Thread: Engines that can't be rebored or re-sleeved

Is there enough history of engines with blocks that can't be rebored or re-sleeved to see what happens to cars with such engines? Do such cars vanish from the roads faster than cars with rebuildable engines as the years pass?

(I curious about this since I just bought a car with a Toyota 2ZR-FE engine.)

When is the last time that you saw a Crosley? Stamped sheet metal riveted together did not work so well.

Vega's, not so common any more. I bought one new unfortunately. There was a company that would sleeve them.

I am not sure about car motors but I have had motorcycles with Nikosil cylinders refurbished. I am not a big fan of that in a car, I know it has advantages for performance, but not being able to easily rebuild seems shortsighted to me. Is that the Yamaha built motor with the 9000 rpm redline?

Larry

I don't know the statistics, but I would think that most cars disappear from the road without a thought given to rebuilding the engine.

From what I understand, the non-rebuildable engines have coatings on the cylinders that make them last longer. My Bmw has this sort of coating, and it runs as well with 140k miles as 4 k miles. And with todays economics, it's just not economical to rebuild a 10-15 year old car with 200 k miles. By that time, the wiring, computers, etc have all seen better days.

I've rebuilt a number of engines over the years. In the early days, when you'd take the head off, they'd be a significant ring (or lip) around the top of the cylinder (the highest reach of the rings). As time went by, engines got better, but more importantly, oil got better. Now, when you take a head off, there's almost no ring (or lip) around the top of the cylinder. Engines just don't wear out like they used to so the rest of the car will probably fall apart before the engine needs to be rebuilt.

"They don't make them like they used to". Thank God.

Mike

I was having this same conversation with a friend last night.

Cars today easily reach 100,000 + miles with proper maintenance. I had a BMW with 300,000 and a Tacoma with 225,000. They were both running well when I sold them.
Back in the day the 100,000 mile limit was rare without a new water pump, alternator,plugs, hoses, belts,...and the radiators always leaked too!
Rebuilding engines isn't such an important thing nowadays as it was when I was a kid.

Mike.....I would add that gasoline got better too and contributed to the improvements.. When I first bought our '86 4-Runner I had to clean injectors every 22 months or put up with rough idle. Once I switched to a different gasoline as prescribed by my ex-SIL, a trained and certified mechanic, I didn't clean injectors again. Now all gasolines meet those standards. I haven't had to clean an injector on any of my personal or company cars since then.

My parents had a '77 Ford LTD II. The engine had a catastrophic failure somewhere between 80,000 and 90,000 miles. Oil was always changed as needed. My father got a used engine and installed it with the help of a friend. The car lasted until about 105,000 miles when it just died on the highway a few times so my parents gave it to a charity and bought a newer used car.

It would be pretty rare these days to have an engine die under 100,000 miles unless the oil wasn't changed.

Originally Posted by Larry Edgerton

Is that the Yamaha built motor with the 9000 rpm redline?

The 2ZR-FE isn't that motor. It has a lower redline and is known for throwing rockers if the redline is exceeded - which the car's computer prevents except in rare circumstances. ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLdMWkzSwXk )

It doesn't reassure me that modern engines get 100K miles. I was thinking in terms of my '89 Corolla with about 270 K. However, perhaps I should take my age into account when thinking about the 2011.

I've been a mechanic for almost a decade. Was a Master Tech at BMW for a large portion of that. It's just not economical to rebuild an engine nowadays. You can get a lower mileage engine from a junkyard for under $1,000 for most applications. Cheaper for others. In my professional opinion, if you want a car to go 200k, get a Honda or Toyota. That's what I drive. And I've driven just about everything.

I not saying anything about the modern engines but I got a question about the modern cars or pickups that will roll IF the driver make a mistake, what percent of the old old cars tend to roll over ? before 1960 cars

Originally Posted by ray hampton

I not saying anything about the modern engines but I got a question about the modern cars or pickups that will roll IF the driver make a mistake, what percent of the old old cars tend to roll over ? before 1960 cars

I have no clue to the answer to your question but I will comment that the stability feature included on most "top heavy" small vehicles is pretty good. You can still roll them but it's difficult.

Mike

[And certainly, any accident in an older car was much more likely to leave the occupants dead or injured than an equivalent accident in a modern vehicle.]

Originally Posted by Mike Henderson

I have no clue to the answer to your question but I will comment that the stability feature included on most "top heavy" small vehicles is pretty good. You can still roll them but it's difficult.

Mike

[And certainly, any accident in an older car was much more likely to leave the occupants dead or injured than an equivalent accident in a modern vehicle.]

I bought three small cars but the majority of my USED vehicles were full size then there was the used pickups
will you buy a f150[old ] fill the bed with gravel and see if you can roll it over [ I fill the bed with snow to improve the traction in the snow, now I will count on the 4x4 to get traction, take a count of the people that are kill in the modern suv because of rollover then take a count of the people kill in suv -type vehicles in the late 50's early 60's

My Infinity has 216,000 miles on it and runs great. I have never had to add a quart of oil to it between changes in the entire time I have owned it. With the right car, rebuilding seems to be a thing of the past.

Originally Posted by ray hampton

[/COLOR]
I bought three small cars but the majority of my USED vehicles were full size then there was the used pickups
will you buy a f150[old ] fill the bed with gravel and see if you can roll it over [ I fill the bed with snow to improve the traction in the snow, now I will count on the 4x4 to get traction, take a count of the people that are kill in the modern suv because of rollover then take a count of the people kill in suv -type vehicles in the late 50's early 60's

If you are interested in such statistics, I suggest you research it and post the results you find.

Mike