Great Engines

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Originally Posted By: morris
OK OVERKILL. you reminded of something odd about my chryslers, i was young and not understanding cars. my dad had a 1960 ply 318 engine. if he filled engine oil it to the full mark it would burn a QT. but if left a QT down it stayed there. i dont know if that was common.


Might have been due to windage. If the oil was frothed up enough, it would end up going out the breather. Once it got low enough, this wasn't an issue.
 
Originally Posted By: morris
OK OVERKILL. you reminded of something odd about my chryslers, i was young and not understanding cars. my dad had a 1960 ply 318 engine. if he filled engine oil it to the full mark it would burn a QT. but if left a QT down it stayed there. i dont know if that was common.


haha! that's classic in a non-classic sense.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Mercedes OM 616/617 diesels are longevity champs that can't be beat. They are still in widespread service 30+ years later, the world over.

Toyota 2.4L 4cyl engines also come to mind.


Toyota 2.4L 4 cyl. have had issues with stripped head bolts, esp. 2003-2004 engines, 27 pages of misery on Toyotanation website.
 
Originally Posted By: afoulk

Buddy of mine at work has a ranger with one of those in it, has almost 350,000miles on it and still runs like a top. Rest of the truck suprisingly isn't in bad shape either, atleast rust wise.


I have a Ranger with 240k on a Vulcan, and it doesn't run all that great. I don't understand the Vulcan love...
 
I believe the mentioned Ford 6.9 diesel was actually made by International for Ford.

a cut/paste

"In March of 1978, the International Harvester Corporation started development of an engine that would eventually change the way pickup trucks and light-duty vehicles would be powered. The 420ci (6.9L), naturally aspirated (non-turbo), indirect-injected (IDI), diesel V-8 would find a home under the hood of Ford pickup trucks, and the diesel power culture would be born."

Read more: http://www.dieselpowermag.com/tech/ford/...l#ixzz2LYoPjWFh
 
Originally Posted By: CougarRed
What are some great engines that either:

1. Are known to last forerver with easy maintenance? and/or
2. Have consistently great UOAs with low wear?

I think the Toyota/Lexus UZ V8 family qualifies. Others?



Mopar 318 (including 5.2 'Magnum' version) v8

Oldsmobile v8 family, especially smaller ones like the 350

Smallblock Chevy, except the 400

Ford 300 straight six

Ford 2-valve modular

Mopar slant-6 (just legendary- near the top among pre-80s engines)

Jeep 4.0 (near the top among post-80s engines)

Toyota 22R

Cadillac 472

I could probably go on for a while.... there've been a lot of good ones over the years.
 
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: morris
OK OVERKILL. you reminded of something odd about my chryslers, i was young and not understanding cars. my dad had a 1960 ply 318 engine. if he filled engine oil it to the full mark it would burn a QT. but if left a QT down it stayed there. i dont know if that was common.


Might have been due to windage. If the oil was frothed up enough, it would end up going out the breather. Once it got low enough, this wasn't an issue.


This is common with Northstars as well. If filled "full" on the stick, the owner often perceives quite a bit of oil consumption. But if left a quart low, it wouldn't consume hardly any at all.
 
I think the Honda K-series certainly belongs on both of the lists in the original post. They go a long time with minimal maintenance, and I don't know if I've ever seen a poor K-series UOA.
 
Originally Posted By: afoulk
Originally Posted By: ls1mike
Originally Posted By: Clevy
The 2.2 Mitsubishi engine that was in some chryslers were pretty tough too.

That was the 2.6 Hemi, yes hemi. It was a pile.

The 2.2 and 2.5 were Mopar designed losely based off a VW 1.8.
The VW Motor was actually the first engine used in the Dodge Omni.
2.6 hemi
8452290004_large.jpg

Head design
forgotten_hemi.jpg

Mopar 2.2 Turbo
24708560041_large.jpg


Now that you say that, I do see a bit of a resemblence between the old chrysler 4's and the VW 1.8's. Never really thought about it before



The 2.2/2.5 Mopar was indeed a synthesis of design. It borrowed some general arrangement from the VW, because Chrysler had been buying the VW short block (with their own cylinder head design) for the OmniRizon anyway. But it didn't really take any tech from that engine.

However- the crank is actually pure BIG BLOCK Mopar v8. The journals are the same size. The balance shaft module got Bill Weertman a patent because unlike other counterbalance shaft systems that were built into the block, it was a true module that bolted to the main caps and resided inside the oil pan. It was continued in use when the 2.2/2.5 were replaced by the 2.0/2.4 SOHC/DOHC engine family.

All detailed in Bill Weertman's book on Chrysler engines from the 19-teens through the 1990s.
 
Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
Originally Posted By: OVERKILL
Originally Posted By: morris
OK OVERKILL. you reminded of something odd about my chryslers, i was young and not understanding cars. my dad had a 1960 ply 318 engine. if he filled engine oil it to the full mark it would burn a QT. but if left a QT down it stayed there. i dont know if that was common.


Might have been due to windage. If the oil was frothed up enough, it would end up going out the breather. Once it got low enough, this wasn't an issue.


This is common with Northstars as well. If filled "full" on the stick, the owner often perceives quite a bit of oil consumption. But if left a quart low, it wouldn't consume hardly any at all.


I can confirm that happens with most of the Mopars that trace their roots back to the "A" series smallblocks (273/318/340/360) as well as the "B/RB" big blocks. The slant-6 didn't do it so much, and big-blocks with a windage tray (HP 440's for example) don't do it AS much, but they still seem to go through the top quart faster. My 440s will go a whole OCI if I let them drop to the "add" mark, but I generally don't do that because you can get an oil pressure drop under hard braking with the oil a quart low. Aftermarket pans fix everything by giving you a bigger/deeper sump.
 
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I've been sticking to gasoline engines, so I really need to throw in:

International Harvester 345/392. That block makes a Mopar RB, Cadillac 472, or a Ford FE look just average in comparison. LOTS of iron in those blocks:

http://www.remanufactured.com/images/International.jpg

some of my favorite engines, they were tough to kill. I miss the days when they used to overbuild stuff.
 
I respectfully submit the GM 6.0 gas engine without AFM.

We have one in our fleet with nearly half a million miles! It runs perfectly, does not use oil, doesn't leak, it's a freakin' gem!

They are one heck of a durable motor to last that long in our duty cycle.
 
Originally Posted By: neilLB7
Volkswagen 1300cc air-cooled flat 4. And the Ford Model-T 177ci 4 cylinder.
smile.gif



I second that and add the whole series of subaru flat 4's of the 80s and 90s!
 
Originally Posted By: afoulk
Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I've been sticking to gasoline engines, so I really need to throw in:

International Harvester 345/392. That block makes a Mopar RB, Cadillac 472, or a Ford FE look just average in comparison. LOTS of iron in those blocks:

http://www.remanufactured.com/images/International.jpg

some of my favorite engines, they were tough to kill. I miss the days when they used to overbuild stuff.


That implies you might have actually seen a 345 or 392 killed. I haven't. I've seen a 345 run with a broken water pump/fan belt until it was so hot it seemed to have seized up (starter could barely rotate it after it stalled). Cooled off, started up like nothing ever happened, and the dang thing stayed in the fleet at least 6 more years. Circa 1977/78.

I've also seen a similar thing happen to a Chevy 292 straight six, but it didn't recover as completely and was taken out of service shortly afterward.
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: SubyRoo
My vote goes only to ones I have personal experience with:

Nissan Sr20DE & DET
Honda B Series


Both fantastic.
I really have a soft spot for the SR20. Have always wanted a last generation Infiniti G20 (Primera) Too bad they're all beat now. Great cars.
 
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