Each combine had cylinder #4 destroyed. John Deere has yet to admit anything.
The cost of his repair is $16,000. Yep, sixteen grand.
Just like Toyota Motor Corporation and head bolt (thread) failure on the 02/06 I4 engines. I believe TMC has finally admitted there is a problem and stepping up to pay part of the cost of repair(for which TMC has a repair kit).
Originally Posted By: C4Dave
Chevy Vega engine. They were shot at 50,000 miles or less. One odd quirk was that an electric fuel pump fed a carb. But the pump wouldn't run unless the oil light was out. Normally this wasn't a problem because the carb had enough gas in it to start the engine and turn the oil light off.
But if the carb was out of gas, no amount of cranking would start the engine since the electric fuel pump would never start and fill the carb.
Isn't that the engine that had an aluminum block with aluminum cylinders with an anti-wear coating? They didn't burn oil, they drank it. I can't think of a worse automotive disaster except the Yugo, which according to Consumer Reports, was "a waste of natural resources."
Chevy Vega engine. They were shot at 50,000 miles or less. One odd quirk was that an electric fuel pump fed a carb. But the pump wouldn't run unless the oil light was out. Normally this wasn't a problem because the carb had enough gas in it to start the engine and turn the oil light off.
But if the carb was out of gas, no amount of cranking would start the engine since the electric fuel pump would never start and fill the carb.
Isn't that the engine that had an aluminum block with aluminum cylinders with an anti-wear coating? They didn't burn oil, they drank it. I can't think of a worse automotive disaster except the Yugo, which according to Consumer Reports, was "a waste of natural resources."
Originally Posted By: HosteenJorje
Originally Posted By: C4Dave
Chevy Vega engine. They were shot at 50,000 miles or less. One odd quirk was that an electric fuel pump fed a carb. But the pump wouldn't run unless the oil light was out. Normally this wasn't a problem because the carb had enough gas in it to start the engine and turn the oil light off.
But if the carb was out of gas, no amount of cranking would start the engine since the electric fuel pump would never start and fill the carb.
Isn't that the engine that had an aluminum block with aluminum cylinders with an anti-wear coating? They didn't burn oil, they drank it. I can't think of a worse automotive disaster except the Yugo, which according to Consumer Reports, was "a waste of natural resources."
Yeah I totally agree. IMHO The Vega should have NEVER been on the road!
Originally Posted By: C4Dave
Chevy Vega engine. They were shot at 50,000 miles or less. One odd quirk was that an electric fuel pump fed a carb. But the pump wouldn't run unless the oil light was out. Normally this wasn't a problem because the carb had enough gas in it to start the engine and turn the oil light off.
But if the carb was out of gas, no amount of cranking would start the engine since the electric fuel pump would never start and fill the carb.
Isn't that the engine that had an aluminum block with aluminum cylinders with an anti-wear coating? They didn't burn oil, they drank it. I can't think of a worse automotive disaster except the Yugo, which according to Consumer Reports, was "a waste of natural resources."
Yeah I totally agree. IMHO The Vega should have NEVER been on the road!
Here's one for ya. There used to be a video of how it worked up on Google videos, but when that went down so did the video. The inventor used to come to a tuesday night group dinner I used to go to. Nice guy. It's been introduced, and then banned, by NASCAR too lol.
http://www.google.com/patents/US20020088426
http://www.google.com/patents/US20020088426
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