So I've been following this forum for a bit and it seems that there has been a lot of discussion related to blowing up your engine under load and how it must be related to US spec suggested oil use, factory defects, etc. Not getting into the theories as to why the engines blew- What I wonder is how many other members on the forum have had an LS 460 engine grenade on them, what mileage it happened at, and under what circumstances. So far I've seen the two failures posted most recently- snowy surprise and high-speed highway hijinks. How many others have suffered catastrophic engine failure?

 

As I suggested before, I believe, the reason in both cases is oil starvation under high load. I am not convinced yet that 0W20 causes premature engine wear as I have not seen any prove but some guessing.

 

Lack of lubrication is probably one the the top (if not the top) reasons engines fail. The challenging part is in finding the root cause. Another top reason is overheating, whereas again, chasing down the root cause could be challenging but would be key.

 

In my personal opinion, the root cause is insufficient oil level under high load. For instance, if the oil level is at 30 percent between MIN and MAX marks, the level might be not sufficient to allow safe operation of the engine over 4k RPM. It is just an example but the point is check the oil level periodically and make sure that it is close to the MAX mark. Especially, if you are planning on putting the engine through some workout. Though, I have no oil consumption, I check my oil level every week and before any long trip.

 

Well in my case it wouldnt be an oil problem…

Less then 4000km changed at the dealership and I check it every 6 weeks…