Downsized engines=shorter life?

[farm boy00]

Worried over a non issue. In the good old days up into the 1980's. A carburated leaded gas engine needed a valve job by 75,000miles. If the bottom end of the engine made it 100,000 miles. It was a clanking wheezing oil burning clunk.
Now gasser's going 300,000 miles , running good and not burning oil is normal. Everything last longer and is more reliable . Good Old Days my &&&.

Tell my 79 straight 6 that. Been abused as a plow truck and still no leaks for almost 3 years owning it. And don't think it's burned any oil

 

[Mace Canute]

I worked on gaging systems for engine components for 30 years. The one thing I can tell you is that tolerances are much, much, tighter now than when I started. And the surface finish is a whole science unto itself. The new engines are made to much tighter tolerances, out of much better materials.

Most cranks are now forged, most connecting rods are powdered metal, bore liners are powdered metal also. Much better service life.

I agree with this wholeheartedly. The number of cylinders and/or displacement alone isn't the predominant deciding factor in engine life and even something as non quantitative as "driver style" can make a huge difference in engine life.

 

[sd455dan]

Tell my 79 straight 6 that. Been abused as a plow truck and still no leaks for almost 3 years owning it. And don't think it's burned any oil

Yeah there are others to including some of whats in -----andeere avatar name


JMO but Personally owned 2 buicks a 1966 225 V6 special that i sold at 260,000 to a guy who cracked their 225 block in his boat and is probably still running it.
a 340 4 barrel in a 1966 skylark that was over 200 k when I sold it and was still running great.

My best friends 1970 GS 350 that he sold with 340,000 miles - It did have new rocker arms and shafts at 200k.
A kid bought it and within a week wrapped it around a phone pole while roasting the tires... that 350 is probably still going in another car though.

I am a hard core classic pontiac V8 guy- but for just rolling up the miles the mid 1960s to early 1970s Buicks that I have owned were the high mile kings. Do expect my 03 Cummins in the RAM to make 300,000 miles and the 1996 Police 9C1 5.7 chevy caprice is about to break 200,000 and still running great 300,000 is looking feasible. There are some Subaru's in the area that I Know of built in the 1980s that are still going fine with 300k miles and some of the AMC straight 6s that regularly broke 300k.
Sure tech has improved but there were a few long lived engines built even back in the day my:2cents:

 

[MossRoad]

Tell my 79 straight 6 that. Been abused as a plow truck and still no leaks for almost 3 years owning it. And don't think it's burned any oil

Yeah, we had several cars in the 60s and 70s go 150K with no problems. But more often than not, they were the exception to the rule and there was a good amount of wear on those older engines. Our 2000 Impala with the 3800 series II engine went 189K for us and is still driving locally with well over 200K with no major engine wear issues. And our 2013 Impala is a modern marvel when compared to our 70 Nova with a 230 straight 6. I had to put considerable time, effort, money and components into the Nova to get about 300hp out of it and that also made her a temperamental *****! while the 2013 Impala that has the 3.6L (220CI) LFX engine makes 300hp all day, with ease, and gets 30 on the highway. It is smooth, reliable, quiet, aluminum, dual overhead cam, 4 valves per cylinder, variable valve timing, fuel injected, bla, bla, bla, etc.... and would blow the doors off the 70 Nova. Its a neat little engine!

GM 3.6 Liter V6 LFX Engine Info, Power, Specs, Wiki | GM Authority

Anyhow, I do like the older stuff for simplicity. A carb, a distributor, points, condenser and alternator. Time it and off you go. I can't work on my Impala. Sure, I'd love to drive that Nova on cruise night. But cross country day in and day out? I'll take the modern car.

 

[ultrarunner]

I guess I've been lucky with over 200k on my 72 Plymouth Valiant and 165k on my 85 Chevrolet Van... both have original drive trains... Valiant needed a timing chain and water pump and the Cevrolet a water pump.

 

[Retiredguy2]

I have always been a low mileage driver (current 2004 car has only 72,000 miles) but always babied my cars and trucks with super maintenance. Highest mileage vehicle I ever owned was a 1992 98 with the 3.8 V6, ran it 91,000 miles (stop laughing) before selling it to buy current car. To me the idea of rolling up 300,000 miles is very remote...but since I am considering buying a new Equinox I wanted to get input as it will likely be the last vehicle I ever own.

 

[buickanddeere]

My old Buick GN still runs fine but burns a little oil with 496,000KM on the clock. Not easy miles either with the turned up boost, over size injectors , high perf camshaft, low restriction exhaust , low restriction intake, ported heads etc. drag strip 1/4 mile suggests just shy of 400flywheel HP.

 

[Retiredguy2]

My old Buick GN still runs fine but burns a little oil with 496,000KM on the clock. Not easy miles either with the turned up boost, over size injectors , high perf camshaft, low restriction exhaust , low restriction intake, ported heads etc. drag strip 1/4 mile suggests just shy of 400flywheel HP.

496,000KM....?? Was that a typo? A 1987 model in the Rust Belt....sorry if I cannot stop laughing at your claim....

 

[farm boy00]

496,000KM....?? Was that a typo? A 1987 model in the Rust Belt....sorry if I cannot stop laughing at your claim....

It's called maintenence.

 

[4570Man]

496,000KM....?? Was that a typo? A 1987 model in the Rust Belt....sorry if I cannot stop laughing at your claim....

It is KM not miles. There are 1.6 Kilometers in a mile, so not an unrealistic claim.