Re:They Used To Last 50 Years
by fnordfnordfnord on Monday March 20, 2017 @06:21PM
(#13918159)
Yes, I agree that the oil has a major role as well.
As far as water pumps go, I've noticed that they often have alloy impellers now, and used to have stamped steel ones. I've heard of people rebuilding water pumps themselves (as opposed to buying a remanufactured unit), but never seen that done except in special cases (large stationary engine, rare obsolete engine).
AFAICT in "practical" mechanical engineering tribology:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribology
is one of the fields that made the most progresses in the 90's, thanks also to the introduction on the market of totally or partially sinthetic oil, that literally changed the game when it comes to car engines duration.
The (huge) difference in spark plug life depends more on electronic ignition, of course and that also became mainstream in late 80's and 90's.
When it comes to water pumps, allow me to disagree, however, once upon a time if a water pump leaked you just changed gaskets and maybe the ball bearings, since around the same time you are often forced to buy a new "whole" pump as they are not any more serviceable.