Worst engines ever.

[rp23g7]

Another slow day at work, a few guy around here were talking cars and what they thought were the best engines made, so I thought about how about the worst engines ever made.

Most of the ones I can think of are hearsay, as my family and I have been a Chrysler family, I cant even think of a bad Chrysler motor.  Even their 2.2 in the 82 Dodge 400 went 150,000 without major issues.

Ones I can think of or have heard of,

Me neighbor when I was growing up had a 79-80 301 Turbo Trans Am, I remember he was constantly working on it, were these garbage?

Everyone remembers the 350 Diesel motors they made in the late 70's, never see one of those anymore.

The Cadillac 8-6-4, I don't remember these ever working right, I have worked on a few of these cars and everyone has the system disabled.

Everyone complains about the Vega motor, I never have worked on one, were they really that bad?

What about the Ford 360 motors, they used to be a lot of trucks with these?

What happened to the GM 400's, were they really bad, no one ever builds one anymore?

My grandmas 88 Olds with a Quad 4 had constant vibration issues no one ever could find, that little car moved though.

What engines do you guys hate?

[moparstuart]

  the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

     

[rp23g7]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

     

Oh yeah, i forgot about those 2.7's and the 3.3 Chryslers, those things never lasted, dont know how many heads i pulled off for 30,000 mile valve jobs.  Whats up with 350 Vortech?  I was told to find a set of heads for the 350 i am building for Tylers car

[moparstuart]

Stay away from the vortec's I wish i had 50 in stock could sell the hell out of them .,  they were a bad idea , the new 4.8 ,5.3 l ,and 6.0 's are all pretty stout . 

[rp23g7]

Stay away from the vortec's I wish i had 50 in stock could sell the hell out of them .,  they were a bad idea , the new 4.8 ,5.3 l ,and 6.0 's are all pretty stout . 

Oh well, i will just get some rebuilt heads for it

[MoparMotel]

6.0L Powerstroke Diesel. Worst engine I've heard about. I've got a few friends with them, and most of them have blown the headgaskets at least once, not to mention the EGR problems, high pressure oil pumps, ETC.

[Todd Wilson]

Mopar 400



Todd

[68X426]

Didn't Cadillac make a little V6 diesel in the 80s that was a disaster?

[Hemidog]

Mopar 400



Todd

What's wrong with that engine? other that the low compression.

[SFRT]

Cosworth aluminum vega blocks. gaurantueed to fail completely at 50,000 miles

[Belgium R/T -68]

The engine in the Volvo 760, a V6 cooperation between Volvo, Renault and Pegeuot. It was eating camshafts, worst engine
ever produced.

Per

[BigBlackDodge]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

     

Oh yeah, i forgot about those 2.7's and the 3.3 Chryslers, those things never lasted, dont know how many heads i pulled off for 30,000 mile valve jobs.  Whats up with 350 Vortech?  I was told to find a set of heads for the 350 i am building for Tylers car

I wouldn't they never lasted....I have 175k on my 2.7 2000 Intrepid. It has needed a few timimg chain tensioners over the years but that about it.

BBD

[moparstuart]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

     

Oh yeah, i forgot about those 2.7's and the 3.3 Chryslers, those things never lasted, dont know how many heads i pulled off for 30,000 mile valve jobs.  Whats up with 350 Vortech?  I was told to find a set of heads for the 350 i am building for Tylers car

I wouldn't they never lasted....I have 175k on my 2.7 2000 Intrepid. It has needed a few timimg chain tensioners over the years but that about it.

BBD

you have been very lucky  I have 20 of those intrepid bodys here  I buy the whole cars for 100 buck .  If you find a 3.2 or 3.5 car those a great .

[Cooter]

Every auto manufacturer will have their "Mistakes"...

However, for every worst engine you name, there will inevidably be someone that will tout it's Realliability as the greatest since sliced bread..That being said, I have a little list I have compiled over the last 20 years of working on everything under the sun...

1. Chevy Chevette 4 cyl. (Starters SUCK)
2. Chevy 307and early 305's that ate camshafts like candy.
3. Every single engine produced from 1975- about 1983..
4. Big Block Chevy 396-454 Ate pushrods like Candy if it saw ANYTHING above 4500 RPM's...
5. Chrysler 2.2-2.5 ..Wrist pin noise right of the lot..
6. Mitsubishi 2.6..Crack a head if looked at it wrong, and god awful carb's with wax rings for chokes..
7. Chrysler/Mitsubishi 3.0 V6...Burned oil right off the lot..
8. Ford 3.8 V6...Blow a head gasket if you looked at it wrong..
9. Chevy 2.8 V6...Just plain 'ol junk..
10. Ford 2.8-2.9 V6..Carb's first, then F.I., but the engine's Valve train SUCKED
11. Olds 3.4 DOHC engine..Plugs seizing in heads.
12. Chrysler 2.7 V6 DOHC...Water pump T-Chain driven and T-chains are a PITA..
13. Ford Late model 4.6-5.4 Triton...TWO PIECE Spark plugs that cost on average $800.00 to replace all 8 if all 8 break off in head, which they will..
14. 1985-around 1992 Subaru Flat 4...Blow a head gasket if you look at it wrong..Especially, the Turbo ones..
15. Cadillac 4.6 Northstar...Oil leaked right off the lot..Have to pull the engine to replace the oil pan gasket as the Exhaust runs UNDER the oil pan, and calls for over 24 HOURS labor to do..
16. Olds Quad 4...T-chains and coil packs.
17. Isuzu Rodeo 3.5 V6..Burns oil right off the lot..
18. 1982 Honda Civic 1.6 CARB'D..JUNK
19. EARLY Toyota pick ups with 20R and 22R with Carb..
20. Dihatsu Charade and Rocky 4 cyl. Intake manifold stops up with carbon..Only way to fix is replace intake.
21. Mitsubishi Preces? (Spelling?) Or Dodge Colt with 4 cyl..
22. Nissan VG30 V6 oil rings stick and exhaust studs break off as soon as you start it..
23. Dodge Neon 4 Cyl. Head gasket leaks oil right off the lot...
24. Vortec SBC after they changed the intake to only 4 bolts holding it down, of course, it leaks..
More to come, as I can't remember anymore right now......................

[TeeWJay426]

Oh yeah, i forgot about those 2.7's and the 3.3 Chryslers, those things never lasted, dont know how many heads i pulled off for 30,000 mile valve jobs.  Whats up with 350 Vortech?  I was told to find a set of heads for the 350 i am building for Tylers car

3.3 Chryslers? Never lasting? They've had good reputations from all I've heard, and from personal experience, I got 198K + out of my last one with nothing but tuneups and regular oil changes.  

[moparstuart]

Oh yeah, i forgot about those 2.7's and the 3.3 Chryslers, those things never lasted, dont know how many heads i pulled off for 30,000 mile valve jobs.  Whats up with 350 Vortech?  I was told to find a set of heads for the 350 i am building for Tylers car

3.3 Chryslers? Never lasting? They've had good reputations from all I've heard, and from personal experience, I got 198K + out of my last one with nothing but tuneups and regular oil changes.  

I agree the 3.3 and 3.5 old intrepid and LHS are great motors .  Also the newer 3.2 and 3.5 's are great motors , hard to sell they almost never go bad .   Not changing oil or shop left oil plug out are the only times i get to sell those .

[Cooter]

Again....

"However, for every worst engine you name, there will inevidably be someone that will tout it's Realliability as the greatest since sliced bread.."

[LeesRT]

I guess I'm lucky.  My 2.7 V6 in my 2002 Intrepid has 190,000 miles on it and it still runs great.  I do very regular maintenance to it.  The last mechanic that looked inside it (water pump change) said that was the cleanest 2.7 V6 that he had ever seen.

[bmoparmofo]

I agree with the Ford 3.8 V6, I have a 95 t-bird, just hit 47,000 miles. The head gaskets have been replaced twice already. I have never seen anything like it. There should have been a major lawsuit over this thing. They only extended the warranty, what a crock.

[chargerboy69]

7. Chrysler/Mitsubishi 3.0 V6...Burned oil right off the lot..

Every time I am sitting at a light, and see a big puff of white smoke several cars ahead of me, I always think to myself early 90's Chrysler minivan. Those are good for one thing. A mosquito fogger.

[Tilar]

Early to mid 80's 3.1 GM engine. You could not keep an oil pump in that thing, But the easy part was it was external and could be rebuild in less than an hour.

Mid 80's For escort would eat a head anytime the timing belt broke, Which was about everytime it was due for an oil change. Made a small fortune putting heads on those things.

[jaak]

My vote is for a Chevy 2.8 V6.... I had a 4x4 S-10 with a 2.8, that thing wouldn't pull a  greasy hair out of a lard bucket!

Jason

[200MPH]

AMC 401,360
Oldsmobile 307
ford focus 2001  2.0
Chevy Iron duke  should have been the iron Duece
Ford fiesta

[Sendero]

I owned a 71 Vega with an Iron block. Ate oil but it ran and did not break

[b5blue]

1st gen. Vega blocks were not sleeved, that was the problem there. They sleeved the blocks in 73 but then they changed from Opel 4 speeds to regular Chevy ones tripling the weight it had to pull and adding mass to the drive line. That made it work harder and was hard on the mains. Probably that's what killed the Cosworths. Renault Alliance engine gets my vote, along with the early "self destructing" GM diesel V8.     

[ACUDANUT]

 My 2000 Chevy with a 4.3 V6 has over 250K and not a single problem.

[miller]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

     

I'm not a mechanic but I have only heard positive reviews for the 3.8 v6, I've heard from many places they can go 200,000 without any fixes, it was the reason I bought a supercharged gen 3 3800.

[Magnumcharger]

My vote is for a Chevy 2.8 V6.... I had a 4x4 S-10 with a 2.8, that thing wouldn't pull a  greasy hair out of a lard bucket!

Jason

I agree completely!!

[moparstuart]

7. Chrysler/Mitsubishi 3.0 V6...Burned oil right off the lot..

Every time I am sitting at a light, and see a big puff of white smoke several cars ahead of me, I always think to myself early 90's Chrysler minivan. Those are good for one thing. A mosquito fogger.

I had a 92 lebaron convertible  3.0  they called me  007  because i had a smoke screen everywhere i went    
  great motor as far as power and ran up to 200 k on it  but used a quart of oil a week  LOL  

[moparstuart]

AMC 401,360
Oldsmobile 307
ford focus 2001  2.0
Chevy Iron duke  should have been the iron Duece
Ford fiesta

on the  97-2001 escort  2.0 sohc split port , and the 00 -up focus same motor 2.0 sohc
 they are junk , I could sell them every day    they like to drop values regularly  blow head gaskets also .

   funny thing is on the 2dr version  DOHC motor 2.0 you cant destroy , everyone has them on the shelf and cant sell them they are so good .



 

[moparstuart]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

     

I'm not a mechanic but I have only heard positive reviews for the 3.8 v6, I've heard from many places they can go 200,000 without any fixes, it was the reason I bought a supercharged gen 3 3800.

the biggest problem with the 3.8l is the orange anti freeze GM uses eat the intake and head gaskets away  , never ever use that stuff it horrible for the inside of your motor .  ALso the intake and intake gaskets are junk in the first place , replace the intake gasket asap with the fel-pro fixer kit and get the orange anti freeze out of the motor asap

[Todd Wilson]

I find it interesting in hearing all the engines Stu gets to sell out of the yard. That shouold be a really good indication of whats junk and whats not................ Guy I work with has one of those old Ford Escorts  turned 300000 miles on it a while back. He decided to get a new car and sold it. Still running with no troubles at all.
I bet he dont get that out of his new Focus.

Todd

[200MPH]

AMC 401,360
Oldsmobile 307
ford focus 2001  2.0
Chevy Iron duke  should have been the iron Duece
Ford fiesta

on the  97-2001 escort  2.0 sohc split port , and the 00 -up focus same motor 2.0 sohc
 they are junk , I could sell them every day    they like to drop values regularly  blow head gaskets also .

   funny thing is on the 2dr version  DOHC motor 2.0 you cant destroy , everyone has them on the shelf and cant sell them they are so good .



 

yeah a girlfriend of mine had one bought it new and everything  took care of it it blew at 80k

[derailed]

6.0L Powerstroke Diesel. Worst engine I've heard about. I've got a few friends with them, and most of them have blown the headgaskets at least once, not to mention the EGR problems, high pressure oil pumps, ETC.

I think the 03s are the ones that your taking a gamble on. They straightened out some issues with the newer ones along with a stronger trans than what was behind the 7.3.

[miller]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

 

I'm not a mechanic but I have only heard positive reviews for the 3.8 v6, I've heard from many places they can go 200,000 without any fixes, it was the reason I bought a supercharged gen 3 3800.

the biggest problem with the 3.8l is the orange anti freeze GM uses eat the intake and head gaskets away  , never ever use that stuff it horrible for the inside of your motor .  ALso the intake and intake gaskets are junk in the first place , replace the intake gasket asap with the fel-pro fixer kit and get the orange anti freeze out of the motor asap

What years had this problem? Mine is a 2005 (tail end of the 3800s life) so did they fix the problem by then?

[TylerCharger69]

My Vote?   The GM  305....I've seen so many with cracked lifter valleys

[moparstuart]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

 

is your a metal or plastic intake , i think around 05 up they went to a metal intake and solved all the problems 

I'm not a mechanic but I have only heard positive reviews for the 3.8 v6, I've heard from many places they can go 200,000 without any fixes, it was the reason I bought a supercharged gen 3 3800.

the biggest problem with the 3.8l is the orange anti freeze GM uses eat the intake and head gaskets away  , never ever use that stuff it horrible for the inside of your motor .  ALso the intake and intake gaskets are junk in the first place , replace the intake gasket asap with the fel-pro fixer kit and get the orange anti freeze out of the motor asap

What years had this problem? Mine is a 2005 (tail end of the 3800s life) so did they fix the problem by then?

[moparstuart]

 the chrysler  2.7 in the 98-03 intrepid and other chryslers. junk junk junk and completely killed the resale on those cars .
  gm have a bad one i sell every day  96-00 350 vortec motor , 3.1 's all of them  . 2.3 & 2.4 quad 4's . 3.4 l , 3.8 super charged and non .  I sell these motors everyday .

 

I'm not a mechanic but I have only heard positive reviews for the 3.8 v6, I've heard from many places they can go 200,000 without any fixes, it was the reason I bought a supercharged gen 3 3800.

the biggest problem with the 3.8l is the orange anti freeze GM uses eat the intake and head gaskets away  , never ever use that stuff it horrible for the inside of your motor .  ALso the intake and intake gaskets are junk in the first place , replace the intake gasket asap with the fel-pro fixer kit and get the orange anti freeze out of the motor asap

What years had this problem? Mine is a 2005 (tail end of the 3800s life) so did they fix the problem by then?

is your a metal or plastic intake , i think around 05 up they went to a metal intake and solved all the problems 

[ACUDANUT]

6.0L Powerstroke Diesel. Worst engine I've heard about. I've got a few friends with them, and most of them have blown the headgaskets at least once, not to mention the EGR problems, high pressure oil pumps, ETC.

I think the 03s are the ones that your taking a gamble on. They straightened out some issues with the newer ones along with a stronger trans than what was behind the 7.3.
[/quote
THE 6.0 Ford PS are junk . The transmissions are okay though.
The epa forced them to ditch the 7.3's diesels and that's were the problems started. They were not not Ford's Diesel but rather International (Navastar). Ford got tired of jacking with these Navastar engines and finally one built thier own. BTW I hear Ford own's Cummins   I hear the New Ford Diesels are great.

[DodgeByDave]

The worst ever is the Cad Northstar, for reasons mentioned and some others not.

Read this thread if you own a NS or someone who does. It could save them thousands.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/northstar-performance-technical-discussion/133429-root-cause-head-gasket-failure-fix.html

[Manfred318]

I was just going to say the Cadillac Northstar. We have had two of them and both have blown a head gasket and cracked heads. The first was a '99 SLS it went with about 86k on it and the last one was an '03 SLS and the head gasket went on that one with 128k on it.

[greenpigs]

  The Vortec head swap one a gen 1 small block Chevy is one of the more popular things to do,you will need a compatible intake. Most people building a budget SB go the junkyard route for heads and are upgrading the intake anyways so its no big deal.

[moparstuart]

The worst ever is the Cad Northstar, for reasons mentioned and some others not.

Read this thread if you own a NS or someone who does. It could save them thousands.

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forums/northstar-performance-technical-discussion/133429-root-cause-head-gasket-failure-fix.html

dumbest design ever to put the starter in the middle of the engine below the intake manifold     

[Cooter]

I knew there was another engine I missed..Furd Exploder 4.0 SOHC engine...5 Timing chains one of which, the engine has to come out to replace it in the REAR of engine...

[moparstuart]

I knew there was another enigne I missed..Furd Exploder 4.0 SOHC engine...5 Timing chains one of which, the engine has to come out to replace it in the REAR of engine...

yes and re timing those with the front and rear timing chains and the stupid jack shafts running through the engine connect all the chains is a night mare

[Akron_Charger]

i would say the 90s Chevy 3.1 had one in my 99 Monte Carlo and it blew a headgasket twice

[dpm68]

Speaking of dual front and rear timing chains, has anyone mentioned the Land Rovers? I have a friend with one who is about ready to send this pig to the crusher. I think his is like a mid-90s Discovery series and it is sucking all his money away. I have since heard no good at all of these.

[rp23g7]

I knew there was another engine I missed..Furd Exploder 4.0 SOHC engine...5 Timing chains one of which, the engine has to come out to replace it in the REAR of engine...

Yeah, i have one, a 99 no problems with the chain yet, but i added the restrictor and had to do the manifold gasket fix.  Whe the heck they made the intak in two pieces is beyond me.   I was taking it apart and couldnt see any reason for it.  They made that engine way more complicated than it needed to be.

[Cooter]

I knew there was another engine I missed..Furd Exploder 4.0 SOHC engine...5 Timing chains one of which, the engine has to come out to replace it in the REAR of engine...

Yeah, i have one, a 99 no problems with the chain yet, but i added the restrictor and had to do the manifold gasket fix.  Whe the heck they made the intak in two pieces is beyond me.   I was taking it apart and couldnt see any reason for it.  They made that engine way more complicated than it needed to be.

That's to keep people like the ones on this forum from working on their own cars in the back yard like they did 30 years ago...The "Shadetree" meck-a-neck is long gone....

[dpm68]

Yes, planned obsolescence is the way of the modern world. That said, I'm going to buck the trend and head back downstairs to finish wet sanding a customer's '66 Mustang - with NO MOTOR ISSUES...

[rp23g7]

I knew there was another engine I missed..Furd Exploder 4.0 SOHC engine...5 Timing chains one of which, the engine has to come out to replace it in the REAR of engine...

Yeah, i have one, a 99 no problems with the chain yet, but i added the restrictor and had to do the manifold gasket fix.  Whe the heck they made the intak in two pieces is beyond me.   I was taking it apart and couldnt see any reason for it.  They made that engine way more complicated than it needed to be.

That's to keep people like the ones on this forum from working on their own cars in the back yard like they did 30 years ago...The "Shadetree" meck-a-neck is long gone....

Yeah, well who ever designed it are idiots.  Nice place for a oil drain plug too, without a piece of cardboard to block it, oil goes all over the control arm when you drain it.  It is getting way better milage now without a huge vacume leak when cold.  It can go a week on half a tank of gas now.

[Nacho-RT74]

Mopar 400



Todd

low HP ( just because lower compression ) doesn't mean WORST or BAD engine if you ask me. It is same than a 383. Raise the compresion to same than 383 and will get more Juice of it than the 383.

[ITSA426]

My wife had two Buicks with the non turbo 3.8.  They each went well over 200,000.  One is still running and her kid is driving it.  They seem to go until the body rots away from the car from Northern salt damage.  The 2000 did have a recall for an intake problem but Buick took car of it.  It took over 400,000 miles before I could get her into a Dodge.  Now I'm concerned that the bar might be kinda high, but the Charger has even better creature features than the Regal.

[ACUDANUT]

Mopar 400



Todd

low HP ( just because lower compression ) doesn't mean WORST or BAD engine if you ask me. It is same than a 383. Raise the compresion to same than 383 and will get more Juice of it than the 383.

The 383's are to times better engines than the smog 400's.  I believe the 383's had forged cranks as well.

[69rtse4spd]

7. Chrysler/Mitsubishi 3.0 V6...Burned oil right off the lot..

Every time I am sitting at a light, and see a big puff of white smoke several cars ahead of me, I always think to myself early 90's Chrysler minivan. Those are good for one thing. A mosquito fogger.

Valve guides would drop down, hence the puff of smoke at the light. Had a 87 Caravan 3.0, did a valve job on it, got 240,000 out of it before the tranny went out again. Picked up a 93, rolled it, have a 98 now with the 3.3, will hit 270,000 tomorrow, never had the engine apart. One quart of oil ever 3000 miles, change it every 3000- 6500, use it more than my pickup. Would not think twice about buying another one with the 3.3 or 3.8, or one with mostly highway miles on it, as long as it was taken care of. In fact have one in mind, but they do not have 100,000 on it yet. . 

[Nacho-RT74]

Mopar 400



Todd

low HP ( just because lower compression ) doesn't mean WORST or BAD engine if you ask me. It is same than a 383. Raise the compresion to same than 383 and will get more Juice of it than the 383.

The 383's are to times better engines than the smog 400's.  I believe the 383's had forged cranks as well.

ok we are discussing WORST engine by quality or power ?

take in mind the reason WHY the 400 came out to float. Once again, raise the compression on a 400 to same 383 specs and what we will get ? same QUALITY engine, with, mostly sure, more power ( or haven't been said, no replacement for displacement ? is not valid now ? )

anyway, even being casted crank I don't think you'll find easilly a broke mopar casted crank to rate it like a "worst" engine ever

and if so, what about 360 ? isn't a little bit more of the same ?