Worst Engines

[1999nick]

Originally Posted By: StevieC
If the EPA kept their nose out of things we wouldn't have hotter running engines and stupid PCV's which do nothing more than contribute to maintenance costs and engine deterioration.





Given the smog conditions back in the days before pollution controls, and the huge increase in the number of cars since then, I wonder what the atmospheric conditions would be like over our big cities now if cars still had no pollution controls? What are the chances that the manufacturers would have added the pollution controls themselves?

 

[mopar_monkey]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Let's not forget the evil brother of the Ford Modular: The Chrysler 4.7L. It's like the Modular, except prone to killing itself via a sludge-induced death by oil starvation.

And the best part about this kind of death, is just like a head gasket, there's no real clue it's going to happen, especially if the manufacturer hides the clues to the impending doom via baffle revisions, which I've just learned is the case with Chrysler, via the thread about the sludge-ridden 4.7L in the PCMO section.


the 4.7 only had the issues in the early days of this motor, later versions are pretty bullet proof.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Let's not forget the evil brother of the Ford Modular: The Chrysler 4.7L. It's like the Modular, except prone to killing itself via a sludge-induced death by oil starvation.

And the best part about this kind of death, is just like a head gasket, there's no real clue it's going to happen, especially if the manufacturer hides the clues to the impending doom via baffle revisions, which I've just learned is the case with Chrysler, via the thread about the sludge-ridden 4.7L in the PCMO section.


the 4.7 only had the issues in the early days of this motor, later versions are pretty bullet proof.


How recent is recent?

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/caught-my-girl-stuffed-up.136509/

The one in the above thread is an '04.

 

[mopar_monkey]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Let's not forget the evil brother of the Ford Modular: The Chrysler 4.7L. It's like the Modular, except prone to killing itself via a sludge-induced death by oil starvation.

And the best part about this kind of death, is just like a head gasket, there's no real clue it's going to happen, especially if the manufacturer hides the clues to the impending doom via baffle revisions, which I've just learned is the case with Chrysler, via the thread about the sludge-ridden 4.7L in the PCMO section.


the 4.7 only had the issues in the early days of this motor, later versions are pretty bullet proof.


How recent is recent?

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/caught-my-girl-stuffed-up.136509/

The one in the above thread is an '04.


any engine can develop sludge depending on how well it is taken care of/oci. but sometime after 02 this became less of a problem to the point that it isn't common on later 4.7's. the baffle really does help since the problem was they would develop condensation at the top of that filler neck which would then drain back into the crankcase causing a sludge problem, the filler neck was to far away from the heat generating potion of the engine, as the heat collected in the filler neck and cooled it would form condensation. so the fix was the baffle which helped a lot, in 05 i believe they totally got rid of that filler neck design.

 

[GMFan]

VW 2.slow (2.0 L 1999 VW Jetta)

Crude running, poor mpg, slow, oil burning, oil leaking, terrible sensors, leaking gaskets. It has definitely been the worst engine that has been in any of our cars/trucks.

 

[OVERKILL]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey
Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
Let's not forget the evil brother of the Ford Modular: The Chrysler 4.7L. It's like the Modular, except prone to killing itself via a sludge-induced death by oil starvation.

And the best part about this kind of death, is just like a head gasket, there's no real clue it's going to happen, especially if the manufacturer hides the clues to the impending doom via baffle revisions, which I've just learned is the case with Chrysler, via the thread about the sludge-ridden 4.7L in the PCMO section.


the 4.7 only had the issues in the early days of this motor, later versions are pretty bullet proof.


How recent is recent?

https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/caught-my-girl-stuffed-up.136509/

The one in the above thread is an '04.


any engine can develop sludge depending on how well it is taken care of/oci. but sometime after 02 this became less of a problem to the point that it isn't common on later 4.7's. the baffle really does help since the problem was they would develop condensation at the top of that filler neck which would then drain back into the crankcase causing a sludge problem, the filler neck was to far away from the heat generating potion of the engine, as the heat collected in the filler neck and cooled it would form condensation. so the fix was the baffle which helped a lot, in 05 i believe they totally got rid of that filler neck design.


I do believe the issue here is that the above engine was indeed well maintained...........

 

[mopar_monkey]

Let's not forget the evil brother of the Ford Modular: The Chrysler 4.7L. It's like the Modular, except prone to killing itself via a sludge-induced death by oil starsome amount on it but it causes no harm.
well for one he claims to not be the original owner nor does he claim to have any service history. also he claims to not only see sludge on the baffle but also under the valve cover, you cannot see under the valve cover through the filler neck and these valve covers are a pain to remove, i don't doubt there is sludge on the baffle since they will almost all have this but it does no harm, i'm just not buying the fact that he went to the trouble of removing a valve cover.

 

[OVERKILL]

mopar_monkey:

I completely understand your scepticism. But at the same time, this is not the first time on this board I've heard, or seen pictures of this issue. If Chrysler has indeed rectified it, that is excellent, but for those who do own the engines which fall under the "affected" umbrella, I do think my nomination at least holds some water.

I think Toyota engines that were prone to the same fate are equally "as guilty".

 

[mopar_monkey]

Originally Posted By: OVERK1LL
mopar_monkey:

I completely understand your scepticism. But at the same time, this is not the first time on this board I've heard, or seen pictures of this issue. If Chrysler has indeed rectified it, that is excellent, but for those who do own the engines which fall under the "affected" umbrella, I do think my nomination at least holds some water.

I think Toyota engines that were prone to the same fate are equally "as guilty".


and i did'nt mean to be brash at all if i was, i just think this issue has been made into a bigger issue than it really is. there are plenty of engines that are legitimate sludgers such as the vw 2.0 and the chysler 2.7 i just don't see 4.7 sludging enough to label them as bad.

 

[OVERKILL]

I didn't take your comments as brash at all. Just healthily sceptical. Which I completely understand.

 

[MrMeeks]

Once upon a time i owned a Bronco w/2.9. It was a terrible engine.Coolant leaked into the oil and ruined the bearings.We also owned a POntiac with that defective quad4.Could never get it running very well.Ford and GM made very bad 4 cyl engines and I will avoid them now.Soon we'll all be standing in line to buy our Fiats -Can't wait (joke). Goodnight

 

[Jim Spahr]

Wait a moment. How about the infamous Audi 1.8 Turbo I-4. Here's a turbo charged engine with only a 4.3 quart oil capacity. It should have the title of Sludge Monster as it's middle name. The long factory rec. OCI and the small oil capacity combined with the heat generated by the turbo spelled sludge.

 

[StevieC]

Originally Posted By: mopar_monkey

and i did'nt mean to be brash at all if i was, i just think this issue has been made into a bigger issue than it really is. there are plenty of engines that are legitimate sludgers such as the vw 2.0 and the chysler 2.7 i just don't see 4.7 sludging enough to label them as bad.


I have seen plenty of 4.7's sludged up. Not quite as many as the 2.7's which seemed to be a daily occurrence back then but a good number of 4.7's

 

[calvin1]

Originally Posted By: 68inline
what about the 3.5L they put in the Intrepid? it seems around here about a quarter of the Intrepids exhale blue...


never mind ... thinking of the 3.3

 

[antonmnster]

The 2.2 in my parent's 84 Caravan was a POS but it just would not die. It blew huge plumes of oil smoke everywhere it went, and backfired so often that it would reshape the muffler into something that looked like a pumpkin.

So when I first got my license, I got the pleasure of driving this noisy, backfiring smoke generator. That blew its headgasket about every other month.

Of course it wouldn't die, despite telling my parents that I changed the oil when I actually skipped it. The 5 speed was pretty cool at least.

I had two experiences with a GM 2.8. The first was in a 78 Cutlass Supreme wagon: Worst. Carburetor. Ever. It NEVER ran well, or started easily. I swear I could hear it laughing when it would stall at a red light. I never saw my dad get so angry at anything.

But my 88 Pontiac 6000's 2.8 was solid. Just needed some ignition coils every once in a while. It wasn't much of a car, but I miss having a soft-riding winter beater that I don't feel the need to kick the mud off my shoes.

 

[calvin1]

Originally Posted By: antonmnster
The 2.2 in my parent's 84 Caravan was a POS but it just would not die. It blew huge plumes of oil smoke everywhere it went, and backfired so often that it would reshape the muffler into something that looked like a pumpkin.

So when I first got my license, I got the pleasure of driving this noisy, backfiring smoke generator. That blew its headgasket about every other month.

Of course it wouldn't die, despite telling my parents that I changed the oil when I actually skipped it. The 5 speed was pretty cool at least.

I had two experiences with a GM 2.8. The first was in a 78 Cutlass Supreme wagon: Worst. Carburetor. Ever. It NEVER ran well, or started easily. I swear I could hear it laughing when it would stall at a red light. I never saw my dad get so angry at anything.

But my 88 Pontiac 6000's 2.8 was solid. Just needed some ignition coils every once in a while. It wasn't much of a car, but I miss having a soft-riding winter beater that I don't feel the need to kick the mud off my shoes.


That sounds like the engine Saturn used for so long: ran terrible and burned oil but wouldn't die. A lot of people I've talked to that had these eventually got [censored] and wouldn't feed it anymore oil to end the suffering.

 

[Steve S]

The Vega engine and the Northstar engine.

 

[yeti]

antonmnster -- for the first couple of model years, the minivan used the mitsu 2.6, and there were some issues with that motor. i wasn't aware that they used the 2.2 in it back then.

 

[SteveSRT8]

Originally Posted By: yeti
antonmnster -- for the first couple of model years, the minivan used the mitsu 2.6, and there were some issues with that motor. i wasn't aware that they used the 2.2 in it back then.


You just never had a cheap model. The anemic 2.2 was standard in the first run of the Caravan.

We had an automatic version, slow like a VW bus, but the motor just would not die! Ran it 250k miles and sold it to a band who drove it all over the country for years after that!

 

[Mokanic]

Late 80's Tercels with the varible venturi-carb from the pits of the [censored]. In twenty-plus years of working on Yodas I have fixed one. Threw the carb in the trash and made my own adapter plate fo a Weber. In-framed the engine to stop the oil consumption. The customer was so tickled he tried to kiss me(NOT). As far as I now that is the only Turdcel that I ever fixed. Early Tercels were good cars and later with EFI they were much better.