# The Worst Engine Ever Made?



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Thought some of you might get a kick out of this article I found: 
http://driving.ca/triumph/auto-news/entertainment/triumphs-v8-the-worst-engine-ever-made

I used to have a Triumph Spitfire (4 Cyl). Taking a corner at speed in a car with swing arm rear suspension is something you will remember for a long time. That car also taught me about Lucas electrics, and all the jokes that came along with them. My favorite being: "you know why the British drink warm beer? ---- Lucas builds the refrigerators"


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

The engine that they put in the original Chevy Vega.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_2300_engine


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

The Oldsmobile 350 diesel.


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## BayouRunner (Feb 5, 2016)

Bigplanz said:


> The engine that they put in the original Chevy Vega.
> 
> 
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_2300_engine




Put many a quart of oil in those engines. Had a guy that would fill up his tank and get two quarts of oil every time. I knew a fella that took that engine out and put a small block 350 in there. It was badass!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## DR P (Dec 16, 2017)

http://www.hotrod.com/articles/0408phr-worst-automobile-engines/

knew a man bought that diesel olds new 
owned it four years & it was in shop more than not
well over 2 years time - never did run right
GM even put new engine in (That blew up)
was the most undependable engine I ever witnessed
couldn't even run AC without fog/fumes filling up cabin
Found out local dealership had never had or 
employed/trained a qualified mechanic
finally got an arbitrator to make GM buy it back
Arbitrator wanted to go for ride - 
of course it would not start/run again
GM rep came prepared - tried to jump it off 
(even brought/had 2 sets of jumper cables)
but when he hooked them up that Buick Grand National 
co/car he was driving, it blew the main oil seal... LOL
Bizarre car/engine 

Peace


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

59 ford pickup with a 6 cyl. whatever engine that wuz. It quit on a county road for a valve adjustment.:vs_mad:


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

The old 223 inline 6. IIRC, solid lifters. Should have been clattering like hell before it quit. We used to check valve adjustments on them every time we tuned them.

Trouble was a lot of drivers didn’t tune them up until they were sputtering, and then did not adjust the valves during the tune up.

IMO, they held up pretty well in spite of being abused by some owners.


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

In older cars I would say the 409 Chevy, if you got down on it and missed a gear you could kiss that engine good by, the valve springs were too tight and with solid lifters it was bound to fail.

Another old engine was the 292 Ford V8 the cam bearings were bad to spin and block the spit hole, no oil and it would lock the cam. What we did was run an outside line to by pass the troubled area, worked for me.

Today's engines, I would say the 2002 Nissan Altima 4 banger, that is one piece of junk. Catalytic converter too close to the exhaust manifold, the heat destroys the converter and turns the insides to sand like material, it sucks the sand like junk back in the engine and it is history.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

Wow, we really covered the gamut on the engines. I used to buy, rebuild and drive Triumph TR-6's, and the 2498 cc engine with twin Strombergs couldn't be beat. But you have to remember it needed adjustment and maintenance. A far cry from today's fill it up and drive it engines. When they introduced the TR8 and their 8 cylinder engine, I almost puked. It was the end of an era, so to speak, and the Triumph/Stag line died.

Although it was a good engine, the 1966 Chevy Nova with a V8 seldom saw a #8 spark plug change since you had to undo the motor mounts and lift the engine 6". An engineering miracle for sure 

As teens, we built our own cars. From Chevy 265 power packs to the monster large blocks, 348, 409 and 427. Some with three deuces, and others with dual line Holley's. OMG, just thinking of it brings back garage memories.

So for all the kids nowadays driving mommies Accura with big tail pipes.......pffft !!


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

How bout the Chevy Chevette 1.6 engine. God that was a piece crap.:vs_whistle:


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## CodeMatters (Aug 16, 2017)

Brainbucket said:


> How bout the Chevy Chevette 1.6 engine. God that was a piece crap.:vs_whistle:


An ad from back in the day:


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## Bigplanz (Apr 10, 2009)

I forgot about the Olds diesel. Yikes! It was a modified 350 small block!


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## Mike Milam (Mar 3, 2017)

Oso954 said:


> The Oldsmobile 350 diesel.


Friend bought a 78 Cutlass wagon with the converted 350 to diesel. He did the math and the total cost per mile when he had it was 1.00 per mile. All was done under warranty until it ran out. A few weeks after the warranty ran out he changed engines to a gas 350.


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## lenaitch (Feb 10, 2014)

chandler48 said:


> Wow, we really covered the gamut on the engines. I used to buy, rebuild and drive Triumph TR-6's, and the 2498 cc engine with twin Strombergs couldn't be beat. *But you have to remember it needed adjustment and maintenance.* A far cry from today's fill it up and drive it engines. When they introduced the TR8 and their 8 cylinder engine, I almost puked. It was the end of an era, so to speak, and the Triumph/Stag line died.
> 
> Although it was a good engine, the 1966 Chevy Nova with a V8 seldom saw a #8 spark plug change since you had to undo the motor mounts and lift the engine 6". An engineering miracle for sure
> 
> ...


Because they were built by a nation of tinkerers for a nation of tinkerers. My Triumph motorcycle was a fine motorcycle, provided you circled it with a set of wrenches every couple of days (never had any electrical problems or oil leaks though - should have had it bronzed). My brother had a TR6 but as I recall it was injected - I think the US version was carbuetted.

As teens we cut our teeth on British cars 'cause they were inexpensive and so easy to work on. Worked our way up to a Lincoln 462 in a 1960 Dodge Dart for track drag racing. Never could get it run right with 2x4 bbls but boy did it scoot.

I've never really had experience with a bad engine but totally agree with the comments on the Triumph V8 and early GM diesel.


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## chandler48 (Jun 5, 2017)

My high school girlfriend's father built the kids' cars for them. He was an "engine/tranny" man and couldn't care less about appearance. Her car was a 1957 Chevy, mostly in primer patches. Under the hood was a tuned 327, dual line Holley 4 bbl with an Olds turbo hydro tranny. It may have been in primer, but raise the hood and it shined from all the chrome and new paint. And NO one ever won a race with her.


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## DR P (Dec 16, 2017)

Brainbucket said:


> How bout the Chevy Chevette 1.6 engine. God that was a piece crap.:vs_whistle:


Had a friend whose dad told him he was 
going to seriously buy him a "vette" when he turned 16.

Joke was him when his dad pulled up in a Chevette... :vs_laugh:


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## BigJim (Sep 2, 2008)

I loved the 427 and 327 chevy, they and the 283 were just about bullet proof. I did like the 409, it was one mean machine but just don't miss a gear when turning the r's. I sure hated boring the 409 and 348, we had to make a special set up to bore them. Back then we used the old kiwk way boring bar, not the new fangled machines.

I had to change out the plugs in a 66 Chevy II with a 427 in it, man talk about tight, I like to have never got in there. I had to change most of them from under the car. I never changed another one.


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## Drachenfire (Jun 6, 2017)

Brainbucket said:


> How bout the Chevy Chevette 1.6 engine. God that was a piece crap.:vs_whistle:


A friend of mine had one of those. I called it her s**t-vette due to the amount of time I spent keeping it running for her.


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## Brainbucket (Mar 30, 2015)

Oso954 said:


> The Oldsmobile 350 diesel.


I still have the injection pump tool to loosen the bolts. I used it as I did work on them but not to often. Most of the time the customers wold put a gas in there and I would sell the diesel to hot rodders and they would make HP gas engine out of them as the bottom end was super strong.:vs_cool:


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## polarzak (Dec 1, 2008)

SPS-1 said:


> Thought some of you might get a kick out of this article I found:
> http://driving.ca/triumph/auto-news/entertainment/triumphs-v8-the-worst-engine-ever-made
> 
> I used to have a Triumph Spitfire (4 Cyl). Taking a corner at speed in a car with swing arm rear suspension is something you will remember for a long time. That car also taught me about Lucas electrics, and all the jokes that came along with them. My favorite being: "you know why the British drink warm beer? ---- Lucas builds the refrigerators"


Had a 1977 Triumph TR7. 4 cylinder dual carbs. The engine was great, but those Lucas electrics were fun to say the least.


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## polarzak (Dec 1, 2008)

Bigplanz said:


> The engine that they put in the original Chevy Vega.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevrolet_2300_engine


Yep. Had one of those also. Got about 25k out of it, and had to remove the head and put steel sleeves and new pistons in it. Who knew that an aluminum block with steel piston rings would wear so fast.


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## Oso954 (Jun 23, 2012)

> I had to change out the plugs in a 66 Chevy II with a 427 in it, man talk about tight


Don’t think I ever ran into one of those. 
First time I changed plugs on a 67 Ford Shelby gt 500, I found out you had to break the engine mounts loose and jack up one side at a time. I knew one guy that had small hands and could do it by removing the valve covers. But it was still about a 4 hour battle.

Sunbeam Tigers (Alpine with a Ford 260) were another joy, even with the hole in the firewall to get at the last plug on the left bank. (The hole had rubber plug that you pulled)

I’m sure there were others, but those are the two that stick in my mind as being extreme.


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## SeniorSitizen (Sep 10, 2012)

Oso954 said:


> The old 223 inline 6. IIRC, solid lifters. Should have been clattering like hell before it quit. We used to check valve adjustments on them every time we tuned them.
> 
> Trouble was a lot of drivers didn’t tune them up until they were sputtering, and then did not adjust the valves during the tune up.
> 
> IMO, they held up pretty well in spite of being abused by some owners.


Clatter normally doesn't happen when they tighten because of soft seats. Adjusting valves at every tune up would have been about once / month or maybe every time the carb needed tightening so the engine didn't die if someone leaned on the breather just a little. Believe me, even if you are a die-hard ford fan. It was a piece of junk when you push one more miles than it was driven.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

The 200 cid 1 bbl carb in my first car, 1966 Mustang... maybe not the absolute worst but it was pathetic. Needed head rebuild at 50,000 miles due to plugs fouling every couple hundred miles. Then *maybe* 17 mpg on a good day on the highway with snail slow 110 BHP (not net or wheel HP). I loved that car but the motor was lame, lame, lame.


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