Running old car at higher rpm

[eagle23]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
The reason I ask is the my buddy just blew the engine on his BMW when he downshifted from 5th to 3rd and the engine red-lined and blew up. The car was running perfectly before that.


I honestly believe he didn't just "touch" redline. He suspect deeply, deeply exceeded it.

Your Corolla will run for years like you're driving it, though as has been said, I would not decelerate/accelerate as you described.

As a reference point, in the 1960's the Volvos my family owned were geared in 4th to ~18.5 mph per 1000 rpm. Translated: 75 mph = 4000 rpm. They would do it all day, and did.

 

[rjundi]

I remember running near 4000 RPM(80MPH) majority of highway even once 5000RPM for two hours(100MPH) in 110F desert heat/AC blasting in a 10 year old 1988 VW GLI 16v never bothered the vehicle. I ran the factory spec'ed 20w50 in the summer.

I sold it running perfectly with close to 200k miles. Mechanically flawless vehicles, electrical nightmare though.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord
I just got my 92 Corolla fixed for A/C and rear suspension and they car runs great now. Having good rear suspension keeps the car planted on the road better and better traction equates to more power moving the car forward. It is like having a new car without the new look or monthly payment.

Since most of my trips are highway and the Corolla has some miles on it, it does need to run at over 2.5k and close to 3k rpm to get to the desired 60-65 mph. Is this bad for my car to run at such high rpm all the time. I often ease it off to let the engine speed winds down to 1.5k rpm for a few seconds resume back to 2.5k+ rpm. With my much new Accord, I only need to run it at 2k rpm to achieve the same speed.

I use good oil such as M1, Valvoline, and other premium full synthetics in 5W20 and 5W30. I am thinking about trying 5W40 when it gets past 150k miles, possible when 200k miles is within reach, and definitely keep it engine speed under 2.5k unless merging in highway.

Also, is it good running rpm up to 5k rpm when merging or passing. The reason I ask is the my buddy just blew the engine on his BMW when he downshifted from 5th to 3rd and the engine red-lined and blew up. The car was running perfectly before that.


3K RPM is no problem at all for a small engine like your Accord. My old 7.2 liter (440) V8s run at over 3K RPM on the highway (no overdrive), and they've done it for hundreds of thousands of miles. Even the original 4.0L in 1980s Jeeps would run over 3K RPM on the highway when they only had 3-speed automatic. Its just not an issue until you start getting close to redline. I don't know what the redline on your engine is, but again 5K rpm is not an issue for most smaller engines in recent years. I suspect your buddy's BMW did a heck of a lot more than just "redline," it probably shot a few thousand RPM ABOVE the redline. That's what sloppy shifting can do for you- driving a stick puts the responsibilty for keeping the engine alive on the driver, not the computer. :-/

 

[Quattro Pete]

Judging by this image, redline is somewhere around 6200 rpm?

 

[ls1mike]

Originally Posted By: NHGUY
5K is near redline isnt it? Dont expect any engine to last when pushed like that.My 3spd K car pushes 2800 rpm at 65mph.When passing smoothly it does not downshift,the 2.2's torque carries high gear thru the pass very respectibly.It has no overdrive.Basically higher rpms will help reduce gas mileage and increase engine wear.Thus why now they are adding more gears all the time to lower top speed rpm while giving flexibility in the (multiple) lower gears.Chrysler is up to 8 and 9 speed automatics now.

Except I have had 2.2 and 2.5 turbo cars run well over 250,000 with no appreciable internal wear. My old BBC ran most of it life on the ragged edge towing. Redline is just that. Redline. If you stay within the engines limitations you should see little to no effect on longevity. We are not talking race cars.

We are talking 3000 rpm. Engineers have thought about that. You would most likely get more wear from an improperly fueled engine by diluting the oil with unburnt fuel.

 

[eagle23]

Yes.

 

[mechtech2]

M1 -
Those RPM are just fine.
Really, even 3,500 is OK.

 

[M1Accord]

OP here. My 92 Corolla does have OD so I believe it could be 4-speed automatic. It does loose a little oil, I don't know for sure if it burns but I know it does sip pass certain gasket. However, I do keep an eye on it and give it 1/4 quart of oil every 2k miles.

 

[CBR.worm]

As most everyone else has said, don't worry about it. If you lived somewhere with 80mph speed limits you would be over 4K in top gear and it would still last forever.

Now if there is a mechanical defect, or the car is on its last legs, then take it easy on it.

Any car I have owned has spent a lot of time near redline with no ill effects that I know of. I worry more about the air conditioner compressor than the engine at high RPM.

 

[rslifkin]

It should be fine. I run the [censored] out of the engine in my Jeep (only turns 1750 doing 60 on the highway, but it'll turn 2600 in 3rd at 60 when towing, and I'm not afraid of WOT and the higher-than-stock redline). It's also seen drag strip use, and a few track sessions where it spends 20 minutes between 2500 and 5500 rpm with no breaks.

I have the heads off it (again) right now, and they bores have almost no wear marks, and plenty of crosshatching left (and hold WD-40 overnight). I'd say it's not much of an issue to run an engine hard, within reason.

 

[UNC017]

I'm showing my age, but I remember the days of 3-speed transmissions (at least I never had a 2-speed Powerglide!), <30" tire diameters, 3:55 or 4:10 rear gear ratios for towing (or muscle cars) and cruising at close to 4000 RPM at 70 mph for hours on end (even legally, before the speed limit was dropped to 55). My own car had a 2.76 rear end and I hated the performance, but it was a lot quieter on the highway than a lot of other cars and pickups. I'll always remember the high-pitched roar of most mid-70s Chevy pickups on the highway. And those lasted FOREVER. I still see them around in surprising numbers.

 

[M1Accord]

Originally Posted By: 440Magnum
I'm showing my age, but I remember the days of 3-speed transmissions (at least I never had a 2-speed Powerglide!), div>


Weren't most vehicles back then expected to have less than 100k miles before major work is done. The 70s is before my time but I do recall most vehicles back then were not expected to survive past 100k miles before being dumped back to dealership or hit the 2nd-hand market to become someone else problems. Nowadays, 150k miles vehicles can still be bought at Carmax, which tend to deal with better than average used vehicles.

 

[UNC017]

Originally Posted By: M1Accord

Weren't most vehicles back then expected to have less than 100k miles before major work is done. The 70s is before my time but I do recall most vehicles back then were not expected to survive past 100k miles before being dumped back to dealership or hit the 2nd-hand market to become someone else problems. Nowadays, 150k miles vehicles can still be bought at Carmax, which tend to deal with better than average used vehicles.


I've never run any vehicle LESS than 150,000 miles yet (although my wife's PT my get sold at or before that time) and my father was getting 200k or more out of family vehicles in the 1960s (63 Valiant, 68 Ford Ranchero to name a couple). My grandfather had a '49 that didn't need an overhaul until 150k (I have the receipts for that work, done in 1964) and that was without a full-flow oil filter! Heck, today's vehicles are "expected" to be traded away before 100k miles when you get right down to it, too, which is why warranties typically expire before then.

I always smile when people talk about how 60s cars just didn't last. Some didn't, but quite a few did. And don't forget that the things that went wrong back then are simple but annoying things that no longer exist- points burning, carburetor jets clogging, accelerator pumps and automatic chokes ruining driveability. A whole lot of cars got traded away because of a $5 part that annoyed the owner one too many times, not a major internal problem which is more in line with what the subject of this thread is.

I think lubricants have changed a lot more than the big moving parts in the engines changed to be honest. The basic mechanical structure of the Chevy 350 never changed much from its introduction until the last iron-block Chevy v8 rolled off the line, nor did the Ford 302 or the Chrysler 318/360. I won't argue that on average the later-built ones lived longer, but I really think that the better lubricants and the advent of electronics to get rid of the annoying breakdowns had everything to do with that. I'd really like to see a 2012 engine try to live as long on 1960s oil as Dad's slant-6 and 302 did.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Not sure about the 70s, but we had an Audi 80 from the early 80s in the family. It had a 1.6-liter carburated engine with a 5-speed manual trans. It had no tachometer, but it must have turned somewhere near 3000 rpm at 65 mph, and it certainly spent a lot of time doing so. In addition, it was frequently used to haul a small trailer since dad used it for work. It was still running fine by the time it hit 200K miles (300K+ km) at which point we sold it.

On the other hand, the Fiat 125 we had also in the early 80s needed to have its engine rebuilt by the time it hit 60K miles.

 

[SteveSRT8]

I remember my 70 Datsun wagon, 1600cc, three speed auto and 4.56 gears! With those tiny tires it was WAILING at 70 mph!

Drove it from Tampa to Wichita many times. I don't think you could beat it with a stick and kill it.

 

[Ramblin Fever]

I too have a few older vehicles, v6's mated to automatics

My Isuzu rodeo barely comes alive at 2,500rpm's; running at around 3200 rpm's is the norm for around 55mph - truck'll run like that for 10+hrs, never use a drop of oil.

 

[bigmike]

I abused my '94 Accord and sold it after it hit 200k miles. I felt no remorse in hitting redline in that car. In fact, I used sheet metal screws to keep the plastic wheel liners from blowing out at high speed, to give you an idea. Just like the Toyota, those motors are meant to be wound up.