New engines are too small

[sirwiggum]

Is there any truth then in the gripe that modern engines have "too many electronics" and the older engines were "more reliable because they were simpler" or are these just the rose tinted moans of a DIY mechanic in the family?

Certainly Mercs don't seem to last as well as they used to?

[Welly]

I suppose modern engines are more likely to break down (or limp) simply because they have more electrical controls strapped to them but the core mechanicals such as pistons, rods, crank and valve train are much more solid nowadays.

One important thing to remember is that fuel-injection and better quality oils have all helped prolong the life of engines too.

[sirwiggum]

I still prefer my old XUD engines to the HDi.

[mjb]

I suppose modern engines are more likely to break down (or limp) simply because they have more electrical controls strapped to them

They're more likely to limp because they can detect failures that you wouldn't know about in older cars until you have a rocker cover shaped dent in your bonnet

[Doggy]

Tend to agree with most of the observations about new engines being better, (despite running on the wrong fuel, being burgered up with cataclismic converters, and driving the wrong set of wheels), but I don't see the breakdown / recovery companies going out of business. Some of their trade is accident related, it's true, but somebody, somewhere is still breaking stuff.

(Can't just be willy, cos I don't think he's rogered the Volvo, (yet).

[mjb]

I don't see the breakdown / recovery companies going out of business. Some of their trade is accident related, it's true, but somebody, somewhere is still breaking stuff.

It's the muppets who call them out because they've got a flat tyre and no idea how to change it who keep 'em in business

[Bailes1992]

I don't see the breakdown / recovery companies going out of business. Some of their trade is accident related, it's true, but somebody, somewhere is still breaking stuff.

It's the muppets who call them out because they've got a flat tyre and no idea how to change it who keep 'em in business

I may have phoned them to change my rear tyre a few weeks ago In all fairness though all I had was a hydraulic jack and couldn't get the car high enough?

[STALLED]

W124 Mercs are amazing cars - They were engineered and manufactured as a car should - not to a price!

As for automatic gearboxes - they have "clutch packs" - which wear out (hence why they slip with age)

[FarmerPug]

i drove a w124 for a few years, a cousin had drove it for 12 before me, and even with 240,000 miles on the clock, it still felt like new, the doors all closed with a thud, the engine was quieter than some petrols, and it was good to watch the rear suspension lift up the back when there was a trailer, great car, one of the better mercs