The worst engine ever?

[1958Bassman]

Or... 1981 Cadillac Fleetwood V-8-6-4

http://content.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658533_1658524,00.html

"These days, cylinder deactivation, or variable displacement, is relatively common — the 2008 Honda Accord V6 has it, for instance. And it's a beautiful idea. When the engine is running at light loads, it's logical to shut down unneeded cylinders to save fuel, like turning off lights in unused rooms. But in 1981, when semiconductors and on-board computers were still in their infancy, variable displacement was a huge technical challenge. GM deserves credit for trying, but the V-8-6-4 was the Titanic of engine programs. The cars jerked, bucked, stalled, made rude noises and generally misbehaved until wild-eyed owners took the cars to have the system disconnected. For some it was the last time they ever saw the inside of a Cadillac dealership."

My uncle worked for AC-Delco and they stuck him on that team. He told them it wouldn't work and they didn't seem to care, because the gas crunch was in full-swing, along with a bad economy. He hated it, but it was only a temporary assignment, fortunately.

Don't forget the cast iron V6- they had cylinder taper problems caused by excessive stroke length and side load. I had one and paid $700 for the car- car was nice, engine needed rebuilding and I ran it until it just became a burden (changing the plug/installing anti-fouling adapter) when it fouled the plug on a regular basis. I used to fumigate whole subdivisions when I would drive through.

 

[yodedude2]

My first car was an 83 Chevy Caprice that had a similar motor. It was a gasoline 350 ci, but was converted to a diesel. Mine was actually pretty good. My grandfather put 80K miles on it, and I got it up to 120K on it before moving on. The car itself was showing signs of age, but the motor was okay. I think I might have had the only good one.

gm had their 350 diesel fixed by 82, but by then no one wanted them anymore. just one more nail in the gm coffin...

 

[bassmatt4792]

Whatever in-line 4.0 V6 and V8 that Jeep was putting in Cherokee SUV for over a decade has to be right up there. I think the V8 Cherokee was the least reliable car and the V6 Cherokee was the 2nd least reliable car in Consumer Reports for well over a decade. I mean like the least reliable of ALL CARS and TRUCKS RATED.

Really? I've only heard great things about the AMC 4.0 INLINE 6. It's highly touted as one of the most dependable engines out there. Many, many, many of them have reached 300,000+ miles. In most cases, the Jeeps around them break down or rust out before the actual engine does.

 

[two fingers]

Really? I've only heard great things about the AMC 4.0 INLINE 6. It's highly touted as one of the most dependable engines out there. Many, many, many of them have reached 300,000+ miles. In most cases, the Jeeps around them break down or rust out before the actual engine does.

It must be a day of the week manufactured thing then. I have known several people who rued the day they ever bought the thing because they couldn't keep them running. My mechanic is a personal acquaintance. He made a joke once while I was dropping off my truck for an oil change. Some guy in a Cherokee was pulling up and he said "I bet I make 10% of my living of those things. I love to see them pull up."

 

[neo 7]

Something tells me that aliens are reading this thread and laughing at us. Silly humans and their internal combustion engines.

 

[fjadams]

Did the Vega and the Luv pickup share the same motor? Had a guy I worked with put two motors in his Luv before his wife made him get rid of it.

 

[blastoff99]

IIRC, GM had a ubiquitous 2.8L V6 that wasn't so hot, but I guess I wouldn't call it the Worst Engine Ever.

I'll throw my vote with the 5.7L diesel. Oh, and that rotary in the Suzuki motorcycle wasn't a great idea, either. It combined fairly lousy power delivery with horrible fuel economy.

 

[buzzbass]

Caddy V8-6-4 from the early 80s. A true turd on so many levels.

 

[ErikW]

Did the Vega and the Luv pickup share the same motor? Had a guy I worked with put two motors in his Luv before his wife made him get rid of it.

No, the Vega engine was Vega/Astre only.

 

[zachoff]

I had a 1997 Pontiac Bonneville. That GM 3.6L was pretty terrible. Total death at 89k miles.

 

[carl h.]

Jeep 4.0 was a tank of an engine. They ran forever once you knew how or where to get them serviced.

My vote goes to the 4-6-8 AND the 350 diesel. What a pair of bonehead executions. Only good thing about them is they lead to many low mile GM cars being available for practically nothing which were easy to swap a plain 350 into.

 

[kikstand454]

Whatever in-line 4.0 V6 and V8 that Jeep was putting in Cherokee SUV for over a decade has to be right up there. I think the V8 Cherokee was the least reliable car and the V6 Cherokee was the 2nd least reliable car in Consumer Reports for well over a decade. I mean like the least reliable of ALL CARS and TRUCKS RATED.

What?!
no. You are mistaken sir.

the only 'unreliable" Cherokee engines were the ones BEFORE the 4.0 I6. (Renix)

I doubt there's an inline 6 ever made in America (ford OR Chrysler) that died with less than 150k on it.
my 98 Cherokee has 214k on it and will still smoke both tires and pull a camper uphill ..... and its an automatic.

 

[DWBass]

Whatever was in the Neon's when they first came out! And yeah, the V6 engine in the 97 Olds Cutlass I owned. Had it rebuilt and it failed again about a year later.

 

[zachoff]

Whatever was in the Neon's when they first came out! And yeah, the V6 engine in the 97 Olds Cutlass I owned. Had it rebuilt and it failed again about a year later.

Prob the same as was in my Bonneville. Terrible engine.

 

[Mike N]

Caddy V8-6-4 from the early 80s. A true turd on so many levels.

This would be my vote as well.

You could always tell when one of those heaps pulled into the service drive because all the techs would scatter like they were giving free money away at the other end of the shop. Nobody wanted to get stuck working on one of them.

 

[Mike N]

Prob the same as was in my Bonneville. Terrible engine.

The 3800 your Bonneville had was/is a fantastic engine and perhaps my favorite of the GM V6's. The weak part was the plastic upper intake manifold that GM used from 1995 ish until 2006 or so. What happened was it would melt around the EGR tube and let coolant into the intake tract. If you didn't catch it early enough you'd hydro-lock the engine and probably bend parts in the process.

 

[zachoff]

The 3800 your Bonneville had was/is a fantastic engine and perhaps my favorite of the GM V6's. The weak part was the plastic upper intake manifold that GM used from 1995 ish until 2006 or so. What happened was it would melt around the EGR tube and let coolant into the intake tract. If you didn't catch it early enough you'd hydro-lock the engine and probably bend parts in the process.

That's exactly what happened to mine.

 

[gearhead1972]

Really? I've only heard great things about the AMC 4.0 INLINE 6. It's highly touted as one of the most dependable engines out there. Many, many, many of them have reached 300,000+ miles. In most cases, the Jeeps around them break down or rust out before the actual engine does.

Yup my brother had an 89 Cherokee Laredo with the 4.0L 170 hp inline 6. I beat the living crap out of that thing and it never even hiccuped. Would light up the tires on demand and a monster in the snow. My other brother got rid of it after the tranny went with 260k on it.

 

[Mike N]

The Chevrolet Vega 4-cylinder engine. Programmed at the factory to blow up at 50K miles.

The Vega 2.3 engine..... where to start. Ed Cole (the mastermind behind the design and development of the small-block Chevy V-8) was the chief engineer of the Vega project. Reynolds Aluminum developed the A-390 alloy of silicon impregnated metal for the engine blocks. Cole was given 24 weeks to design, develop and place into production a new car....from scratch. Most people don't know, but the Vega was being engineered as the first production models were coming off of the production line. Car & Driver and Motor Trend both voted the Vega "Car of the Year" in 1971. And, problems aside, the Vega easily out performed and out did almost every competitor in their price range. But, because it was rushed into production, many things were overlooked, and later came back to haunt the car. Almost everything about the car was innovative, from the way they were transported to the speed they were built. Once the Vega ceased production, GM sold the A-390 patent to Porsche Ag. in Germany, for $6 million dollars. Porsche still uses the casting techniques and the alloy of aluminum to this day. The oil pump first fitted to the 2.3 Vega engine is the same identical pump on all Chevy LS series engines. The list goes on. A lot of guys still believe the Vega's aluminum block and cylinder bores were the reason for it's faults. It wasn't. After the Vega blocks started appearing with tool steel cylinder sleeves pressed into the blocks, the problems still existed. The real culprit was the Vega's valve guide seals.

 

[gearhead1972]

My worst engine experience was the 1.9L in the 87 ford escort I had. At the time I worked at a gas station. I blew the head gasket 5 times, by the 5th time I could have the head out and at the machine shop in a half hour. I sold it to a guy for $500 and told him the engine isn't going to last. It made it 2 week lol.