Adrian wrote:
> Does the 1500 have a reputation for blowing after a short period of
> time?
The engine has a weaker-than-desirable bottom end. It is especially
intolerant of poor maintenance, which is a bad thing for a
spridget because our beloved low-priced cars tend to have been
owned at least once by a non-enthusiast who didn't maintain
them the way we do.
In essence, you see a whole lot of 1500s out there with
blown engines because there are a lot of midgets owned by
people who don't treat their car well and the 1500 isn't
as tolerant of this as the smaller engines.
Essentially, the main failure is a thrown rod. Your problem
was different, which is interesting, but it's thrown rods
that give the 1500 it's weak-bottom-end reputation. The usual
cause is rod stress caused by loose big-end bearings, which
are caused by extended oil change intervals or simply not
changing the bearings when they get loose.
Usually, wear on the bearings and the crank journals is aggravated
by dirty oil and hard driving. The bearings get loose, which causes
the dreaded "death rattle" which is a lower-end knock, especially at
start up before the car has full oil pressure.
The car will go for a while with this knock, but it's basically the
1500s way of telling you it wants you to spend an afternoon changing
bearings.
If ignored, the constant stress on the rod from riding
loose on the crankshaft takes it's toll, the rod snaps, and
the engine is essentially scrap metal.
It's a problem, but if properly maintained it is essentially
a non-issue. Change oil often, change bearings at 40000 miles,
and you should have no problems unless you REALLY like redlines.
--
Trevor Boicey
Ottawa, Canada
tboicey@brit.ca
http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
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