Worst Engines-

[Louis-Alain Richard]

Absolute NAC, but absolute joy to read ! The story about the Olds made my
day : what a catastrophic chain of events...

http://www.popularhotrodding.com/features/0408phr_worst_automobile_engines/i
ndex.html 


Some extracts :

Cadillac HT 4100

(...) Another problem were soft camshaft cores that would wear to such an
extent that the valves would hardly open. Amazingly, the engine would sit
and idle at 400 rpm in drive as smooth as silk with the only driver
complaint being a lack of power. After disassembly and inspection of the
camshaft, one would never believe that an engine could idle so nicely with
round lobes!



Chrysler 2.2 liter

(...) Though a mechanically sound design, the 2.2 suffered from day one with
a poor carburetor and distributor. The progressive two-barrel
feedback-Holley carburetor was responsible for stalling, surging, rough
running and general poor driveability that no one--even the best
mechanic--could ever seem to cure. In addition, the distributor was plagued
from extreme cost-cutting steps and the shaft-support bushing would wear to
such an extent that the rotor would hit the distributor cap and break off,
leaving the motorist stranded. Excessive cylinder-to-cylinder timing
variations came standard with every 2.2 Chrysler in the early days.

The non-crossflow cylinder head design made the engine easy to package in
almost every Chrysler body style but deemed the powerplant dated before it
even had a chance to stall for the first time.


Oldsmobile Diesel


(...) The engine suffered from the lack of a water/fuel separator and drain
in the fuel system. Any moisture or dirt that would get into the
high-pressure Roosa Master injection pump would cause some of the parts to
hang up. This could have occurred for only a second, but that was enough
time of an incorrect fuel inject cycle that would allow cylinder pressure to
peak and overcome head bolt tension or break down the head gasket. The
driver may have only sensed a slight shudder but the damage was already
done. The injured head gasket would then let coolant seep into the cylinder
and since there is little quench volume in a diesel, the incompressibility
of a liquid was a theory very quickly reinforced. Something had to give and
it often was a piston, connecting rod or crankshaft but it spelled disaster
either way.