Most dependable engines

[Captain Mainwaring]

i love the english electric engines whichwere fitted to the class 37 and 40's (and also the 31's?)

 

 

(plenty of other action in there too...)

[Coprolalia]

Crikey, you must have a duff 'un, we have had ours for 100k of its 150k and other than oil changes and a grumbly water pump, nowt at all, its epic imho....Shame its slow as a slow thing!

 

I think it's because it's modern grey 56 plate. P of S with an engine bay full of plastic frippery. You have to rag it to get it to go anywhere, but anything over 4k RPM and the noise in the cabin is deafening. Motorway journeys a living nightmare. Built to ferry small Japanese couples round tiny cities at walking speed. Hateful.

[warren t claim]

Triumph Stag 3.0 V8

 

Mazda rotary.

[forddeliveryboy]

I read some rolls royce literature that suggested that their L410 6.75 Litre was tested at maximum power for 500hours without failure, i dont know anything that could achieve that especially as the american v8s they compared it to couldnt top circa 50hours .meticulous metallurgy and tolerance detailing was the standard practice i read ie copying the basic design of american tappets but making them in house to ensure quality

 

500 hours, that's 2 months of a many a 2cv's life back in the sixties and seventies. Whether driven flat out from cold for a mile or sat on the autoroute pied a plancher they'd live for 100,000+ miles if serviced, often 50,000 if not.

 

The man said dependable, not easy on the ears

 

If we can have A series for surviving neglect we should have VW aircooled flat fours for similar reasons.

 

Thought they suffered dropped valves as a certainty due to poor cooling design?

[rml2345]

I think it's because it's modern grey 56 plate. P of S with an engine bay full of plastic frippery. You have to rag it to get it to go anywhere, but anything over 4k RPM and the noise in the cabin is deafening. Motorway journeys a living nightmare. Built to ferry small Japanese couples round tiny cities at walking speed. Hateful.

 

Can't say for yours but mine was on 168k, ran like a Swiss watch and only ever failed to proceed once when the battery died of old age. 

Wasn't especially taxing to look after either. 

[Captain Mainwaring]

Triumph Stag 3.0 V8

 

Mazda rotary.

 

My mate's just bought a 70k miler RX-8. Wonder how he'll get on?

[danthecapriman]

a napier deltic, now THAT is an engine!

 

i love the english electric engines whichwere fitted to the class 37 and 40's (and also the 31's?)

 

lots of clag, noise, power and drama!!

 

some gr9 vid's on you tube of locomotives with an enthusiastic drivers at the controls...

Class 31's originally had a Mirrlees engine but quickly had them replaced with an English Electric unit.

 

My uncle used to work at BREL Doncaster as a fitter, he got to play with Deltics, and pretty much everything else that was around at the time.

[Inspector Morose]

Crossley V8 two stroke, as fitted to the Co-Bo. Went forever as long as there was a system to put the engine oil back in when it pissed out the crankcase.

[Asimo]

(VW flat fours)   Thought they suffered dropped valves as a certainty due to poor cooling design?

 

That is how my last one died but that was at high mileage, about 180,000 / 12 years.

But it did sound a bit "valvey" for months beforehand so could have been caught in time.

It is usually No.3 cylinder which runs hotter as it runs weaker & is cooled by air already warmed by the oil cooler.

[Junkman]

Jag V12. Ever seen a knackered one?

Renault "Billancourt" and "Sierra" engines.

Ford "Cologne" V6.

[danthecapriman]

Jag V12. Ever seen a knackered one?

Renault "Billancourt" and "Sierra" engines.

Ford "Cologne" V6.

The 2.8 carb version of the Cologne V6 in my mk2 Granada has lasted well. Nearly 200K, can be a bit of a pain to start from cold sometimes but otherwise it's fine.

 

 

I had a J reg BMW (e36) 316 once that had done 180K, that seemed to go very well but it rattled its tits off when cold, once the oil started circulating it was silent though. I sold it on and it lasted a few more years after too.

Don't know what engine it was but I was surprised it had lasted so well with it being a pretty small capacity in a fairly big car.

[fordperv]

"Sierra" engines.

The sierra cvh was an "ok" engine the 2.0 dohc 8v was much better but plagued by problems with the oil pump and headgasket, I've replaced everything on mine and it eats the miles with ease, yes it is smoother and more refined but I still wouldn't rate them as high as the pinto

[Junkman]

I'm talking about the Renault "Sierra" engine, as found in the Estafette, R8/10 and later R4s.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

Jag V12. Ever seen a knackered one?

 

 

 

The Jag V12 is a strong old thing, but it does have an Achilles heel - overheating. The engine is so massive that it doesn't really fit and cooling is marginal, even when the cooling system is in good health. Many years down the line - with a poor radiator and especially if the wrong coolant is put into it without the correct corrosion inhibitors, then the engine can get very hot.

 

The six cylinder AJ6 shrugs off overheating, the V12 does not. A large coolant hose runs under the inlet manifold of the AJ6. It is often missed and can burst on higher mileage cars, causing loss of all the coolant almost instantly. It has happened to several posters on xj40.com - including one guy who thought, "fuck it, I'm driving home - its only a mile or two!!"

That guy seriously cooked the engine - but it wasn't damaged. He put new hoses on it, filled it with water, and carried on driving.

 

Do that with a V12 and you'll get this:

 

[filthyjohn]

This may be an urban legend but I read the jag AJ6 was designed to be used as a diesel later on, which is why the block is massively thick.

[Pete-M]

Alfa Romeo Twin Cam T.Spark in the 75 and 164

One of the car hire places I worked for had 145s and 155s with the 2.0 T.Spark.

 

Most had new engines before the first 10k service. More often than not they'd come back from the first or second hire in a flatbed with the bottom end knocking.

[D Spares & Tyres]

This may be an urban legend but I read the jag AJ6 was designed to be used as a diesel later on, which is why the block is massively thick.

I could be wrong too but I think it was due to the military who used these engines in all sorts of tanks, usually with multifuel capability,.

[Asimo]

I could be wrong too but I think it was due to the military who used these engines in all sorts of tanks, usually with multifuel capability,.

 

Nope, there were some military applications of the old XK engine, but they were definitely petrol only.

 

By the time the AJ6 came along, the military requirement was Diesel only, and there were plenty of off-the-shelf Diesel engines by then so there was no need to faff about with Jaguar to make something special.

 

I think the AJ6 was the first ever straight six car engine with an aluminium block. Needs to be a single cam 2.9 to be properly shite-worthy.

[Magnificent Rustbucket]

This may be an urban legend but I read the jag AJ6 was designed to be used as a diesel later on, which is why the block is massively thick.

 

Jaguar fully developed a diesel version of the AJ6 but it was never put into production. The diesel version was planned right from the start of the AJ6's development, back in 1976. At that time, the then Jaguar Rover Triumph planned 4 and 5 cylinder versions for smaller cars than the Jaguar XJ6.

 

The AJ6 was certainly the first 24 valve aluminium straight six - it may have been the first all aluminium straight six with 12 valves too.

[steve_earwig]

(VW flat fours)   Thought they suffered dropped valves as a certainty due to poor cooling design?

 

That is how my last one died but that was at high mileage, about 180,000 / 12 years.

But it did sound a bit "valvey" for months beforehand so could have been caught in time.

It is usually No.3 cylinder which runs hotter as it runs weaker & is cooled by air already warmed by the oil cooler.

Hmm. I always thought (yeaj, right) they had the reputation of carrying on regardless, if a Beetle doesn't start then the engine really is dead (There are comments about this in Sleeper). When I was a lad lots of my mates were running Beetles, rusty as fuck but no mechanical issues. I do remember though my mate calling me from California many years back and telling me it was so hot Beetles were exploding.

 

There's also a lot of stuff about how all the plates around the engine are vital for directing air to the relevant places, which is of course compromised when it's all chrome plated and put on display, minus all the heat shields.

 

 

Hey, you know what I'm starting to think? That there is no dependable engine, no matter what it is and how careful you are with it, at the end of the day whether it explodes or not is just down to dumb luck.

[willswitchengage]

Honda NTV 650 engine

 

 

GM 645/710 (cubic inch per cylinder) engine. Two stroke turbodiesel

 

[steve_earwig]

Shame about the gearbox...

[I_am_Diesel]

Bedford 6 cyl diesel fitted to the MJ. I can't recall any going wrong when I was in the RAF.

 

Those Honda engines fitted in the C50, C70, C90 and SS50. Ace!

[fordperv]

I'm talking about the Renault "Sierra" engine, as found in the Estafette, R8/10 and later R4s.

Sorry Junkman just re read, what a cock up that's what you get skim reading and having a ford orientated mind

[D Spares & Tyres]

Either Austin A- series or Ford Crossflow and V6 cologne

 

I know they have been nominated before but I shall tell you why in my opinion!

 

In my banger racing days these were virtually unbreakable. You could get them as hot as you like til they were seized with heat but once cool again off they would go again. Fantastic engines

 

As much as I think the Peugeot XUD is a great engine it wouldn`t cope with this

 

Also have you ever tried to kill an A-series? when we were 18 or so a dozy mate of mine tried it. It had a towbar and he once borrowed a car trailer and towed a car home with! It coped better than you think. I remember him pouring all sorts of stuff in the engine but it coped. It eventually died after a 20 mile journey in first gear, big hole in block.Poor metro RIP

[PhilA]

I had a RV8 3.5 which popped the small return pipe from the intake manifold to the radiator, which bled the coolant off slowly whilst on the motorway.

 

All the coolant departed.

 

Carried on, not realizing (Vauxhall FD Ventora gauges are in a stupid place in the middle of the dashboard, Frenched in).

 

Started to see smoke in the rearview, looked round. Crikey, that's me. That's not good.

 

Pulled across several lanes, in Drive- the engine came to a halt at about 15mph, coasted to a stop. The oil was boiling it was so hot.

 

Let it cool down, fixed the pipe, refilled it with water- an hour later the block was still hot enough to flash the first bit to steam which let off a disconcerting cromp cromp CROMPCROMPCROMP as it flashed up.

 

Twisted the key. CLAK. A few more times CLAK CLAK CLAK rrRRrrRRrrRRRrRRR

 

Freed it off, it fired up (on a few pots) and gradually gained more working cylinders as I drove. It should have been toast. Somehow it soldiered on. That did somewhat do it in for the left head gasket though.

 

--Phil

[STUNO]

I had a RV8 3.5 Vauxhall FD Ventora .

 

 

--Phil

 

That sounds like a car Vauxhall should have built.

[PhilA]

That sounds like a car Vauxhall should have built.

Yes. The car should have come by default with a Chevrolet 350.

 

 

Unfortunately then the car would fall apart around the engine.

 

Phil

[STUNO]

That vid was messy or me, just perfect

[RoadworkUK]

You're more than welcome to invite me to fuck off, but:

 

My KV6 has never failed to proceed.

 

There's absolutely nothing wrong with the block, heads or fannimold of that engine, it's just a crying shame that every single one of the anciliaries and drive linkages are goatwank.