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 that is approaching 1 million miles that has never been touched and runs like new. Some of these engines go years without getting an oil change. Over the years I have had one GM 6.5 Turbo diesel fail on account of the poor design which did not allow for proper cooling to the heads which in turn caused the heads to crack and pistons to melt; one Cummins 14 liter fail due to a valve dropping into a cylinder and destroying the entire engine; a second Cummins 14 liter fail when a coolant line broke and it overheated. But I have never seen an engine wear out. Is there anyone on here who has actually owned a diesel engine long enough to wear it out? If so, do you really think more frequent oil changes would have have prolonged its life?

Oil.......blood of any engineFuel......heart beat of any engineAir.......lungsCoolant...sweatKeep them ALL clean and other than disease (failure) they keep on runningCourse they will continue to run when not taken care of.....just not as well/efficient but will complain more

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.

I have once.......or sort of. 69 Chevy 350 changed oil at 3,000 miles on the dot. At 100K the cam went flat.Pulled the cam and my dad made the decision to rebuild the engine while the cam was out. New bearings, rings valve job and timing set. It ran for another 150K before I sold it. My 6.5 has 170,000 on it and runs like a Rolex. 7,500 oil changes. No oil between changes except when towing in hot weather.My LBZ has 70,000 on it and runs like a Rolex. 10,000 oil changes. No oil between changes.Case tractor has 10,000 hrs + on it. 100hr oil changes. Runs like new. No oil between changes.Mazda has 300,000+ miles on it. 3,000 to whenever I get around to it (maybe 8,000 mile) oil changes. Runs like new. No oil between changes.I have many more but it's all the same story. In all the engines I have been around I have yet to see an oil related failure of one.I have heard of a guy that leased his cars and did not change oil in them. He got burnt on one at 70K. The shop I worked at in the 80's pulled the pan and my boss said the oil looked like tar and it clogged up the pickup screen of the pump. They rolled in a set of bearings, cleaned out the tar and off he went back to the lease company. I believe my boss said he still came out ahead of the game by not changing his oil.

2003 F650 5.9L 24-valve cummins. Originally 240 HP but had 60 HP injectors added. First piston had to come out at ~290,000 for broken rings. At 330,000 several more broken rings could be heard, and it had very excessive blow-by. Engine was pulled at 350k and sent to Portland Engine Rebuilders for full reman.The engine spend much of its life idling, and that particular truck was geared very low. 75 MPH would put the engine at redline, so it spent most of its miles at a much higher RPM than most Cummins run at. After the rebuild, the ECU was re-programmed to include a 55 MPH governor. This is expected to allow a much longer service life. Also, the company changed to a no-idle policy whenever the hydraulics are not needed.Also, dry weight of that truck was 16,000 pounds. Typical weight was 20-26,000 pounds and for a few runs I've been over 40,000 pounds.Oil was changed every 7500 miles. Being the MDT version of the 5.9L, it held about 5 gallons of oil, so I don't think more frequent oil changes would have helped. Oil was Delo 15w40.

PS - my V10 is about to hit 375,000 miles. I go as long as 12,000 miles between oil changes when I'm towing. I actually do more frequent service when I'm not towing because that means more cold starts.

Have you ever worn out an engine? | Good Sam Community

33 Replies

Turtle_n_Peeps
Explorer
Mar 24, 2014
I have once.......or sort of. 69 Chevy 350 changed oil at 3,000 miles on the dot. At 100K the cam went flat.

Pulled the cam and my dad made the decision to rebuild the engine while the cam was out. New bearings, rings valve job and timing set. It ran for another 150K before I sold it.

My 6.5 has 170,000 on it and runs like a Rolex. 7,500 oil changes.
No oil between changes except when towing in hot weather.

My LBZ has 70,000 on it and runs like a Rolex. 10,000 oil changes. No oil between changes.

Case tractor has 10,000 hrs + on it. 100hr oil changes. Runs like new. No oil between changes.

Mazda has 300,000+ miles on it. 3,000 to whenever I get around to it (maybe 8,000 mile) oil changes. Runs like new. No oil between changes.

I have many more but it's all the same story. In all the engines I have been around I have yet to see an oil related failure of one.

I have heard of a guy that leased his cars and did not change oil in them. He got burnt on one at 70K. The shop I worked at in the 80's pulled the pan and my boss said the oil looked like tar and it clogged up the pickup screen of the pump. They rolled in a set of bearings, cleaned out the tar and off he went back to the lease company. I believe my boss said he still came out ahead of the game by not changing his oil.
ib516
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2014
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.
Old-Biscuit
Explorer III
Mar 24, 2014
Oil.......blood of any engine
Fuel......heart beat of any engine
Air.......lungs
Coolant...sweat

Keep them ALL clean and other than disease (failure) they keep on running

Course they will continue to run when not taken care of.....just not as well/efficient but will complain more

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Have you ever worn out an engine?

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