Crappiest engines ever?

[Laconian]

What's the crappiest engine you've ever had the misfortune of driving/fixing/damning? Share your horror stories! 

[the Teuton]

Whatever was in that 2004 Cavalier is somewhere up there.  Runner-up would be the Olds 3.3 V6.

[Raza]

Hmm.

Engines by themselves probably aren't that awful.  My engine is great.  But throw it in a F350 Superduty and it will feel terribly underpowered. 

The worst combination that comes readily to mind is the first generation Scion xB.

[280Z Turbo]

The Chrysler Magnum 3.9L V6. It would be bad in anything.

It's noisy, it sounds bad, it's rough, it sucks gas, it's redline is at 4700 rpm, and it only makes 175 hp.

[Soup DeVille]

Easy: Olds 307 in the '84 Toronado. It was built at that weird stage of things were carbs had yet to die fully, but you couldn't make emissions standards with a vacuum operated system like that anymore. The intrepid solution: carbs with electronically controlled primary valves.

Fucking nightmare to tune. Then there was the problem with the water pump that covered the entire front end of the engine, the oil leaks, the cooalant leaks, the fuel leaks, the seized aprkplug, the sparkplugs that kept falling out: and all that for maybe 160 HP to the front wheels.

[Vinsanity]

I've been fortunate in that I haven't experienced a truly crappy engine as seen in a 1970's Detroit atrocity. The worst I've had to deal with would probably be the 3-cyl in a Geo Metro I had to rent once. It managed to be overwhelmed by trying to move a mere 2200 lbs of car

[Submariner]

The I4 out of a 98 Camry is pretty awful...

[Minpin]

Hum, I do haven't had to drive anything too bad. I would have to say a rental Chevy Aveo engine. That thing felt like a Flintstones car going up big hills. 

[Cookie Monster]

That 3.8L V6 in Rustangs are horrible.

[ChrisV]

Easy: Olds 307 in the '84 Toronado. It was built at that weird stage of things were carbs had yet to die fully, but you couldn't make emissions standards with a vacuum operated system like that anymore. The intrepid solution: carbs with electronically controlled primary valves.

Fucking nightmare to tune. Then there was the problem with the water pump that covered the entire front end of the engine, the oil leaks, the cooalant leaks, the fuel leaks, the seized aprkplug, the sparkplugs that kept falling out: and all that for maybe 160 HP to the front wheels.

Yeah, pretty much any late '70s, early '80s engine from any manufacturer, with the exception of Honda's CVCC stuff (they were quite simple without a lot of extra band-aid BS). So much vacuum lines and compromised band-aid solutions to emissions requirements that they were a pain to work on.

[93JC]

The worst I've personally experienced?

Chrysler 3.9 L V6. Not the aforementioned 'Magnum' version with 175 hp and multi-point fuel injection. Oh no. I'm talking about the 'pre-Magnum' throttle-body fuel injected turd with 125 hp. Balls slow.

One thing I will give it is reliability though. It sounds like garbage and feels like it has the power of a three-cylinder, but it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

[Tave]

Hum, I do haven't had to drive anything too bad. I would have to say a rental Chevy Aveo engine. That thing felt like a Flintstones car going up big hills. 

Did you have the auto transmission?

[3.0L V6]

'85 Chrysler SOHC 2.2, carb.

They put the distributor at the front of the engine. It was extremely sensitive to moisture. If it rained (or drizzled) the engine would like to stall at idle. It had ok power, but only had to pull around a Plymouth Horizon.

[280Z Turbo]

The worst I've personally experienced?

Chrysler 3.9 L V6. Not the aforementioned 'Magnum' version with 175 hp and multi-point fuel injection. Oh no. I'm talking about the 'pre-Magnum' throttle-body fuel injected turd with 125 hp. Balls slow.

One thing I will give it is reliability though. It sounds like garbage and feels like it has the power of a three-cylinder, but it takes a lickin' and keeps on tickin'.

How do you get sub-2 liter 4 cylinder power out of 3.9L? I'm no fanboy of specfic output, but honestly, that's horrible.

Thermodynamically, I guess that energy would have to go into heat energy.

[GoCougs]

How do you get sub-2 liter 4 cylinder power out of 3.9L? I'm no fanboy of specfic output, but honestly, that's horrible.

That's nothing. Detroit literally built tens of millions of 120 - 130 hp 5.0 - 5.2L V8s in the '70s and early '80s...

[3.0L V6]

How do you get sub-2 liter 4 cylinder power out of 3.9L? I'm no fanboy of specfic output, but honestly, that's horrible.

That was the late '80s. It was built from a 318ci/5.2L V8 engine which made about 170hp. That 318 had been around since the 1960s and had been strangled by low compression and tons of emissions crap on it. It was replacing a stright-6 which only put out 100hp though, so it was an improvement.

[SVT666]

GM's 2.4L Quad Cam.  TWO ENGINES IN 3 FUCKING MONTHS.

[Laconian]

GM's 2.4L Quad Cam.  TWO ENGINES IN 3 FUCKING MONTHS.

Were you driving it hard?

[SVT666]

Were you driving it hard?

No.  I was scared to death of blowing another engine after the first one, and I babied it.  It paid me back by blowing itself up in the middle of the Rockies.

[280Z Turbo]

No.  I was scared to death of blowing another engine after the first one, and I babied it.  It paid me back by blowing itself up in the middle of the Rockies.

Maybe you should have driven it harder.

[SVT666]

That's nothing. Detroit literally built tens of millions of 120 - 130 hp 5.0 - 5.2L V8s in the '70s and early '80s...

I had a 360 V8 in my 1978 Chrysler Cordoba.  It came from the factory with a 4 barrel carb, but still only was rated at 175 hp.

[Eye of the Tiger]

I've never driven a crappy engine.

[280Z Turbo]

I've never driven a crappy engine.

Yes you have.

[S204STi]

Northstar V8.  Pain in several parts of my ass to repair anything on one.

[Laconian]

The crappiest engine I've driven was the 2.2L 4 cylinder in a Plymouth Reliant K. Slow as all hell, and on the freeway there were constant lurches as it would downshift from 3rd to 2nd in order to do even the most trivial highway passing maneuvers.

[280Z Turbo]

Northstar V8.  Pain in several parts of my ass to repair anything on one.

I love how the starter is in between the banks of cylinders.

[Laconian]

I love how the starter is in between the banks of cylinders.

Why the hell did they do that?

I thought people generally loved the Northstar???

[280Z Turbo]

Why the hell did they do that?

I thought people generally loved the Northstar???

http://www.freeengineinfo.com/cadillac-northstar-starter-replacement.htm

[ChrisV]

I love how the starter is in between the banks of cylinders.

Same place on my Lexus 4.0 V8.

[MX793]

I had a 360 V8 in my 1978 Chrysler Cordoba.  It came from the factory with a 4 barrel carb, but still only was rated at 175 hp.

Had it been made 7 years earlier, that motor likely would have been rated at 270+ hp.