Reply To: Rebuilt Engine Longevity

[Gregory Long]

Hi Craig.

The biggest factors to increase longevity will be installing a very good air filter, and a very good oil filter. The very best air and oil filtration from when the Pierce Arrow engines were manufactured is at best very poor by todays standards.

The biggest contributor to engine wear is the dirt in the air brought into the engine, compressed in the cylinders, which concentrates the dirt, then the pressures of combustion, and forcing the piston down. Some of the dirt gets past the rings, wearing the cylinder walls, rings and pistons. Then the dirt is inside the engine crankcase, and is washed into the oil. Soon ht oil has a lot of dirt in circulation that then is like a grinding compound, wearing the crankshaft, camshaft and oil pump bearing surfaces.

Engines did not get any form of air filtration until the late ’20’s, Even the best air filtration in the early ’30’s was relatively poor compared to modern air filtration.

Oil filtration was limited to a copper or brass screen, which did not remove anything smaller than the head of a pin from the oil.. This dirty, contaminated oil first caused wear in the oil pump, then throughout the engine’s pressure-lubricated parts.

Next will be to have the engine run for at least 30 minutes ANY time the engine is started. It is VERY hard on engines to start up and run only a few minutes then be shut down cold. These big engines take quite a while to get the oil and water up to correct operating temperatures. And an engine needs to be at operating temperatures for at least 20 minutes for the byproducts of a cold start to be evaporated out of the oil. Otherwise the oil becomes saturated with water and acids, and with the oil, it becomes sludge.

Engines must have coolant thermostats operational so that the engine warms up quickly, and up to at least 160-170 degrees. The oil temperature is much slower to increase, and getting the oil up to temperature is critical for long engine life.

So, yes, a rebuilt engine in or Pierce Arrow cars has a chance of lasting several times as long as it was expected to last when it was new. But how we treat our engines is a major factor.

Examples of getting very little life from an engine: short trips. like driving only 2-5 miles to work, Then back home. Never driving the car for more than 20 minutes.. This type of driving will sludge up any engine. Oil changes need to be done on a time schedule, and much more often than what is considered ‘normal’. Cold climates will make these frequent oil changes even more important.

Examples of extreme long engine life: A long-haul truck that is designed with huge, high quality air filters and oil filtration systems. These engines are started and often run for days before shutting down.

I have a T-300 Kenworth ‘expediter’ truck that I purchased with 1,118,000 miles.. Yes, more than a million road miles.

I have the maintenance records for this truck. The engine has never been apart. The oil was changed usually between 12,000 and 18,000 miles. Air, fuel and oil filters changed at the same time.

The worst, most abusive miles on this truck have been put on it by myself: a 5 mile drive to the gas-station to fill up the fuel tanks, then back home. Or worse: start it up and move it out of the way of other vehicles and trailers in my yard.

Unfortunately our collector-cars do not get enough long running time. These short runs have the greatest effect on our engine longevity.

No doubt, our modern lubricants will help our engines to live a much longer life, but how and how often we drive and operate our cars will have the greatest effect.

Greg Long