Remember the notorious Chevy Vega of the 1970's? As I recall,one the big problems with that car was that it was equipped with an aluminum block engine. The new Ford Mustangs arealso equipped with aluminum engines to reduce curb weightand improve fuel efficiency. Will they be prone to the sameproblems that the Vega had down the road? Are there othermanufacturers that have used aluminum engines with successrecently?
This Site Might Help You. RE: how reliable are today's aluminum block engines? Remember the notorious Chevy Vega of the 1970's? As I recall, one the big problems with that car was that it was equipped with an aluminum block engine. The new Ford Mustangs are also equipped with aluminum engines to reduce curb weight and improve fuel efficiency. Will they be prone to...
Aluminum is a WEAK metal....it is SOFT compared to iron or CGI. It sucks in engines.
Aluminum is the most easily repaired material used in engines and can be readily welded. The problem is access and/or does the repair threaten to go into a machined area such as a cylinder wall? If I was really short of cash I might even try filling a groove with jb weld. A crack goes deeper though and requires a more thorough fix. Are you sure this is an aluminum block? Iron is much harder to fix, probably can't be done without spending more that a replacement engine would cost. If it is aluminum, I would have to towed out of there and find myself another garage.
The problem with the Vega was not so much that it had an aluminum block, as it was an unsleeved aluminum block, i.e. the pistons ran directly on aluminum bores (actually it was an aluminum/silicon alloy that was injection molded, very advanced technology for the time). Although Mercedes had already done this on some of their cars (with mixed success), it didn't work well in the Vega, the bores would scuff and score, and the engine would burn oil badly, sometimes in only 15,000 miles or so. Rebuilt Vega engines had iron sleeves installed and were very sought after. As long as an engine has iron sleeves in the bores there is no reason it shouldn't last as long as an iron engine. There is actually more to worry about with aluminum cylinder heads, they are generally not as durable as iron ones, though they are almost universal now. The fact is, engine technology has come a long way since the 70's, and most modern engines will reach 200k with good maintenance if they are not abused, aluminum or not.
