Engine life and gaskets
Discussion
Been looking through old invoices, back in 2008 (80k) I had a head gasket failure resulting in oil getting into the coolant.
Q1) As well as a new gasket, the pistons were skimmed, so how does a failing gasket effect the pistons? Other gaskets in the car can just be replaced.
Q2) In other threads I've read, engines are considered bullet proof or able to do 200k-300k, does that mean their gaskets are able to last that long, or when we say these things do we mean; 200k-300k with pistons and values being re-done?
My research too me too the Porsche lounge, seems the engines do get little rebuilds prior to 100k (IMS excluded) but they are still considered strong engine.
Q3) So if head skimming, valve replacements are allowed, what actually kills off an engine?
Should be getting my readers thread updated now invoices are sorted.
Q1) As well as a new gasket, the pistons were skimmed, so how does a failing gasket effect the pistons? Other gaskets in the car can just be replaced.
Q2) In other threads I've read, engines are considered bullet proof or able to do 200k-300k, does that mean their gaskets are able to last that long, or when we say these things do we mean; 200k-300k with pistons and values being re-done?
My research too me too the Porsche lounge, seems the engines do get little rebuilds prior to 100k (IMS excluded) but they are still considered strong engine.
Q3) So if head skimming, valve replacements are allowed, what actually kills off an engine?
Should be getting my readers thread updated now invoices are sorted.
Modern engines generally don't fail at all. If they do fail it's typically because they've been driven without oil or without coolant.
Visit a scrap yard and you'll find 99% of end-of-life cars still have an engine which starts and runs. The world has moved on.
Modern materials, modern machining, modern assembly and modern oils have completely changed the game.
Visit a scrap yard and you'll find 99% of end-of-life cars still have an engine which starts and runs. The world has moved on.
Modern materials, modern machining, modern assembly and modern oils have completely changed the game.
I have been in the courier game all my life
Some engines are just built to go on
Berlingo 1.9 and Mercedes Sprinters will all go above 450K if you take proper care of them There are also a lot of Toyota D4Ds (car) that are doing half a million.With out any work on the engine
It is not that common for an engine to blow up like they did in the old days but some people on here have managed it but at least they get the best out of the car .
Most of the time if you do a top half rebuild the engine is normally OK I find that if your working on an engine you will soon discover if the bottom half is worn
If an engines goes you can replace it or rebuild it .
IMHO The answer to your question is that any engine can be rebuilt and if the car is worth a bit or rare The owner will always keep rebuilding if he or she is keeping it long term
Some engines are just built to go on
Berlingo 1.9 and Mercedes Sprinters will all go above 450K if you take proper care of them There are also a lot of Toyota D4Ds (car) that are doing half a million.With out any work on the engine
It is not that common for an engine to blow up like they did in the old days but some people on here have managed it but at least they get the best out of the car .
Most of the time if you do a top half rebuild the engine is normally OK I find that if your working on an engine you will soon discover if the bottom half is worn
If an engines goes you can replace it or rebuild it .
IMHO The answer to your question is that any engine can be rebuilt and if the car is worth a bit or rare The owner will always keep rebuilding if he or she is keeping it long term
jeremyh1 said:
I have been in the courier game all my life
Some engines are just built to go on
Berlingo 1.9 and Mercedes Sprinters will all go above 450K if you take proper care of them There are also a lot of Toyota D4Ds (car) that are doing half a million.With out any work on the engine
It is not that common for an engine to blow up like they did in the old days but some people on here have managed it but at least they get the best out of the car .
Most of the time if you do a top half rebuild the engine is normally OK I find that if your working on an engine you will soon discover if the bottom half is worn
If an engines goes you can replace it or rebuild it .
IMHO The answer to your question is that any engine can be rebuilt and if the car is worth a bit or rare The owner will always keep rebuilding if he or she is keeping it long term
The old Vivaro 2.5 does monster mileage too. Apparently the newer 1.6 twin turbo (which is much more powerful) is unreliable and is pushing up values of the older ones. Lets not talk about the gearboxes though.Some engines are just built to go on
Berlingo 1.9 and Mercedes Sprinters will all go above 450K if you take proper care of them There are also a lot of Toyota D4Ds (car) that are doing half a million.With out any work on the engine
It is not that common for an engine to blow up like they did in the old days but some people on here have managed it but at least they get the best out of the car .
Most of the time if you do a top half rebuild the engine is normally OK I find that if your working on an engine you will soon discover if the bottom half is worn
If an engines goes you can replace it or rebuild it .
IMHO The answer to your question is that any engine can be rebuilt and if the car is worth a bit or rare The owner will always keep rebuilding if he or she is keeping it long term
The old Vito 2.3 was unbelievably reliable too, just a shame they rotted away so quickly.
V6todayEVmanana said:
Been looking through old invoices, back in 2008 (80k) I had a head gasket failure resulting in oil getting into the coolant.
Q1) As well as a new gasket, the pistons were skimmed, so how does a failing gasket effect the pistons? Other gaskets in the car can just be replaced.
Q2) In other threads I've read, engines are considered bullet proof or able to do 200k-300k, does that mean their gaskets are able to last that long, or when we say these things do we mean; 200k-300k with pistons and values being re-done?
My research too me too the Porsche lounge, seems the engines do get little rebuilds prior to 100k (IMS excluded) but they are still considered strong engine.
Q3) So if head skimming, valve replacements are allowed, what actually kills off an engine?
Should be getting my readers thread updated now invoices are sorted.
1. No they were not, that's just silly.Q1) As well as a new gasket, the pistons were skimmed, so how does a failing gasket effect the pistons? Other gaskets in the car can just be replaced.
Q2) In other threads I've read, engines are considered bullet proof or able to do 200k-300k, does that mean their gaskets are able to last that long, or when we say these things do we mean; 200k-300k with pistons and values being re-done?
My research too me too the Porsche lounge, seems the engines do get little rebuilds prior to 100k (IMS excluded) but they are still considered strong engine.
Q3) So if head skimming, valve replacements are allowed, what actually kills off an engine?
Should be getting my readers thread updated now invoices are sorted.
2. No engine is bulletproof...with big enough bullets. A bad driver could kill any engine in a few days, or a good driver ( and proper maintenance ) can make an engine live a very very long time.
My van engine finally died at 660k, but to a degree it was my own fault.
3. Anything is allowed, what are you getting at ? Anything can kill an engine as already said. Bad driver, bad mechanic, bad fuel, bad oil, bad manufacturer...Some are just s
te. Some are not.
Thanks for the replies.
I have more questions but my original ones have been answered.
Some mega miles cars mention above which didn’t need refurbishment just care. I would consider them bullet proof.
Seems that if the owner was willing and parts available then any engine could go on forever and the only limit may be cost.
Would it be silly to replace a head gasket at around the mileage interval the last one failed? Preventative maintenance
I have more questions but my original ones have been answered.
Some mega miles cars mention above which didn’t need refurbishment just care. I would consider them bullet proof.
Seems that if the owner was willing and parts available then any engine could go on forever and the only limit may be cost.
Would it be silly to replace a head gasket at around the mileage interval the last one failed? Preventative maintenance
V6todayEVmanana said:
So the invoice states:
Repair after head gasket failure.
With parts:
Two reconditioned cylinder heads
New head gasket set.
But garages mentioned they may need to reskim heads.
Why do you think there wasn’t skimming? Is it very unusual?
It's a case by case basis. The garage will assess the head - did the car overheat, is the head warped, is there any pitting etc. If its felt necessary they will arrange for the head to be skimmed. Repair after head gasket failure.
With parts:
Two reconditioned cylinder heads
New head gasket set.
But garages mentioned they may need to reskim heads.
Why do you think there wasn’t skimming? Is it very unusual?
Sometimes I wonder if the head is skimmed either as its a money spinner or it saves scraping the remnants of the old gasket off by hand.
Conversely, just because there has been a head gasket failure doesn't mean the head will need to be skimmed. I had a failure on a 1996 non turbo Saab 9000, cleaned off the block and head and fitted new gasket and head bolts. The car went on to do another 50,000 miles plus a track day in my ownership with no bother at all.
McVities said:
It's a case by case basis. The garage will assess the head - did the car overheat, is the head warped, is there any pitting etc. If its felt necessary they will arrange for the head to be skimmed.
Sometimes I wonder if the head is skimmed either as its a money spinner or it saves scraping the remnants of the old gasket off by hand.
That makes sense. Got a good idea of what I may be looking at further down the line now.Sometimes I wonder if the head is skimmed either as its a money spinner or it saves scraping the remnants of the old gasket off by hand.
I dont know how much was skimmed in 2008 so if it comes around again I'll have to weigh up options.
Good to know the Saab went well afterwards, I do like my track days
stevieturbo said:
2. No engine is bulletproof...with big enough bullets. A bad driver could kill any engine in a few days, or a good driver ( and proper maintenance ) can make an engine live a very very long time.
My van engine finally died at 660k, but to a degree it was my own fault.
Come on fess up, how did you kill it?My van engine finally died at 660k, but to a degree it was my own fault.
Evoluzione said:
Come on fess up, how did you kill it?
Never took it apart, as had another engine sitting waiting anyway as bought a cheap damaged vehicle for spares.But I think it either popped the HG or melted a piston. Although think it started with an injector getting poorly, as it had been off a cylinder at cold start in the mornings for maybe 30s for a few weeks prior to it. Although after that it always drove ok.
Lots of oil in the intake/exhaust and cyl no1 though.
Have to say...such a f
king ballache changing the engine, and then the saga with the injector seals that went with it ! ( same as happened another user here a year or so ago...when I specifically told him not to do what I did lol....then he did it and suffered same problems )Ran the replacement for around another 70k or so, then changed work again, so it's been pretty much parked up since.
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