Back in the old days, when some people claim that cars were “much better made” than they are today, it was very common for an engine to need a “ring job” and a “valve job” by 50,000 miles.
The ring job entailed disassembly of the engine, removal of the old piston rings, and installation of new piston rings. The pistons use several rings, for two purposes–containing compression in the cylinders and keeping crankcase oil from getting into the cylinders. After 50k miles, it was fairly common to see cars trailing plumes of smoke every time that they were accelerated, meaning that the oil control rings were worn, and for there to be a drop in power output, meaning that the compression rings were shot. Frequently, there was sufficient wear in the cylinders to also necessitate reboring the cylinder slightly. Replacing the rings correctly could give an engine a new lease on life for another 40k-50k.
The valve job, which frequently accompanied the ring job, involved grinding accumulated carbon deposits off of the valves and the valve seats in order to restore compression to the engine. The carbon deposits on the valves were the result of very poor combustion–a problem rarely seen on modern engines.
As a result of better metal alloys for engine parts and as a result of vastly improved motor oils, neither of these procedures is normally part of the maintenance plan for engines nowadays, and even the cheapest cars of today can usually operate for well over 150k miles without this type of procedure–as long as they are properly maintained.
Whenever I hear someone say, “They sure don’t build cars like they used to”, my response, is, “Yes, thank God”.
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