In the long and storied history of internal combustion engines, there have been a few workhorses that just keep going for decades. Here are the champions.
Most shoppers look at reliability when buying cars. It’s natural. You don’t want to buy a car and have it break down the entire time that you own it. Since the engine is arguably the most integral piece of any automobile, that’s a really good place to start. Engines have a ton of components and even the most reliable engines can have the occasional problematic part. However, if your engine lasts for 200,000 to 300,000 miles without any major repair or rebuild, then it’s safe to assume that it is a reliable engine.
People often associate reliability with older vehicles. While there are some legendary engines from the old days, it’s actually a myth that old cars are more reliable than new cars. Modern cars are less expensive to maintain, break down less often, and are easier to diagnose, thanks to improvements in sensors and ODB II technology. It’s true that million-mile cars are still ultra-rare. However, unless there’s a major defect, any car you drive off a lot today brand new has a much lower chance of being a dud than in the 1980s or 1970s. Manufacturing has become more consistent, and engineering is simply better than it was back then.
With all of that said, aside from some outliers, there are some engines that just don’t die. These engines stand above the rest as being relatively bulletproof. Included in the list below are such treasures as the engine that put up a million miles in a Toyota Corolla and one that was manufactured for 30 years because it was just that good. Here are the most reliable engines we could find.Toyota 22RE
Toyota is known as a reliable brand and it’s because of engines like the 22RE. It is one of Toyota’s one-million-mile engines and we’ll talk about another one later. The 22RE was a 2.4L inline four-cylinder engine that could generate 116 horsepower and 140 lb-ft of torque in its stock configuration. It underwent several changes over the years and there was even a turbocharged version, the 22RTE, for a few years in the 1980s. It was part of Toyota’s legendary R engine lineup, which lasted in various forms from 1953 to 1997. The 22RE specifically debuted in 1981 and continued until 1995.
The engine was made primarily out of cast iron and aluminum, although individual parts may vary depending on which year. It was one of the first Toyota engines to use electronic fuel injection in 1982, which helped its reliability a lot. In terms of construction, the 22RTE had some unique characteristics like different pistons, block, and head to account for the turbocharging, but all of these engines were mostly the same during their production run. There was also a 22REC, which is a variant of the 22RE specifically created to meet California emissions standards.
The 22RE made its way into several Toyota vehicles during the 1980s and ’90s. That includes the 1981 Toyota Celica, the Toyota Hilux truck from 1981 to 1995, the 4Runner from 1985 through 1995, and the Toyota Standard Pickup from 1985 to 1995. You can find stories on Reddit and automobile forums of people still driving Hilux pickups with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. About the only criticism you could make is that as a four-cylinder engine in larger vehicles, sometimes those vehicles were left wanting for more power.Toyota 5S-FE DOHC Inline-4
There are a number of stories of late 1990s Toyota Camrys hitting either half a million miles or a million miles. All of those cars had the Toyota 5S-FE DOHC engine. It’s a 2.2-liter inline-four that was capable of doing about 132 horsepower and 145 lb-ft of torque. It’s one of the most reliable members of the Toyota S engine lineup, which is already known for its above-average longevity. The 5S-FE existed in some form or another from 1990 until 2001. It was also the final Toyota S engine before eventually being replaced by the AZ and AR engines.
The 5S-FE was a lot like the 22RE. It was made of cast iron, forged iron, and aluminum. There were also three generations. The second generation introduced a knock sensor while the third generation introduced additional sensors. In terms of construction, all three generations were more or less the same, with only some minor modifications. It didn’t make a ton of power, but it was enough to get drivers from point A to point B while also being reasonably fuel-efficient. It also benefited from the electronic fuel injection system introduced with the 22RE.
Toyota stuffed this engine into a bunch of cars during its run. That includes the Camry, Celica, and Solara. Curiously, Toyota didn’t put these in smaller cars, like the Toyota Corolla, which had a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine instead. In any case, there are tons of these cars out there with well north of 200,000 miles, and just as many stories about people having them for even longer. The 5S-FE DOHC is right up there with the best that Toyota has ever made.Jeep 4.0 engine
The Jeep 4.0 engine is one of the best engines the brand has ever used in terms of reliability. It could easily do north of 200,000 miles with minor maintenance and repairs. While you won’t hear many stories of this thing hitting half a million miles, it’s important to consider how much people beat up on their Jeeps. A lesser engine likely wouldn’t even make it to 200,000 miles for a brand that’s known for its customers doing crazy things like driving up mountains or through swamps. However, a typical daily driver vehicle could potentially get 300,000 miles or more.
The AMC-produced engine debuted in 1986 and started getting added to vehicles in 1987. Jeep used the engine until 2006 before replacing it with the 3.8-liter OHV V6. It was an inline-six engine capable of making 190 horsepower with 235 lb-ft of torque, although those numbers fluctuate depending on the year and which car it was in.
