Worst Car Engines Ever

Worst Car Engines Ever ENGINES Engines 32-1-5 When automakers put out a bad engine, the "bad news" can hurt the company for years. Here are 8 of the worst car engines from the past 50 years according to the Center for Auto Safety: 1. GM's Diesels û Responding to the fuel crisis of the late 1970's, GM rolled out a 5.7-liter diesel V-8 that was produced from 1978 to 1985. The big problem? It was based on a previous gas engine. The block, though beefed up, could not stand the stress and strain of the high-compression diesel pistons. Cylinder head bolts broke. Gaskets blew. Crankshafts failed. Engines overheated. A poorly designed fuel pump contributed to the problem. The engine was so bad, it took nearly 20 years for most consumers to get over thinking badly about automotive diesels. 2. Chevy Vega 2.3-liter 4-cyl. û This overhead-cam, aluminum block engine clicked, knocked and shook like an out-of-balance washing machine. It often burned excess oil. The problem was GM's failure to use steel cylinder liners. Late in its run, GM worked out all the bugs but it was too late. No one would buy it. 3. Cadillac V-8-6-4 û In the early 1980's, Cadillac wanted to make a grand statement so they took a stab at cylinder deactivation with an engine that only ran on as many cylinders as were needed at any particular time. Unfortunately, the engine bucked and jerked as cylinders were turned on and off. The problem may have been that the sensors and computing power to control the process were not available at the time. Today, both GM and Chrysler have cylinder deactivation systems that work successfully. 4. Toyota 3.0-liter IMZ V-6; 5SFE 2.2-liter 4-cyl. û The 1997 to 2002 models of these engines are prone to filling with oil sludge and seizing up. Toyota blames owners for not changing the oil often enough or for using the wrong oil. But experts say there's a defect in the breathing or circulation system. Toyota has since made improvements to the engines which solved the problem. More than 3 million owners were given extended warranties. 5. Hyundai Excel 1.5-liter 4-cyl. û This engine was built in Korea for the 1986 to 1994 Hyundai. It leaked and burned oil, dripped coolant, overheated and sounded like a badly adjusted sewing machine. This engine was one of the reasons Hyundai launched its best-in-industry 100,000-mile warranty. 6. Chrysler Imperial fuel-injected V-8 - The 1978 Chrysler Imperial was powered by a 318 cu. in. V-8 that featured Chrysler Corp.'s first electronic fuel injection system. Problems included stalling, surging, failure to start when hot, and dealers who didn't know how to solve the problems. Chrysler eventually recalled the Imperial and installed a tried-and-true low-tech carburetor. 7. Pontiac Fiero 2.5-liter 4-cylinder û The only way to fit an engine onto the 1984-85 chassis was to use a smaller oil pan that held 3 quarts instead of the typical four. No problem as long as the oil level was kept full but, of course, many owners didn't and the engines burned up. Moreover, many of the engines had defective connecting rods which snapped when the oil ran low. 8. Ford Windstar 1995-96 û This was the first model year of the Windstar. A bad head gasket failed in nearly all engines produced through the first half of 1996. Ford extended the warranty to 100,000 miles but, unfortunately, many of the engines failed even after the gasket was replaced. To add insult to injury, the replacement engines had the original head gasket defect and failed after a short period of time. (As reported in this space several years ago, I had one of those Windstars and ended up putting 5 engines into it û all under warranty. My Ford dealer and I became good buddies!).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.