22R, 5VZ, Subaru EJ15 to EJ22, GM 350 and 3.8L, AMC 4L, VW 16V 2L, my 9hp Honda outboard motor, Alice Chalmers 50-50(ya OK it's diesel), Can-Am Rotax 500, Jonsered CS series chain saws, and my 40yr old Toro snow-blower

 

I got close to 250,000 out of my first car, a 1990 Suburban with a GM 5.7 as well as a 96 Jimmy with a 4.3 V6. Both went through two transmissions and the engines themselves were running great when the cars were sold.

I can't really comment on my current 5VZ as I haven't owned it that long and I'm not sure exactly what the mileage is lol. However I was willing to bet on an unverifiable mileage 5VZ engine in a 2001 4Runner, rather than a 60,000 mile GM 4.2 I6 in a trailblazer, because of the great things I've heard about them. I sure hope they were right!

 

when i was a little kid my dad had a 196 4 cylinder scout that he had bought out of highschool and had run it a ton of miles on road the used it for 8 or 9 years plowing and twitching wood with no exhaust or radiator and zero matainence. when he got rid of it it still fired right up no problem. he always said hed like to have kept it and restored it instead of using it as a tractor just to see how many miles the 196 could go. so ill throw that out there and see if any experts have any more info or someone can tell me why im an idiot.

besides that the jeep 4.0 has been given no love by almost every member of my family and taken it with no issues to speak of.

the 5.3 chevy has been proving itself since they bought the work van back in 01ish and have ran it near 500k miles with zero issues to the motor and it runs as smooth as ever and burns no oil.

 

the nissan ka24d. in the 90 d21 pickup. my friend had one that went to 500k but he didnt take care of it and the head gasket blew.

 

im gonna have to say HEMI

 

I can only say a engine that has been very good to me so far.
D16Y5 Honda it is in the Civic HX 96-00 and gets over 40 miles to the gallon.
We only have about 200K on ours so far and it does not burn a drop of oil.

 

Just my experience ... Chev 283 V8 any year, followed by the Honda 1.5 from the early eighties. Ya, I'm that old LOL

 

22re and the nissan sr20

 

22re and BMW 2.5i 6cyl, my first car was 91 325xi and i beat the crap out it with over 250,000 and never changed the oil for 3 yrs just kept dumping it in there (it only cost 600$)

 

My list is:
22R series motors
EJ22 Subaru motors including the closed deck turbos
GM 4.3 motors
early SBC
The recent LS series GM motors
The VW 1600 motors
And I have never had a I-6 that I didn't like.

 

I enjoy this thread. No brainer on the first choice, but the second choices are interesting.

 

Well i didnt realize but it says no diesels.
But the 7.3 powerstroke will no joke do a million miles.
i had a buddy with a 94 quad cab dually long bed 2wd
that we used for hay and what not with 690k miles.

but other wise i would say 22r(e)

and i had an 88 honda pushin 300k. on the 2.0

 

Are junk!! the earlie (think square body S10's) were ok but by far not reliable. when the went to round body s10's they went to crap. I saw more s10's with 4.3s have issues than the 4 cyl base trucks.




By far my favorite series of GM motor(that is attainable cheaply) I do believe when my 3.0 goes boom My 4 runner will get a 5.3l LS out of a chevy truck.

 

i had a 6.0 in my work van, and that thing was a bitchin work horse.
Good motors.

 

I don't know, being a Chevy mechanic I have seen lots of these motors come in for the lifetime oil change my dealership used to offer and they are all running strong, leak a ton but still keep running. For the LS series motors all that I have really seen so far is leaking water pumps before the switch to displacement on demand. I also have to add that I used to own a 46 Willys Jeep with the original 4 cylinder that ran perfect and had never been cracked open.

 

22r is stilling going hard, nearing the 200,000mile mark, the last 50,000 have been hell.. So much time spent up in the red haha. Never had to replace anything on the motor, just the usual maintenance.


One car I couldn't kill was powered by the old Buick 3.8 V6, I used to thrash it everyday all the way upto 320,000miles until I got sick of replacing automatic trannies lol. But the motor still ran when I got rid of it.

 

Ford 300 I6 is the best gas motor in my opinion, I have had a couple with 400k+ on them, and still ran strong, I TRIED to kill 2 of them, and just couldnt do it... too bad everything they built around these motors was absolute garbage!

4.3 vortech? Not bad, but my 3vze has givin me less trouble than any 4.3 I have ever owned... those things eat water pumps, and fuel pumps like a fat kid eats cake!

1300 vw... great motor, no power... Usually I could walk faster.. Reliable.... yes... reliably slow! lol

4.0l & 4.2l I6 jeep motors were pretty solid, knew a guy that had a million on his 4.0l cherokee, not sure what kind of repairs he had done tho...

Chevy 350's are very strong motors... but like the ford 300 I6, everything built around them was garbage.

Mazda wankle rotary motors were quite reliable, and extremely easy/cheap to fix when somethin did go wrong...

And... I know its diesel, but, the mercedes ( I think it was the 240d? but not 100% on that) prolly one of the best motors ever made! They are well known for going millions of miles with just regular maintenance.

 

The Nissan KA24DE has to be right there with the 22R(E). Similar design, but seems to have a more durable timing chain sit up.

 

I drive a toyota with a 22re, my dad drives a ford with the 4.9 and my mom drives an accord with a 2.2 honda vtec. All very reliable so far. ( knock on imatation wood computer stand )

I would have to say the 22r would be the most reliable engine. Electronics tend to fail more often then anything else on the re's

 

most reliable that ive seen personally..is the ford 4.6 in an F-150...my boss has a 97 with 400K on the odo AND IT BROKE 3 YEARS AGO!...its not taken care of..nothing is changed..they just keep adding oil...and to top it off..it was an offroad/ hunting truck for the last year and a half being beatin to death..and when his 07 6.0 blew for the 3rd time...he brough her back for service duty lmao still goes down the road pullin dump trailers..o yeah its been in 3 accidents and one of wich bent the frame and made it hunch back something like this /\ crazyness