Have you ever worn out an engine?
I read recommendations made about the value in changing oil. I have been operating roughly 20 diesel engines at a time over the last 30 years. Some are 40 years old and still running. I have a Cat C15...
Forum Discussion
ib516 wrote:
No, because I look after mine. But I have seen plenty of them worn out by neglect and abuse. Very few worn out by proper use.
When my dad had the GM dealership, we had a pair of brothers (customers) that used Astro vans to deliver the city newspaper around to the surrounding small towns 6 days/week. We did their maintenence. I did an oil change on one van that had 600,000 or 700,000 Km on it and it still ran fine. They'd be in for an oil change every week or two. They did manage to wear out the front wheel bearings though :)
Moral of the story is, modern engines (other than a few flawed designs) generally will outlast the rest of the vehicle if looked after IMO.
When I first got my Astro with it's 4300 Vortec V6, I asked one of the mechanics at the small country Chevy dealer I used, how these engines lasted. He said that it was a popular engine in farmer's pickups and he had a couple where he changed the oil...original engines had 450,000 kms on them. Still running fine, no major services needed.
