Motor Running Time For Long Drives?

[Elio Amazed]

according to that, ours must have been a bad one .... if the motor had of lasted 130,000 miles I'd of been well pleased .... when I say the motor was done at 75,000 it still ran but we literally had to add oil every time we added gas .... its the only GM motor we have ever had a problem with

Jim

I don't know if this was your problem, but the little metro engines were notorious for blowing out either the cam seal or the crank seal every so often. The PCV would plug (as they sometimes do), and the resulting pressure would pop the seals right out of place. In either case, the oil would be leaking inside the timing chain cover and eventually would find it's way out to the ground. I used to put a quart in with every 10 gallon fill up because I couldn't convince my mechanic that the oil was coming from one of those seals instead of from a leak in the actual oil reservoir pan. The thing got such good gas mileage that it still was a far more economical ride feeding it both oil and gas. I eventually sold the car but I understand that neither seal is that big a job, because there's hardly anything to take off to get to them. I just never got around to doing it myself.

I sold the car with 119,000 on it a year ago to my neighbor and it's still going strong. I suspect that he never fixed the seal either.

 

[JEBar]

I don't know if this was your problem, but the little metro engines were notorious for blowing out either the cam seal or the crank seal every so often. The PCV would plug (as they sometimes do), and the resulting pressure would pop the seals right out of place. In either case, the oil would be leaking inside the timing chain cover and eventually would find it's way out to the ground. I used to put a quart in with every 10 gallon fill up because I couldn't convince my mechanic that the oil was coming from one of those seals instead of from a leak in the actual oil reservoir pan. The thing got such good gas mileage that it still was a far more economical ride feeding it both oil and gas. I eventually sold the car but I understand that neither seal is that big a job, because there's hardly anything to take off to get to them. I just never got around to doing it myself.

I sold the car with 119,000 on it a year ago to my neighbor and it's still going strong. I suspect that he never fixed the seal either.

that's certainly possible .... I know that it was well taken care of so something had to go wrong

Jim

 

[Jayne Shelby]

I don't believe there is a break-in period any more on vehicles. Perhaps years ago but most people today would head straight to the interstate and cruise at anywhere from 65 to 85 MPH.

 

[Ty]

I think at the $6800 price point the engine will be fairly disposable. A month or two of use at most if it runs ~60min per day. Then take it to the scrap yard and buy another.

I think the real question should be is can yer butt handle 10+hrs of windshield time. I doubt they'll be really comfortable for long trips. Maybe have to start an Elio Iron Butt Club.

only 3,600 miles on a motor? That's not expecting very much...

 

[Ty]

I don't believe there is a break-in period any more on vehicles. Perhaps years ago but most people today would head straight to the interstate and cruise at anywhere from 65 to 85 MPH.

I've never used a break in period for a vehicle and have never had an issue. I don't see why the Elio would be any different.

 

[skygazer6033]

Most modern cars really don't require a specific break in procedure. Just normal driving (conservative normal driving) for the first couple of hundred miles.

 

[Joshua Caldwell]

I don't believe there is a break-in period any more on vehicles. Perhaps years ago but most people today would head straight to the interstate and cruise at anywhere from 65 to 85 MPH.

What I've read is that companies put the engine on a stand and run the break-in procedure there before it gets put into the vehicle.

 

[RKing]

Joshua, that might be the case for some special or high end but standard engines are run thru a "cold test" about 30 seconds worth driven by an electric motor, then shipped to the assb plants.we do 2000 a day. Last hot test I saw was in early 90s and that was an audit only. Now an LS7 might get different

 

[tommy]

I prefer driving on those original highways anyway. Much more interesting. Z

Me too. As long as they are smooth.

 

[grampi]

I am not an expert, and few details have been released about the Elio engine, but I can't imagine there would be any problems associated with driving nonstop for 10 hours or much longer. My smart fortwo has a 3 cyl., 1 liter motor with hp slightly more than the Elio's. Two people wide, and taller than many cars, the smart fortwo is the aerodynamic opposite of the Elio. I love my smarts (my wife also drives one), but the Elio will be superior in mpg.

A Corolla gets better mileage than a Smart Car...I'm still trying to figure out what's so smart about them! JK!