Modern engines astound me

"Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To" (murdersofa)
09/06/2016 at 10:33 • Filed to: Shower thoughts

The amount of things to go wrong in an engine is ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous. The smallest of things can utterly doom an engine and the ability of them to keep going for hundreds of thousands of miles simply astounds me. For example:

O2 sensor shows too rich or MAF doesn’t show enough air. Result: car runs lean and melts a piston

Timing belt. A little strip of rubber. Some of the teeth go bye bye. Result: valves high-five the piston

One of the many tiny oil passages gets clogged. Result: crank or rod bearing dries up and spins.

Just those three failures amaze me that they don’t happen more often. The amount of abuse an engine can take before failure completely astonishes me when you weigh it against how seemingly fragile all of it is.

DISCUSSION (18)

RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 10:41

Now think about how many pieces there are in the suspension and how easily a single failure could cause your car to shriek out of control and kill you in the face. Then think about how hitting something could cause one of those failures.

Potholes are scary, yo.

jimz > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 10:46

not only that, keep in mind how much more failure-prone engines were way back when they were far simpler.

AR24-7 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 10:46

I had the second one happen to me about a year ago, that was not fun. The new engine I got developed the first problem as well, but thankfully I spent all summer fixing it various times until I finally took it into my friend’s garage, where it finally actually got fixed.

PS9 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 11:22

Ehh, not really.

PCMs can compensate for failing O2s an MAFs. Once they fall out of a specific range of voltage, it switches to the built in fueling table

Timing belts suck. Interference engines that have timing belts suck even harder, so I guess you got me here.

Oil passages are tiny, but they’re also in the hottest/fastest moving parts of the engine. So long as oil changes are done, there won’t be an opportunity for them to clog.

It works not because it’s fragile and opportunity for failure is ever present, but because almost all the potential for all this stuff to disintegrate disastrously has been engineered away. It was amazing when it first appeared, but now that all the teething stages have been passed, it’s just mundane.

S65 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 11:22

It’s scary when you think about it.

Future next gen S2000 owner > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 11:27

Meh. Sure any individual component can fail but ones that did fail were studied as to not repeat those issues in the future.

Timing belts are garbage but people love less nvh.

Ash78, voting early and often > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 11:50

I once made a comment like that during an interview for a logistics position with Honda. The three guys basically scoffed at me in the most condescending way possible, along with something like “Well, we’ve been building cars for 100 years.” It was like they didn't want anyone who was fascinated or passionate about cars on a larger scale. 15 years later, I bought a Honda from that same factory. Lack of Passion must have been a prerequisite for working there.

AMGtech - now with more recalls! > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 12:06

These are just easily avoidable shitty design issues.

dogisbadob > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 12:07

And that’s why Toyota is awesome! They make great cars that you never have to worry about that shit failing. And even in (most of) their old timing belt engines, they were non-0interference, so a snapped belt wouldn’t hurt anything (although you’d still be stranded)

dogisbadob > jimz
09/06/2016 at 12:07

E92M3 > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 12:30

Then look at BMW’s widespread use of plastic in the name of weight savings (specifically the cooling system).. Not to mention electric waterpumps that are prone to fail. Both provide ample opportunity for overheating, and once an engine is overheated it’s never the same. Head gaskets take damage, parts can warp, the oil can’t protect as well as is does at normal operating temperature.

just-a-scratch > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 12:30

I hear ya. There are lots of things that humans have managed to do very well that amaze me. Some of them even I understand pretty well. Once in a while if you step back and look at all of it, it’s just damn impressive.

Every time I get on an airplane and fly somewhere, I’m impressed at how this giant thing coordinates all its parts to move and lift itself into the air.

Rattle on all that you want about attached flow, Bernoulli, lift and drag, etc.; I'll still be impressed that it all works.

DipodomysDeserti > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 12:36

Just those three failures amaze me that they don’t happen more often.

I’m guessing you’ve never owned anything German?

Batman the Horse > E92M3
09/06/2016 at 12:39

I doubt weight savings was the impetus for using a plastic impeller. I mean I HOPE that isn’t the reason. But really, there probably isn’t a reason that wouldn’t be terrible.

Aaron M - MasoFiST > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 12:54

The more the underlying math is controllable, the more reliable cars will be. Temperature sensors reduce overheating, fuel injection reduces lean-out events (and MAF sensors have redundant failsafes to ensure that). Oils are made more perfectly thanks to chemical engineering (so a properly maintained car running synthetic really won’t clog). Even if a car looks like it’s running on shoestring tolerances from the outside, the math these days is so good that it will run significantly longer and better than the engines of the past with looser tolerances and fewer parts. And if you manage to combine modern engineering with old-school simplicity? That’s how you get the LS1, and I think GM did pretty well with that.

Dogapult > Batman the Horse
09/06/2016 at 13:13

Want to wager it was cost-cutting, rather than weight-saving?

E92M3 > Batman the Horse
09/06/2016 at 13:19

I was speaking more about the coolant pipes, and connections. In their lastest water pumps it’s the electric motor that fails, not the impeller (like the older cars).

Spridget > Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To
09/06/2016 at 21:56

Kinja'd!!!

You could just buy a simple vehicle.